Clarence Tross (1884-1977) performs his rendition of the blackface minstrel tune “Miss Lucy Neal”, acapella.
“Miss Lucy Neal” is a blackface minstrel show tune published in 1846 by the Ethiopian Serenaders. It is likely derivative of the more well known blackface minstrel tune “Miss Lucy Long”. Tross in particular also mentions the blackface minstrel characters “Jim Crow” and “Long Tail Blue” who are also at the center of two respective blackface songs. The song is similar to African American folk songs like “Cotton-Eyed Joe” and is likely derivative of authentic songs sung and played by enslaved African Americans.
Clarence Tross (1884-1977) performs his rendition of the blackface minstrel tune “Miss Lucy Neal”, which he refers to in this instance as “Miss Lucy Neal Down in the Cottonfields”.
“Miss Lucy Neal” is a blackface minstrel show tune published in 1846 by the Ethiopian Serenaders. It is likely derivative of the more well known blackface minstrel tune “Miss Lucy Long”. Tross in particular also mentions the blackface minstrel characters “Jim Crow” and “Long Tail Blue” who are also at the center of two respective blackface songs. The song is similar to African American folk songs like “Cotton-Eyed Joe” and is likely derivative of authentic songs sung and played by enslaved African Americans.
This song and performance represents the early spreading of African American musical forms through out the United States, with the banjo being adopted into blackface minstrelsy (A form of entertainment meant to mock the culture of enslaved and freed African Americans) by the 1840s, and ultimately being popularized by it.
Many African American banjoists would go on to learn and play these songs that were originally derived from and mocking of their music and condition. Often, these African American performers toned down the racist language that originally plagued these songs, and added a bit of sentimentality, as Tross does in this performance of “Miss Lucy Neal”.
Clarence Tross (1884-1977) performs a rendition of the traditional American folk song “Cripple Creek”, which he refers to as “Hipple Creek”.