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Audio Recording Oh, dem golden slippers

About this Item

Title

  • Oh, dem golden slippers

Names

  • Bland, James A.

Created / Published

  • monographic.

Notes

  • -  Bland, James A. (statement of responsibility)
  • -  Lyrics: Oh, my golden slippers am laid away, Kase I don't 'spect to wear 'em till my weddin' day, And my long-tail'd coat, dat I loved so well, I will wear up in de chariot in de morn; And my long white robe dat I bought last June, I'm 'gwine to git changed Kase it fits too soon, And de ole grey hoss dat I used to drive, I will hitch him to de chariot in de morn. Oh, dem golden slippers! Oh, dem golden slippers! Golden slippers I'm gwine to wear, becase dey look so neat; Oh, dem golden slippers! Oh, dem golden slippers! Golden slippers Ise gwine to wear, To walk de golden street.
  • -  James A. Bland's song "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" started its life in 1879 as a minstrel parody of a spiritual sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. That spiritual ran: "What kind of shoes you going to wear? Golden slippers! Golden slippers I'm bound to wear, That outshine the sun." (The Fisk song was not published until 1880; it was then described as "one of the most popular songs of the "Jubilee Singers"; it had presumably been performed for some time before it was published.) Bland's song soon outstripped the Fisk song in popularity; by now people tend to think of "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" as the original and the Fisk spiritual as some kind of variant. It is, in fact, somewhat disconcerting to hear "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" as first published, with its mocking piano part and its silly verse proclaiming it a parody, since it has been taken seriously for so long. James A. Bland (1854-1911) published most of his songs in a burst of creativity from 1878 to 1881. In 1881 he left America for Europe with Haverly's Genuine Colored Minstrels, and stayed in Europe when the troupe returned. Perhaps he continued to write songs after 1881; if so, very few were published, and were after the period of this online collection.
  • -  The performers are the "Music for the Nation" Singers, and are all Library of Congress staff members. These selections were recorded in the Library's Coolidge Auditorium on September 23, 1998. Robert Saladini, director; Phillip DeSellem, pianist; Carol Guglielm, Elizabeth Miller (sopranos); Laura Lee Fischer, Linda Gill (altos); David Arbury, Thomas A. Howe (tenors); Ralph Gingery, John Oswald Greene (basses).

Extent

  • 1 audio file (1:36)

Repository

  • Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81079447

Online Format

  • audio

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1870 to 1885 collection is in the public domain and is free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, Music Division

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Bland, James A. Oh, Dem Golden Slippers. Monographic. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/sm1879.7901966/.

APA citation style:

Bland, J. A. Oh, Dem Golden Slippers. Monographic. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sm1879.7901966/.

MLA citation style:

Bland, James A. Oh, Dem Golden Slippers. Monographic. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/sm1879.7901966/>.