Side One

1. Yankee Doodle (1:11)

   This song was originally sung by the British to poke fun at the ragged-looking Americans. But after the battles at Lexington and Concord, the Yankees sang it back to the British and made it their own. The word “macaroni” in those days meant “fancy dress” — which the Americans did not have. Sung by Robert Michael Jones and Richard Shulberg.

   Yankee Doodle went to town,
   Riding on a pony;
   Stuck a feather in his hat
   And called it Macaroni.

   Chorus:
   Yankee Doodle keep it up,
   Yankee Doodle dandy;
   Mind the music and the step,
   And with the girls be handy.

   Father and I went down to camp,
   Along with Captain Goodin’,
   And there we saw the men and boys
   As thick as has-ty pud-din’.

   Chorus

2. The Ballad of the Tea Party (1:23)

   A sailors’ tune from 1730 was used as the melody for this song. In 1773, angry patriots responded to the British tax on tea by disguising themselves as Indians and dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. Your children might enjoy acting out the verses of this song, and can join in on the chorus. Sung by Hermes Nye (Soldier Songs FH 5249 used by permission of Folkways Records)

   Tea-ships near to Boston lying,
   On the wharf a numerous crew.
   Sons of Freedom never dying,
   Then appeared in view!

   Chorus:
   With a rink-tum, dink-tum,
   Fa la link-tum, then appeared in view,
   With a rink-tum, dink-tum,
   Fa la link-tum, then appeared in view!

   Armed with hammers, axes, chisels,
   Weapons new for war-like deed,
   Toward the tax-éd, freighted vessels
   On they came with speed.

   Chorus:
   With a rink-tum, dink-tum,
   Fa la link-tum, on they came with speed.
   (2 times)

   Overboard she goes my boys, ho,
   Where darkling waters roar:
   We love our cup of tea full well but
   Love our freedom more.

   Chorus:
   With a rink-tum, dink-tum,
   Fa la link-tum, love our freedom more.
   (2 times)

   Deep, into the sea descended
   Curséd weed of China’s coast;
   Thus at once our fears were ended,
   Rights shall ne’er be lost!

   Chorus:
   With a rink-tum, dink-tum,
   Fa la link-tum, rights shall ne’er be lost!
   (2 times)

3. Ten Green Apples (1:17)

   Counting songs were as popular in colonial times as they are today. This tune was adapted by Alan Mills from a popular English song. The easy lyrics are perfect for singing along. Sung by Alan Mills (14 Numbers, Letters and Animal Songs FC 7545 used by permission of Folkways Records)

   Farmer Brown had 10 green apples hanging on a tree.
   Farmer Brown had 10 green apples hanging on a tree.
   Then he plucked one apple and he ate it greedily,
   Leaving 9 green apples a-hanging on a tree.

   Farmer Brown had 9 green apples hanging on a tree.
   Farmer Brown had 9 green apples hanging on a tree.
   Then he plucked one apple and he ate it greedily,
   Leaving 8 green apples a-hanging on a tree.

   Farmer Brown had 8 green apples hanging on a tree.
   (Etc.)

   NOTE: Have children continue the song until there are “no green apples a-hanging on a tree.”

4. The Erie Canal (1:10)

   Finished in 1825, the Erie Canal helped to open the territories of Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Bridges over the canal were quite low, hence the cry: “Everybody down!” Sung by Robert Michael Jones and Richard Shulberg

   I’ve got a mule, her name is Sal,
   Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.
   She’s a good ol’ worker and a good ol’ pal,
   Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.

   We’ve hauled some barges in our day,
   Filled with lumber, coal and hay;
   And we know ev’ry inch of the way,
   From Albany to Buffalo.

   Low bridge, ev’rybody down!
   Low bridge, for we’re comin’ to a town!
   And you’ll always know your neighbor,
   you’ll always know your pal,
   If you’ve ever navigated on the erie Canal.
   (2 times)

5. Goober Peas (2:08)

   This song became popular during the Civil War. At that time, the lyrics were credited to, “P. Nutt, Esq.” (obviously a pseudonym.) Children will enjoy singing along. “Goober” comes from the African “nguba” meaning peanut. Sung by John Cohen and the New Lost City Ramblers (Songs of the Civil War FH 5717 used by permission of Folkways Records)

   Sitting by the roadside on a summer’s day,
   Chatting with my messmates, passing time away,
   Lying in the shadow underneath the trees,
   Goodness how delicious, eating goober peas!

   Chorus:
   Peas, peas, peas, peas,
   Eating goober peas!
   Goodness how delicious,
   Eating goober peas!

