Kiss Me Cindy- Ford and Grace 1927

Kiss Me Cindy
Ford & Grace- 1927 

Kiss Me Cindy/Cindy

Traditional Old-Time, Song and Breakdown- Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi;

ARTIST: Oscar Ford and Grace

Listen: Oscar Ford and Grace; Kiss Me Cindy

Listen: Hobart Smith; Cindy (Fiddle Solo)

Listen: Frank Proffitt; Cindy (Lap Dulcimer Solo)

CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes. DATE: Estimated date of origin 1800s "Ain't I Goin' " 1882; 1911 JOAFL song "Well, She Ask Me in de Parlor," 1915.

The chorus of a song with the Cindy melody and lyrics titled "Ain't I Goin' " was collected by Mrs L.D. Ames in western Nebraska in 1882; published in the JOAFL 1915:

So get along home Si an' a Cindy
Get along home Si an' a Cindy
Get along home Si an' a Cindy
Take your time and go.

RECORDING INFO: The Hill Billies, 1925, “Old Time Cinda” OKeh 40294 (78 RPM); Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Get Along Home, Cindy" (Brunswick 228) Gene Austin, "Cindy" (c. 1927; on CrowTold 01) W. E. Claunch, "Cindy" (AFS, 1939; on LC02); Bill Collins [pseud. for Gene Austin], "Cindy" (Victor 20673, 1927; this may be the same recording as the Gene Austin cited above); Ford & Grace, "Kiss Me Cindy" (OKeh 45157, 1927; on CrowTold02); New Lost City Ramblers, "Cindy" (on NLCR04) County 405, "The Hill-Billies." County 518, Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers- "Echoes of the Ozarks, Vol. I" (appears as "Get Along Home Miss Cindy"). County 544, Clayton McMichen- "Georgia Fiddle Bands, Vol. 2." Folk Legacy Records FSA-17, Hobart Smith - "America's Greatest Folk Instrumentalist" (appears as 1st tune of "Banjo Group #2"). Folkways FA 2399, New Lost City Ramblers- "Vol. 4." Sam Hinton on a Library of Congress recording of his from March 25, 1947 Recorded by Herbert Halpert for the Library of Congress (2739-A-1), 1939, from the playing of the Houston Bald Knob String Band of Franklin County, Va.; County 405, "The Hill-Billies." County 518, Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers- "Echoes of the Ozarks, Vol. I" (appears as "Get Along Home Miss Cindy"). County 544, Clayton McMichen- "Georgia Fiddle Bands, Vol. 2." Folk Legacy Records FSA-17, Hobart Smith - "America's Greatest Folk Instrumentalist" (appears as 1st tune of "Banjo Group #2"). Folkways FA 2399, New Lost City Ramblers- "Vol. 4." Byington, Jill. New River Jam: One, Mountain 308, LP (197?), cut# 6; Claunch, W. E.. Anglo-American Shanties, Lyric Songs, Dance Tunes & Spirituals, Library of Congress AAFS L 2, LP (195?), cut# 16; Coon Creek Girls. Early Radio Favorites, Old Homestead OHS 142, LP (1982), cut# 1; Cooney, Michael. Singer of Old Songs, Front Hall FHR-007C, Cas (1976), cut# 3; Eller, Lawrence & Vaugn. Georgia Folk. A Sampler of Traditional Sounds, Global Village SC 03, Cas (1990), cut#1.06 (Cindy in the Summertime); Eller, Lawrence & Vaugn. Folk Visions & Voices. Traditional Music & Song in North Georgia, University of Georgia, Bk (1983), p 12 (Cindy in the Summertime); Fluharty, Russell. West Virginia Heritage, Page SLP 601, LP (197?), cut#B.04; Four Sergeants. Bawdy Barracks Ballads, Vol. 2, ABC Paramount ABCS-381, LP (196?), cut#A.05; Gardner, Worley. Mountain Melodies. Tunes of the Appalachians, Oak Leaf OL 3-7-2, LP (197?), cut# 6; Hillbillies. Hillbillies, County 405, LP (197?), cut#A.02; Hinton, Sam. Family Tree of Folk Songs, Decca DL 8418, LP (195?), cut#B.01; Holland, Thomas; & his Crossroad Boys. Old Time Fiddling