The fantasy of "happy" plantation life was central to the minstrel tradition and was often accepted by whites as reality. Such songs depict what Stephanie Dunson calls a "mythic plantation life-that supposedly happier time and place when the now world-weary Black characters were deemed to have led carefree lives under the tender care of their kindly white masters" (p. It relates the feelings of an old man who labored for many years on a boat no longer able to work, he longs to return home.īland's "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" is representative of songs in which freed people are portrayed as wanting to return to their homes in the South. Christy's song has completely different music and lyrics. "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" is not to be confused with an earlier song of a similar name, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," published in 1847 and attributed to E. Bland's once considerable celebrity faded, and he died penniless in Philadelphia in 1911. By the time he returned to the United States in 1890, minstrelsy's popularity was declining and vaudeville's was ascending. He spent a great deal of time in London and became especially popular in Germany. James attended Howard University but left to work in minstrelsy, which witnessed the emergence of many black troupes after the Civil War.Ī banjoist, Bland joined the Original Black Diamonds in 1875 and went on to perform with many other minstrel troupes. when his father was hired as an examiner in the United States Patent Office (he was the first African American to hold such a post). Born in Flushing, New York, his family moved to Washington D.C.
James Bland (1854–1911) was an African American composer of well-known minstrel tunes. Bland's "Great Ethiopian Songs." New York: Hitchcock's Music Store, 1880. View the lyrics for "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia." Hooley.Ĭolumbia announced in 1917 the formation of a new Knickerbocker Quartet consisting of first tenor George Eldred, second tenor Robert Lewis (aka Lewis James), baritone William Morgan, and bass Glenn Howard. Young and Wheeler were joined by Walter Van Brunt and William F. Stricklett, Frederick Wheeler and Gus Reed. Original members were John Young, George M. The Knickerbocker Quartet was formed in 1908 to replace the Edison Male Quartet. Available on iTunes, Spotify and YouTube. "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" performed by the Knickerbocker Four on The Treasury of Barbershop Quartets, © 2006. Why do you think he would record this song? Do you think he really longed for "Old Virginny," or were there other reasons to record the song? Ray Charles recorded a version of this song in 1960 (the B side of the record was "Georgia On My Mind"). Why do you think it was a meaningful song to certain Virginians? Why was it divisive? "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" was the Virginia state song until 1997. Based on your hearing of the lyrics and music, what conventions were established in Foster's day that Bland deployed a generation later? Why do you think an African American man like James Bland would write a song like "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," which longs for the days of slavery in the Old South?Ĭompare and contrast "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" with "My Old Kentucky Home," an earlier song by white composer Stephen Foster.
While they have the same fervor as any other fandom, there’s still a notable difference.Following the Civil War, it was common for whites, especially in the South, to believe that African Americans had been better off under slavery. It’s a place of escapism, and the foundation of a huge fan community that’s dedicated to studying the band’s creativity. NME note, “Sleep Token offers its fans an entire world to immerse themselves in if they so wish. Meanwhile, standout single, “The Summoning”, has already generated some 16.5 million streams globally, causing the track to trend on Twitter and take the #1 song spot on a host of international Spotify viral charts, as well as being selected as a ‘YouTube Trending Artist On The Rise’, featuring on YouTube’s home page, viewed by millions of people every day.Īnd even though Sleep Token notoriously do not speak to the press (out of necessity, not ego or gimmick), media can’t help but write about the phenomenon, reporting on the band’s every move. The new record sees Sleep Token boldly re-confirming a true love of the epic (the title track is eight minutes plus), while further exploring and developing those elements that keep the music removed from any kind of pack, howling at a moon that’s all its own.
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