Angelina Baker: A Song History
"Angelina Baker" began as a minstrel song by Stephen Foster. It was written for the Christy Minstrels and published in 1850 by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore[1][2]. The Christy Minstrels were a blackface troupe that specialized in Foster's songs[3]. Its narrator grieves for the enslaved woman he loves after her owner sends her away[1][4]. Foster wrote it in the same period as the national outcry over the Fugitive Slave Act[4].
Winslow Homer, The Dance after the Husking (detail), wood engraving from Harper's Weekly, November 13, 1858. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain.
The tune old-time musicians play today, usually called "Angeline the Baker," is described as derived from Foster's song[5][4], but the instrumental melody differs from the one Foster published[1]. In the hands of fiddlers it turned into a lively dance tune that keeps much of the original's structure[4]. One early recording was made at Bristol, Tennessee, on October 30, 1928, when Uncle Eck Dunford sang "Angeline, the Baker" for Victor, backed by Ernest and Hattie Stoneman and banjoist Bolen Frost[6]. The version most revival players learned comes mainly from a few sources. These include J. W. "Babe" Spangler of Patrick County, Virginia, and the West Virginia fiddler Franklin George, whose version reached players such as Joel Shimberg[5].
Today "Angeline the Baker" belongs to the old-time fiddle canon and is also played by bluegrass musicians[1]. It is usually heard in D[5].
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Sources
- Wikipedia: "Angelina Baker".
- Mainly Norfolk: "Angelina Baker [Stephen Collins Foster] (Roud 18341, 17854)".
- Wikipedia: "Christy's Minstrels".
- American Battlefield Trust: "Angelina Baker".
- The Traditional Tune Archive: "Angeline the Baker".
- Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix BVE-47254. Angeline, the baker / Uncle Eck Dunford".