at Union Grove. The 38th Annual Old-Time Fi..., Prestige 14039, LP (1964), cut#A.03; Howard, Lawton. Between the Sound and the Sea, Folkways FS 3848, LP (1977), cut#A.05a (Little Sydney); Jackson, John. Blues and Country Dance Tunes from Virginia, Arhoolie F-1025, LP (1966), cut#A.07; Levenson, Dan. Light of the Moon, Buzzard 2001, CD (1997), cut# 2; Lucas, Jayne. White Eyes Music Club. Traditional Music in Southeastern Ohio, Western Kentucky Univ. WKU #1, LP (1977), cut#B.07; Lula Belle & Scotty. Anthology of Country Music, Vol 1. Early Country Harmony 1930's, ACM ACM-01, LP, cut# 18 (Get Along Home Cindy (Darling)); Mainer's Mountaineers (J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers). J. E. Mainer's Crazy Mountaineer's, Vol. 1, Old-Timey LP 106, LP (197?), cut# 4 (Kiss Me Cindy); McCoury, Del; and the Dixie Pals. Take Me to the Mountains, Leather LBG-8107, LP (1981), cut#A.05; McMichen, Clayton; and Riley Pucket. Georgia Fiddle Bands, Vol. 2, County 544, LP (197?), cut# 8; Mitchum, Johnny. Johnny Mitchum, Sircy 7304, LP (197?), cut#A.04; Nagler, Eric. Fiddle Up a Tune, Elephant LFN 8206, LP (1982), cut#B.02; New Lost City Ramblers. New Lost City Ramblers, Vol. 4, Folkways FA 2399, LP (1962), cut# 9; Pegram, George; and Parham, Red (Walter). Music From South Turkey Creek, Rounder 0065, LP (1976), cut#b11; Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers. Echoes of the Ozarks, Vol. 1, County 518, LP (1977), cut# 6 (Get Along Home Miss Cindy); Poplin Family. Poplin Family of Sumter, South Carolina, Folkways FA 2306, LP (1963), cut#B.03 (Cindy Gal); Rittler, Dick. American Banjo, Folkways FA 2314, LP (1966), cut# 24; Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. Down Home, Roan Mountain, CD (2000/1983), cut# 2; Russell Family. Old Time Dulcimer Sounds from the Mountains, County 734, LP (1972), cut# 3; Schwarz, Tracy. Dancing Bow and Singing Strings, Folkways FTS-6524, LP (1979), cut#A.01; Schwarz, Tracy and Eloise. Down Home, Folkways FTS 31052, LP (1978), cut#A.01 (Get Along Home Cindy (Darling)); Seeger, Mike. Second Annual Farewell Reunion, Mercury SRMI-685, LP (1973), cut# 5; Seeger, Pete. How to Play the Five String Banjo, Folkways FTS 38303, LP (1974), cut# 5; Seeger, Pete. Goofing Off Suite, Folkways FA 2045, LP (1955), cut# 2 ; Slaughter, Matokie; and the Back Creek Buddies. Saro, Marimac 9028, Cas (1990), cut# 9 (Get Along Home Cindy (Darling)); Smith, Glen. Traditional Music From Grayson and Carroll Counties, Folkways FS 3811, LP (1962), cut# 15; Smith, Hobart. Hobart Smith, Folk Legacy FSA-017, LP (1964), cut# 17; Smith, Winifred. Ethnic Folk Songs from the South, Tennessee Squire Assoc 630D-2211, LP (196?), cut# 3; Stoneman, Ernest; and the Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers. Day in the Mountains, County 512, LP (196?), cut# 7c (Possum Trot School Exhibition); Stoneking, Lee R.. Rainbow of Fiddle Tunes, Stoneking, LP (197?), cut#A.02 (Get Along Home Cindy (Darling)); Tate, Dan. Appalachia, The Old Traditions, Home Made Music LP-001, LP (1982), cut# 9a; Thompson, Joe. Family Tradition, Rounder 2161, CD (1999), cut#10 (Cindy Gal); Travellers. Journey with the Travellers, Kapp KL 1167, LP (196?), cut#A.03 (Cindy, Oh Cindy); Gorman, Skip; and Rick Starkey. Late Last Night, Marimac 9602, Cas (1991), cut# 1; Okun, Milt. America's Best Loved Folk Songs, Baton BL 1293, LP (1957), A.01; Rutherford, Ernest; and the Gold Hill Band. Old Cap'n Rabbit, Heritage (Galax) 080, Cas (1989), cut# 5;

