Okra Pie: A Song History

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"Okra Pie" is the third of the fifteen tunes in John Keane's 15 Originals, a collection of mountain dulcimer tablature published by Fingers Of Steel, and it is played in DAD tuning.[1] The product listing names Keane as composer of every piece in the book, this one included, and the download holds a 43-page PDF of the full collection along with a separate PDF for each tune.[1] Keane comes from Shreveport, Louisiana, holds a music education degree from Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana-Monroe), and performs a mix that runs from Louisiana traditional music and Delta blues to comic novelty numbers; he and Karen Keane have released several books and recordings of their own compositions for mountain dulcimer and Native American flute.[2] The sources consulted here say nothing about when the tune was written or what lies behind its title.[1][2]

Oil painting of cabbages, squash, an eggplant, green pods and tomatoes heaped on a table

James Peale, Still Life: Balsam Apple and Vegetables, oil on canvas, ca. 1820s. Vegetables rather than a pie, shown for the title; it has no connection to the tune.

Our book that contains the song "Okra Pie"

Sources

  1. Fingers Of Steel: "John Keane, 15 Originals".
  2. DulcimerDownloads: "John Keane".
  3. Image: James Peale, Still Life: Balsam Apple and Vegetables, oil on canvas, ca. 1820s. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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