   Just before the battle the gen’ral hears a row,
   He says, “The Yanks are coming, I hear their rifles now.”
   He turns around in wonder, and what do you think he sees?
   The Georgia Militia — eating goober peas!

   Chorus

   I think my song has lasted almost long enough,
   The subject’s interesting, but rhymes are mighty rough,
   I wish this war was over, when free from rags and fleas,
   We’d kiss our wives and sweethearts and gobble goober peas!

   Chorus

Side Two

1. I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad (1:24)

   In the 1800’s, the people who helped to build the nation’s railroad enjoyed singing this song. On May 10, 1859, at Promontory Point, Utah, silver and gold spikes joined the tracks of the Central Pacific and union pacific Railroads to create the first coast-to-coast railway. Sung by robert Michael Jones and Richard Shulberg

   I’ve been workin’ on the railroad, all the livelong day,
   I’ve been workin’ on the railroad, just to pass the time away.
   Can’t you hear the whistle blowing? Rise up so early in the morn,
   Can’t you hear the captain shouting: “Dinah, blow your horn”?

   Dinah, won’t you blow; Dinah, won’t you blow,
   Dinah won’t you blow your horn, your horn?
   Dinah, won’t you blow; Dinah, won’t you blow,
   Dinah won’t you blow your horn?

   Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah,
   Someone’s in the kitchen, I know.
   Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah,
   Strummin’ on the old banjo.

   Fee-fie-fiddle-dee-i-o, Fee-fie-fiddle-dee-i-o,
   Fee-fie-fiddle-dee-i-o, Strummin’ on the old banjo.

2. Buffalo Gals (0:48)

   This American favorite has many variants, but first appeared in 1844 as a minstrel tune. It makes the perfect accompaniment for a circle dance, or children might enjoy acting out the verses. Sung by Pete Seeger (American Favorite Ballads, Vol. II FA 2320 used by permission of Folkways Records)

   As I was walking down the street
   Down the street, down the street,
   A pretty little girl I chanced to meet
   And we danced by the light of the moon.

   Chorus:
   Buffalo gal won’t you come out tonight?
   Come out tonight? Come out tonight?
   Buffalo gal won’t you come out tonight?
   And dance by the light of the moon?

   I danced with a gal with a hole in her stocking
   And her heel kept a-knockin’ and her toes kept a-rockin’
   I danced with a gal with a hole in her stocking
   And we danced by the light of the moon.

   Chorus (2 times)

3. Whoopie Ti Yi Yo (1:33)

   Cowboys in the 1880’s enjoyed singing this song. It describes a cattle drive beginning in Texas. There, the “dogies” (originally “motherless calves” but later an affectionate term for any calf) would be “cut out” (divided into groups), and marked for identification. The drive would then take them to grazing land in Wyoming, and later to Idaho to be sold. “Cholla” and “prickly pear” are kinds of cactus. Sung by Cisco Houston (This Land Is My Land FC 7027 used by permission of Folkways Records)

   As I was a-walkin’ one mornin’ for pleasure
   I spied a young cowboy a-ridin’ along.
   Well, his hat was shoved back, and his spurs was a-jinglin’,
   And as he was riding he was singing this song:

   Chorus:
   Whoopie ti yi yo git along little dogies
   It’s your misfortune and none of my own,
   Whoopie ti yi yo git along little dogies
   You know that Wyoming will be your new home.

   Early in the springtime we round up the dogies
   We cut ‘em out, brand ‘em and bob off their tails;
   Round up the horses, load up the chuck wagon,
   Then throw the dogies out on the north trail.

   Chorus

   Your mother was raised way down in Texas
   Where the jimson weed and cholla is grown
   But we’ll fill you up on those prickly pear briars
   Until you are ready for Idaho.

   Chorus

4. The Mocking Bird (1:12)

   This traditional lullaby of the Appalachian regions has been sung by generations of American families. Your children may know it and will enjoy singing along. Sung by Adelaide Van Way (Songs to Grow On, Vol. II: School Days FC 7020 (FP 20) used by permission of Folkways Records)

   Hush, little baby, don’t say a word,
   Mama’s gonna buy you a mocking bird.

   If that mocking bird won’t sing,
   Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.

   If that diamond ring turns brass,
   Mama’s gonna buy you a looking glass.

   If that looking glass gets broke,
   Mama’s gonna buy you a billy-goat.

   If that billy-goat won’t pull,
   Mama’s gonna buy you a cart and bull.

   If that cart and bull turn over,
   Mama’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

   If that dog named Rover won’t bark,
   Mama’s gonna buy you a horse and cart.

   If that horse and cart fall down,
   You’ll be the sweetest little girl in town.