FLOATING LYRICS: "Jinny Go Round and Around," "Liza Jane,"

RELATED TO: Rockingham Cindy; Step-Back Cindy; Georgia Row; Tell Her to Come Back Home; Whoop 'Em Up Cindy; Lulu; Fare You Well, Miss Kitty My Dear;

OTHER NAMES: "Cindy in the Summertime," “Get Along Home, Cindy,” "Cindy in the Meadows," "Get Along Home (Miss) Cindy," "Git Along Cindy," "Git Along," "J'etais au Bal," "Old Time Cinda," "Run Along Home, Cindy," "Whoop 'Em Up Cindy," “Old Time Cindy” 'Well She Ask Me In De Parlor"

SOURCES: New Lost City Ramblers [Brody]; Alan Block [Phillips]; Fox Fraley (Lawrence County, Ky., 1911) [Thomas & Leeder]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 69. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 10. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 53. Rosenbaum (Folk Visions and Voices: Traditional Music and Song in North Georgia), 1989; pgs. 12-13. Thomas and Leeder (The Singin' Gathering), 1939; pg. 23. Lomax-FSUSA 28, "Cindy" Randolph 564, "Get Along Home, Cindy"; Lomax- FSNA 119, "Cindy"; Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 899-900, "Cindy"; PSeeger-AFB, p. 61, "Cindy"; Silber-FSWB, p. 35, "Cindy" Ford (Traditional Music in America) (Get Along Home, Cindy), 1940; pg. 58. Thede (The Fiddle Book), pg. 38(Get Along Home, Cindy). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, Vol. 1), 1994; pg. 53. Kenny Baker with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys [Phillips]. Sweet Bunch of Daisies, Colonial Press, Bk (1991), p164; Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p 58b (Git Along, Cindy); Fraley, Fox. Singin' Gatherin', Silver Burdette, Bk (1939), p20; Phillips, Stacy. Devil's Box, Devil's Box DB, Ser (196?), 30/4, p41; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;

NOTES: One of the great American folk songs and fiddle tunes. "D Major (most versions): G Major (John Brown). Standard or ADAE. AB (Brody): AABB (Phillips/1989 {the 'B' part is 'crooked' in Phillip's version}): AA'BB (Phillips, 1994). A widely known frolic tune, appearing in many folk music collections and even old elementary school songbooks. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954, and was recorded for the Library of Congress in 1939 by Mississippi fiddler John Brown. A very popular Cajun version of the tune, probably borrowed from the American song, is "J'etais au Bal" (I Went to the Dance Last Night). Verses set to the tune are many, including several "floaters."

"The Big Sandy River, referred to in Thomas & Leeder's lyric, forms the border between Kentucky and West Virginia and flows into the Ohio River at Catlettsburg, Ky. It was a flat-boat trade route before the advent of the railroads. See also similar stanzas printed by African-American collector Thomas Talley in Negro Folk Rhymes (1922) under the title "She Hugged Me and Kissed Me." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

I believe that the "Cindy" ancestral song is probably the  song "The Gal from The South," published as written by by L.V. H. Crosby in 1848 (1850). The song has also been attributed to Dan Byrant. The song begins:

Old massa own'd a coloured gal,
He bought her at de south,
Her hair it curl'd so bery tight,
She couldn't shut her mouth.

