Angelina Baker
Encyclopedia
Angelina Baker, sometimes sung as Angeline the Baker (Roud 18341) is a song written by Stephen Foster
for the Christy Minstrels, and published in 1850. The original laments the loss of a woman slave, sent away by her owner. The lyrics have been subjected to the folk process, and some versions have become examples of the "Ugly Girl" or Dinah song.
or banjo
tune, and differs from the Stephen Foster melody. It is part of the old time fiddle
canon, but is also played by bluegrass musicians
. This old time
tune was also played as bluegrass
by Stuart Duncan at the 2007 Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival. Duncan also played this tune at the Grand Oprey in 2008 with Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Brian Sutton, Stuart Duncan, & Mark Schatz on Grand Ole Opry playing "Major Honker." According to Lyle Lofgren, writing for Inside Bluegrass, publication of the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association, "Foster published Angelina Baker in 1850, and it was featured on stage by the original Christy Minstrels." His report of the by now public domain lyrics is as follows.
The way I always loved her beats all you ever seen.
CHORUS:
Angeline the baker, her age is forty-three,
I bought her candy by the peck, and she won't marry me.
2. Her father is the miller, they call him Uncle Sam.
I never will forget her, unless I take a dram. CHO.
3. Angeline is handsome, Angeline is tall,
They say she sprained her ankle a-dancing at the ball. CHO.
4. She can't do hard work because she is not stout,
She bakes her biscuits every day, and pours the coffee out. CHO.
5. I'll never marry no other girl, no matter where I go.
I said I'd marry Angeline just twenty years ago. CHO.
6. The last time I saw her was at the county fair.
Her father run me almost home and told me to stay there. CHO.
Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...
for the Christy Minstrels, and published in 1850. The original laments the loss of a woman slave, sent away by her owner. The lyrics have been subjected to the folk process, and some versions have become examples of the "Ugly Girl" or Dinah song.
Fiddle tune
An instrumental version, as collected by John A. Lomax under the title "Angelina the Baker" is a popular fiddleFiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
or banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
tune, and differs from the Stephen Foster melody. It is part of the old time fiddle
Old time fiddle
Old time fiddle is a genre of American folk music. "Old time fiddle tunes" may be played on fiddle, banjo or other instruments but are nevertheless called "fiddle tunes". The genre has European origins and traces from the colonization of North America by immigrants from England, France, Germany,...
canon, but is also played by bluegrass musicians
Bluegrass fiddle
"In the 1940s Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys revolutionized American string band music by incorporating virtuosic instrumental solos and a “high lonesome” vocal style". Bluegrass fiddling burst into national view during the folk revival of the 1960s with the first televised documentary...
. This old time
Old Time
"Old time" , "old timey" and "olde tyme" are terms used to describe stereotyped images and representations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, generally not more than a generation before or after the turn of the century. The term "old timeyness" is used more rarely...
tune was also played as bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
by Stuart Duncan at the 2007 Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival. Duncan also played this tune at the Grand Oprey in 2008 with Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Brian Sutton, Stuart Duncan, & Mark Schatz on Grand Ole Opry playing "Major Honker." According to Lyle Lofgren, writing for Inside Bluegrass, publication of the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association, "Foster published Angelina Baker in 1850, and it was featured on stage by the original Christy Minstrels." His report of the by now public domain lyrics is as follows.
Lyrics
1. Angeline the baker lives in our village green,The way I always loved her beats all you ever seen.
CHORUS:
Angeline the baker, her age is forty-three,
I bought her candy by the peck, and she won't marry me.
2. Her father is the miller, they call him Uncle Sam.
I never will forget her, unless I take a dram. CHO.
3. Angeline is handsome, Angeline is tall,
They say she sprained her ankle a-dancing at the ball. CHO.
4. She can't do hard work because she is not stout,
She bakes her biscuits every day, and pours the coffee out. CHO.
5. I'll never marry no other girl, no matter where I go.
I said I'd marry Angeline just twenty years ago. CHO.
6. The last time I saw her was at the county fair.
Her father run me almost home and told me to stay there. CHO.