Shortnin' Bread Explained

Shortnin' Bread
Published:1900

"Shortnin' Bread" (also spelled "Shortenin' Bread", "Short'nin' Bread", or "Sho'tnin' Bread") is an American folk song dating back at least to 1900, when James Whitcomb Riley published it as a poem. While there is speculation that Riley may have based his poem on an earlier African-American plantation song,[1] no definitive evidence of such an origin has yet been uncovered. A "collected" version of the song was published by E. C. Perrow in 1915. It is song number 4209 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

Shortening bread refers to a bread made of corn meal and/or flour and lard shortening.

Origins

The origin of "Shortnin' Bread" is obscure. Despite speculation of African-American roots, it is possible that it may have originated with Riley as a parody of a plantation song, in the minstrel or coon song traditions popular at the time.[2] [3]

Riley titled the song "A Short'nin' Bread Song—Pieced Out", and wrote the first verse as:

The dialect rendered into common English would be:

The verse includes:

Another pair of verses may be later, and exist in several versions:

In some versions there are two children instead of three - and the "other" either "bump'd his head" or "was dead". The first doesn't quite scan. The children (or "chillun") were once referred to by one of several racist terms.

Other verses include:

Reese DuPree composed a version recorded in 1927.[4]

Folk version

Titled "Shortened Bread", E. C. Perrow published the first folk version of this song in 1915, which he collected from East Tennessee in 1912.[5] The folk version of the song—as with Riley's—does not have any distinct theme, but consists of various floating lyrics, some relating to "shortnin' bread", some not. The traditional chorus associated with the folk song goes:

Other renditions

The Beach Boys version

Shortenin' Bread
Artist:the Beach Boys
Album:L.A. (Light Album)

"Shortenin' Bread" was recorded by the American rock band the Beach Boys numerous times. Only one version has seen official release, as the final track on their 1979 album L.A. (Light Album). The band's principal songwriter Brian Wilson was reportedly obsessed with the song, having recorded more than a dozen versions of the tune.[28] Beach Boy Al Jardine speculated that Wilson's obsession with the song may have begun after co-writing the song "Ding Dang" with the Byrds' Roger McGuinn in the early 1970s.[29] Numerous anecdotes have been reported about Wilson's obsession with the song:

A number of Wilson-produced "Shortenin' Bread" and "Ding Dang" variations remain unreleased. Titles include "Clangin'" (recorded with Nilsson), "Brian's Jam", and "Rolling Up to Heaven".[31] A version that was developed from a 1973 session, featuring American Spring as guest vocalists, was completed for the unreleased album Adult/Child in 1977.[32]

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Wade, Stephen. The Beautiful Music all Around Us: Field Recordings and the American Experience. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012. p. 93.
  2. Web site: "Minstrel show : American Theater". Britannica.com.
  3. Web site: "The History of Ragtime: Cakewalk and Coon song". Blackmusicscholar.com.
  4. Web site: Du Pree, Reese . Discography of American Historical Recordings .
  5. Perrow, "Songs and Rhymes from the South", p. 142: "from Tennessee mountain whites, 1912". Archive.org
  6. Web site: Shortening Bread. YouTube.
  7. Web site: "Paul Robeson, Green Pastures [X27]". Cpsr.cs.uchicago.edu.
  8. Web site: The Andrews Sisters : Shortenin' Bread. Recorded in 1938. Composed By Wood; Wolfe. YouTube.
  9. Web site: Shortnin' Bread : The Viscounts. YouTube.
  10. Web site: Shortnin' Bread. YouTube.
  11. Web site: Fats Waller & His Rhythm - Shortnin' Bread. YouTube.
  12. Web site: Short'nin' Bread (Remastered). YouTube.
  13. Web site: Shortnin' Bread by Frances Faye. YouTube.
  14. Web site: NELSON EDDY SINGS SHORTNIN BREAD jame whitcombe riley 1938. YouTube.
  15. Web site: Shortnin' bread. YouTube.
  16. Web site: Short'nin' Bread. YouTube.
  17. Web site: Shortnin' Bread. YouTube.
  18. Web site: Charles Mingus - Shortnin' Bread. YouTube.
  19. Web site: The Beach Boys - Shortnin' Bread (From the Adult Child album). YouTube.
  20. Web site: Klaus Flouride - Shortnin Bread / The Drowning Cowboy (1982). YouTube.
  21. Web site: Shortnin' Bread. YouTube.
  22. Web site: The Cramps - Shortnin' Bread (1990). YouTube.
  23. Web site: Shortnin' Bread. YouTube.
  24. Web site: Shortenin' Bread by The Tractors. YouTube.
  25. Web site: Shortnin' Bread - Dance Performance by Troupe 212 at Laurie Berkner Band Concert. YouTube.
  26. Web site: Mama's Little Baby Loves Shortnin' Bread Sing Along Nursery Rhyme with The Wiggles. YouTube.
  27. Web site: Israel's Arcade - Full Live Set. YouTube.
  28. Chidester . Brian . 7 March 2014 . Busy Doin' Somethin': Uncovering Brian Wilson's Lost Bedroom Tapes . 11 December 2014 . Paste.
  29. Beard . David . Spring 2007 . Ding Dang . Endless Summer Quarterly.
  30. Web site: Music-News.com Newsdesk . 5 July 2011 . Alice Cooper was too afraid to argue with Brian Wilson . MusicNewsWeb.
  31. News: Chidester . Brian . 30 January 2014 . Brian Wilson's Secret Bedroom Tapes . 11 December 2014 . LA Weekly.
  32. Web site: 2 September 2003 . The Stylus Magazine Non-Definitive Guide: The Lost Album . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20030905223901/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=613 . 5 September 2003 . 13 July 2014 . Stylus Magazine.

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