Clearly the verse evolved to the frequently used first verse of Cindy:

You ought to see my Cindy,
She lives a-way down South,
She's so sweet the honey bees
All swarm around her mouth.

"The Gal from The South" was a very popular song and it evolved again to another similar song titled, "Massa Had a Yaller Gal." Here's a version collected by White, 3A.

Old marster had a yellow gal,
He brought her from the South;
Her hair was wropped so close an' tight,
She couldn't shet her mouf.

The following song relates "Cindy" to "Massa Had a Yaller Gal," collected in 1876-1886 from northern South Carolina and reported in "Literary Digest," May 27, 1916. N. I. White, 1928, "American Negro Folk-Songs," p. 152ff., Social Songs No. 3.

"Git Along Down to Town" from Duncan Emrich, 1974, "American Folk Poetry, an Anthology," p. 65.

Git Along Down to Town
Henry King and Family, Visalia, CA, 1941

Boss he had a yaller gal,
He brought her from the South,
She had her hair done up so tight
Couldn't hardly shut her mouth.

Git along down to town
Git along down to town,
Git along down to Little Rock town,
Gonna set my banjo down.

It's easy to see that the "Git along" chorus was added to create the song we know today as Cindy. The "Git along" section is found in the "Going Down To Town/Lynchburg Town" songs.

"Well, She Ask Me in de Parlor," is another African-American variant of the song, collected by Howard Odum circa 1911, and has the typical verse:

Well, she ask me in de parlor,
An' she cooled me wid her fan,
An' she whispered to her mother,
Mama I love dat dark-haired man.

The chorus of a song with the Cindy melody and lyrics titled "Ain't I Goin' " was collected by Mrs L.D. Ames in western Nebraska in 1882; published in the JOAFL 1915:

So get along home Si an' a Cindy
Get along home Si an' a Cindy
Get along home Si an' a Cindy
Take your time and go.

Cindy is one of the great American folk songs and fiddle tunes. American artist Thomas Hart Benton played “Cindy” at his folk gathering in his home. The versions and related versions are many: From the Hill Billies 1923 “Old Time Cinda” and Uncle Dave Macon’s "Whoop 'Em Up Cindy," to Ricky Nelson’s “Cindy, Cindy” many bites have been taken from the “apple hanging on a tree.”

Here's some info on another version of Cindy collected by Mike Yeats: Dan Tate was born in 1896 and must at one time have known a phenomenal number of songs and banjo tunes. Dan had been recorded for the Library of Congress by Professor Fletcher Collins, of Elon College, NC. Library records date these recording to 1941, although Dan was adamant that they had been made in 1938. I had heard one or two of Dan's recordings prior to meeting him and found that he still just loved to sing. One morning he began to talk about 'the war'. I thought that he was talking about the Great War, until he began to describe the American Civil War Battle of Shiloh.

Dan's song, based on the well-known Cindy, appears to be unique, although Mark Wilson compares his verses with the following play-party verse that Fiddling Powers recorded as part of the song Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe? (Okeh 45268).

Cindy- Brown Collection

404 Cindy

A rather miscellaneous lot of songs or song fragments have attached themselves to the 'Cindy' refrain of an old (ante-bellum) minstrel song. The 'Cindy' refrain is reported from Kentucky (BKH 172), North Carolina ( FSSH 434-5, JAFL xlv 168-9), Mrs. Steely 160-61 (1935), and the Midwest (Ford 58, as a square-dance tune), and among the Negroes from South Carolina (JAFL XLiv 428-9) and Alabama (ANFS 161, really from Tennessee).

