THE BLUETAIL FLY CRACKED

THE BLUETAIL FLY CRACKED

This is hinted at, to varying degrees, in some versions of the song.ĬRACK CORN? The Civil War song, Jimmy Cracked Corn, was one of Abe Lincoln's favorite songs! However, in the song, Jimmy wasn't really cracking corn. The subtext for this song is that the slave in fact killed the master himself, blaming it on the blue-tail fly. One of the earliest publications was in a series credited to him - but the absence of his name on the earliest copies goes far toward discrediting his authorship. Credited to Daniel Emmett by Spaeth but it’s likely that if he wrote it from other sources. 66, 'Jim Crack Corn (Blue-Tail Fly)' Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 91-92, 'Jim Crack Corn or the Blue Tail Fly' Arnett, p. 453, 'The Blue-Tail Fly' RJackson-19CPop, pp. Folklore Society, Bk (1964), p256 Laws I19, 'The Blue-Tail Fly' Friedman, p. SOURCES: Lomax-FSNA 267, 'The Blue-Tail Fly' Native American Balladry, Amer. OTHER NAMES: Jim Crack Corn Jimmie Crack Corn Gimme Cracked Corn (Perhaps “Jimmie Crack Corn” is dervived from Give Me (Gimme) Cracked Corn (Whiskey). Songs of Early Times, Early Times, LP (1961), cut#A.05 Hammered Dulcimer, Folkways FA 2381, LP (1966), cut# 1d Stracke, Win. Hammered Dulcimer, Folkways FA 2381, LP (1966), cut# 1c Parker, Chet. America's Best Loved Folk Songs, Baton BL 1293, LP (1957), B.08 Parker, Chet. Gee Ain't It Grand, Fretless FR 140, LP (1979), cut#B.03 Okun, Milt. Allegheny Trails, Jewel LPS 504, LP (1975), cut#B.01 North Fork Ramblers. Album Number Three, Bluebonnet BL 109, LP (1963), cut#B.01 McCoy, Paul (B.). Burl Ives Sings for Fun, Decca DL 8248, LP (195?), cut#A.07 Kincaid, Bradley. Steamboat Coming, National Geographic Soc. Bruce Molsky and Big Hoedown, Rounder 0421, CD (1997), cut#15 Cooney, Michael. RECORDING INFO: Pete Seeger, 'Jim Crack Corn' (on PeteSeeger03, PeteSeegerCD03) 'The Blue Tail Fly' (on PeteSeeger17). Breakdown and song tune by Daniel Decatur Emmett ĬATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: 1844

The bluetail fly