From ‘Amazing Grace' to ‘Blowin' in the Wind,'” says historian-folksinger Bob Wells, “Americans have composed and sung songs about what mattered in their lives.”
Robert V. Wells, Chauncey H. Winters Professor of History, has taken his interest and expertise in American social and demographic history and filtered it through the prism of American folk music. The result is his course, American Folk Music. Wells's goal for the course? “I hope the students will never listen to folk music the same way again.”
He loves to talk about the origins of familiar songs. Some are particularly surprising. Did you know, for example, that:
• “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” was originally from the Gullah district of coastal South Carolina-a song slaves sang as they rowed? Singers kept the verses going for as long as they could.
• An entire book has been devoted to several songs titled “Stagolee”-aka, Stagger Lee, Stack O'Lee, and numerous other variations-based on the life of Stack Lee Shelton, who on Christmas Eve of 1895 murdered William Lyons, and died in prison in 1912 of tuberculosis?
• “Amazing Grace” was written by John Newton, an 18th-century slave trader who saw the error of his ways during a storm at sea, on his way from Africa to America?
• Frankie Baker, of “Frankie and Johnny” legend, was a real person who shot a man in St. Louis in 1899?
• “Invitation to Lubberland,” a 17th-century English song describing Utopia, may have served as a model for “The Big Rock Candy Mountain”?
• “Tom Dooley,” the Kingston Trio's smash hit of 1958, was only a rather recent incarnation of an older song? Tom Dula, in fact, was a Confederate war veteran, involved with three women-not just Laura Foster, whom he murdered.
• “Charlie and the MTA” was a parody revolving around the 1948 mayoral election in Boston? It had its roots in a song called “The Wreck of Old 97,” which in turn was based on “The Ship That Never Returned”-a song dating back to the 1850s. The parody took a new twist when Rod MacDonald wrote new lyrics, about Palm Beach County, Florida, and the 2000 presidential elections.
Wells's course had its origins on campus in occasional single lectures, “for a change of pace.” These lectures were popular. “It began to dawn on me that this actually connected to my professional life.”
Then, when Wells was awarded a Fulbright to go to Denmark in 1997, he began teaching the course itself. He's offered it every year at Union since 1999. “I have always capped the class at 30, and it fills every time.”
This sunny April morning, it's 9 a.m., and students shuffle sleepily into the classroom. A low-key but energetic Bob Wells is ready for them, seated in a red chair at the front of the classroom, tuning his steel-stringed acoustic guitar. He begins strumming a progression of major chords and then launches into children's songs, some going back to the 15th and 16th centuries.
The context today is childhood and child-rearing practices. For example, he says, “In the 17th and 18th centuries, demographic patterns included high death rates. Children didn't stand a good chance of making it past their first, or fifth, birthdays. Only half would make it to marriageable age. So reminders about mortality are common in old folk songs.
“In the mid-19th century, attitudes toward children changed. Childhood became seen as more innocent, romantic. Childhood begins to stretch out. Play is encouraged. Parents might withhold affection rather than property as the preferred control. Childrearing became more women's responsibility as more men began to work outside the home. With more emphasis on the individual, community begins to become less important-so you have to internalize control.”
“Hush Little Baby” is a song of reassurance, showing that parental affection remains no matter what. It also tells us that the material world is not very reliable, it's ephemeral, things break.
Wells sings and plays “Go Tell Aunt Rhody”-“the first folk song I ever knew-my grandmother sang it to me.” Originating in the 18th century, it's a song of sad resignation, telling the listener not to get too attached to animals. “When Woody Guthrie and Cisco and Sonny Terry got hold of it, however, they took the message and converted it just by the way they played it -it becomes more up tempo -as if they're making fun of the original song. It becomes something to dance to.”
Wells invites the class to sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” which they do, hesitantly, although every student remembers the hand gestures that go along with the song. (It's a song that teaches gross and small motor development, coordination. The moral message, of course, is about the importance of perseverance.) “I once sang this at a commencement,” he says, “to honor kindergarten teachers.”
“The Fox,” which he sings and plays, turns out to be a message of social class distinction, a kind of Robin Hood song-implying stealing from the rich, landed aristocracy to feed the poor at home.
And “Froggy Went A-Courting” has pretty deep roots, with the earliest version copyrighted in 1580. The full name of the original song was “A Most Strange Wedding of a Frog and Mouse”; some have suggested the song was poking fun at Queen Elizabeth's tendency to give people nicknames, and at the attempted courtship of the Duc d'Anjou. There are many versions, along with many messages about the social order.
Says Emily Laing '08, a sophomore American history major and French minor who is taking the class, “Last term I took Origins of American Society with Professor Wells, and he dedicated one of our classes to colonial folk music to show how it can teach us about history. He brought in his guitar and had us sing along. I loved the feeling of connection to the past which folk songs give. The people who wrote these were expressing emotions or telling stories which are still relevant. That one class was the perfect overview of his American Folk Music course. I was excited to see American Folk Music on the course listing for this term so I could learn more in depth about what folk music can teach us.
“My favorite moment so far was the day we learned about children's songs. He had the entire class snorting along to the pig verse in “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” and this, during a 9 a.m. class. It's my fourth class this term and definitely my favorite.”
History major Alex Dacey '07 adds, “Studying music from a historical perspective has been awesome. Personally, I find the chance to study and sing the music in class to be one of the course highlights. I never thought of folk music as something that could be studied from a historical perspective. As I near my thesis assignment for senior year, this class has me considering ways to use music as a primary source for whatever I plan to study. I would recommend this course to anyone who is not shy and loves history. Believe me, at 9 in the morning, this class is the only one in my three years at Union that I know will keep me fully awake, alert and interested.”
Bob Wells owns six guitars, one of which he keeps in his office and plays during classes, as well as during breaks and at folk song jams every Friday at the noon hour in Green House. (You may have seen their photo in the February 24, 2006, edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, as part of its article on the Minervas.) At these sessions, Wells is joined by fellow faculty members Hugh Jenkins (English) on mandolin, Harry Marten (English) on drum, Dave Gehren (Library) on piano, Jordan Smith (English) on fiddle and flute, Kara Doyle (English), Maggie Tongue (Academic Affairs), as well as a couple of students. It's a free-floating event, says Wells. Anyone's welcome to join in.