The second stanza of our A belongs to 'The Journeyman'; the second stanza of D to the 'I Wouldn't Marry' songs; for the first stanza of B see 'Cornbread When Fm Hungry'; the second stanza of B is likely to appear in almost any of the composite folk lyrics ; the first stanza of F is a favorite among Negro singers ; and for the coon and possum stanzas of G see Ford's Traditional Music of America yy (a square-dance song) and TNFS 170, 172, 173.

'Sindy : a Jig.' Reported by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in 1915 or thereabouts with the notation that it has been "a popular fiddle and banjo tune in our county for a great many years."

I Oh, where'd ye git yer licker.
Oh, where'd ye git yer dram?
I got it of a nigger
Way down in Rockin'ham.

Chorus:

Git along home, oh Sindy, Sindy,
Git along home, oh Sindy, Sindy.
Git along home, oh Sindy, Sindy,
Git along down home.

2. She took me in the parlor,
She fanned me with a fan;
She said I was the sweetest thing
In the shape of mortal man.

3. Sindy in the spring time,
Sindy in the fall,
Sindy at the hall room
A-dancin' at the hall.

4. Sindy went to meetin';
So happy she did feel.
She got so much religion
She split her stockin' heel.

B. 'Beefsteak When I'm Hungry.' Collected by Julian P. Boyd in 1927 from Duval Scott, one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico County.

1. Beefsteak when I'm hungry;
Gravy when I'm dry;
Pretty little girl to love me,
And heaven when I die.

Chorus: Git along home. Cindy, Cindy,
Git along home, Cindy ;
Git along home, Cindy, Cindy,
I ain't gwine there no mo'.

2 I went to see Miss Cindy,
I hadn't heen there befo';
She fed me in the chicken coop.
And I ain't gwine there no mo'.

3. I went to see Miss Cindy;
She met me at de do'.
Shoes and stockin's in her hand
And her bare feet on de flo'.

4. I went to see Miss Cindy,
She met me on the route;
Put me in the coffee pot
And poured me out the spout.

C. 'Cindy' From Miss Jewell Robbins, Pckin, Montgomery county, in 1922.

Cindy in the spring o' the year,
Cindy in the tall:
If I couldn't be Cindy all the year 
I  wouldn't be Cindy at all.

D. 'Cindy' From Miss Jewell Robbins, Pckin, Montgomery county, in July 1922.

1. I went to see Miss Cindy.
She was standin' in de door.
Shoes and stockings in her hand
And feet all over de floor.

Chorus: Oh, git along home, Cindy, Cindy.
Git along home, Cindy. Cindy,
Oh, git along home, Cindy, Cindy,
I'll marry you some time.

2. I wouldn't marry a Johnson gal;
I'll tell you the reason why:
The neck so long and stringy
I'm afraid they'd never die.

E. 'Get Along, Sindy' Contributed as an 'old slave song' by S. M. Davis of White Hall, Wayne county.

I went down to Julia's house
To see Liza Jane.
She fed me in an old hog trough
And I ain't gwine there again.

Chorus:

Oh, get along, Sindy, Sindy,
Sindy, get along, Sindy, Sindy,
Sindy, get along, Sindy, Sindy, Sindy.
I'll spend my money drinking.

F. No title. From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne county, in or about 1923. Rather far removed from the other Cindy songs.

1. Old massa married a yaller gal,
He fotch her from de South.
Her hair was twisted on her head so tight
She could not shut her mouth.

Chorus: Oh, my love Cindia,
Oh, my love Cindia,
Oh, my love Cindia,
Oh, Cindia, fare you well.

2. I went to see my Cindia,
Carried her a pair of shoes.
Ast her if she would marry me;
She said she couldn't refuse.

3. I went to see my Cindia.
Sat down by her side.
I ast her if she'd be my bride;
She hung her head and cried.

KISS ME CINDY- Ford and Grace
Listen: Oscar Ford and Grace;