Eighth of January: A Song History

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"Eighth of January" takes its name from the date of the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, when a modest, badly equipped American army under Major General Andrew Jackson defeated about eight thousand British troops. The battle came after the Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812 had been signed, though before it was ratified, so it had little military significance; it did, however, make Jackson a national hero.[1] During the nineteenth century, and especially in the South, people marked the anniversary with parties and dances.[1] According to the Traditional Tune Archive, the fiddle tune was first called "Jackson's Victory." Around the Civil War era, as Jackson's standing declined, it was renamed for the date instead of the man. Its age is disputed. Tom Carter reported that some see it as a fairly recent reworking of an older tune, "Jake Gilly," while Tom Rankin suggested it might even be older than the battle, and seemingly American, with no obvious British ancestor.[2]

1840 lithograph after Hyacinthe Laclotte: a wide view of the Battle of New Orleans, with lines of troops and gun smoke across the plain

Battle of New Orleans – January 8, 1815, lithograph by P.S. Duval after a sketch made on the field by Hyacinthe Laclotte, drawn on stone by A. Hoffy, 1840. Library of Congress. No known restrictions on publication.

It became one of the most widespread Southern fiddle tunes, found in many variants that almost always go by the same name. Dr. Humphrey Bate and His Possum Hunters recorded it for Brunswick in 1928.[2][3] In the 1940s, the folklorists Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin recorded several versions in California, played by migrant workers from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl.[1] According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Jimmy Driftwood (born James Corbett Morris) wrote "The Battle of New Orleans" in 1936 while teaching school in Timbo, Arkansas, as a way to help his students keep the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War straight; it later appeared on his first RCA album, released in 1958.[4] The Traditional Tune Archive also dates the song to 1936 and describes it as new words set to the old fiddle melody, though a Library of Congress page places Driftwood's lyrics in 1958.[2][1]

Johnny Horton's 1959 recording of Driftwood's song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 1, 1959, and stayed there for six weeks. It also held the top of the country chart for ten weeks.[5][4] At the second Grammy Awards, the song won Song of the Year for Driftwood,[4][6] and Horton's record won Best Country & Western Performance.[7] The old fiddle tune, played in D, has its own place in today's mountain dulcimer world: Stephen Seifert includes it in Join the Jam, his book of 75 popular tunes for dulcimer players who gather to jam.[2][8]

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Sources

  1. Library of Congress: "Today in History – January 8".
  2. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Annotation:Eighth of January (1)".
  3. SecondHandSongs: "Dr. Humphrey Bate and His Possum Hunters".
  4. CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas: "Jimmy Driftwood (1907–1998)".
  5. Stereogum: "The Number Ones: Johnny Horton's ‘The Battle Of New Orleans’".
  6. Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage: "Echoes from the Archives: Jimmy Driftwood, Music Icon of the Ozarks".
  7. Recording Academy (GRAMMY.com): "Rockin' For Freedom".
  8. Stephen Seifert: "Join the Jam DAD Tuning".