5. This Land is Your Land (2:10)

   Written by Woody Guthrie in 1956, this song has rapidly become one of America’s most popular national ballads. This is an original recording by Woody Guthrie. Sung by Woody Guthrie (This Land is Your Land FTS 31001 used by permission of Folkways Records)

   This land is your land, this land is my land,
   From California to the New York island,
   From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters,
   This land was made for you and me.

   As I went walking that ribbon of highway,
   I saw above me that endless skyway,
   I saw below me that golden valley,
   This land was made for you and me.

   Chorus:
   This land is your land, this land is my land,
   From California to the New York island,
   From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters,
   This land was made for you and me.

   I roamed and I rambled, and I followed my footsteps,
   To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
   All around me a voice was sounding,
   This land was made for you and me.

   Chorus

SCHOLASTIC RECORDS SCC 2745
50 West 44th St., New York, N.Y. 10036

Compiled by Judy Wathen
Manufactured in U.S.A.

A Touch of Folksy, Nostalgic Old Hawaii

One of the most exciting things that can happen to a person is a real, honest-to-goodness Hawaiian party. It can happen any place, any time, and it’s very likely to be impromptu. Conviviality reigns. Food and drink are abundant. Everybody sings and dances. Most play one or more instruments. Ukuleles appear from nowhere, and if you’re very lucky there’s a slack key guitarist among the group…or someone rounds him up. The music is sure to begin at a lively tempo with hulas familiar to all. As the party progresses, the mood becomes more sentimental. Later the less familiar numbers begin to creep in as each artist performs his special numbers, sometimes a piece handed down to him in secrecy by an older member of his family.

These Hawaiian party songs are many things: sweet and sentimental; playful and peppy; sensuous and suggestive; nostalgic, reverent. But above all they are rhythmical, for Hawaiians are a people who dance their songs, and the rhythms of the earth are strong in these exuberant people.

Slack Key Guitar Indigenous to Hawaii

A unique guitar technique, peculiar to The Islands, slack key almost defies description. Basically an unusual tuning (and there are several different slack key tunings, including two known as “Wahine” and “Maunaloa”) in which the tension is lowered to produce a deep, vibrant tone, this difficult method has been handed down by demonstration. There are no written instructions.

Admired and respected as a style, slack key evolved, probably in the 1880’s, from the Spanish guitar brought to Hawaii by sailors aboard whaling ships of the early 19th century.

Slack key is related in philosophy and attitude to flamenco, a sort of gypsy jazz, in that its essence is improvisation and its rhythms are the heartbeat of the folk.

Leonard Kwan, our slack key guitarist for this album, is one of the few younger musicians of Hawaii who have mastered the style. A versatile musician, he plays many string instruments.

about the selections…

Side One:

1. Haleakala Hula (2:38), snappy and happy-hearted, concerns the fascinating beauty of Haleakala—not a lovely little brown gal but—the world’s largest dormant volcano…Haleakala, “House of the Sun,” on the island of Maui.

2. Po Mahina (3:03)—a slow, dreamy-voiced tune backed by the steady, sensuous beat of the slack key guitar—suggests, even to the ear unfamiliar with Hawaiian words, a romantic moonlight night. And that’s precisely what “Po Mahina” is all about…it’s a love song of a couple walking in the moonlight.

3. A Song to Hawaii (2:33) explains that, in Hawaii, the spirit of Aloha begins with the elements: the wind, the waves, even the flowers. With simplicity and reverence, Bob Pauhale Davis sings this tribute to the land of his birth—Hawaii, now the Aloha state.

4. Manini Chimes (1:11) is a new title to an old tune. It is a brief slack key “excercise” handed down by tune and technique, but not by name, to our artist from his uncle. In this, its first recording, it’s christened “Manini,” a lively pint-sized number, or literally, “alert little fish.”

5. He Aloha No Honolulu (2:16), to hula enthusiasts immediately suggests a line of quick-stepping hula girls, naughty-sweet in their swishing ti-leaf skirts. With diamond-bright eyes they sing of the excitement of a trip from Honolulu to the big island of Hawaii and of the sights along the way.

6. Kahoolawe Hula (2:41), for all its melodious and rhythmical appeal, describes the island of Kahoolawe, always a harsh, dry island where few but goats have ever lived. today it is a barren, and (though it is not expressed in the song) pock-marked island of exploded and unexploded shells, a military target isle.

Side Two:

1. Opihi Moemoe (3:00) was recorded earlier as a single record, and as such this lively number with a magnetic beat has had a great deal to do with Leonard Kwan’s rapidly growing popularity as a slack key artist in Hawaii. The piece, a no-name hand-me-down for generations, is now called “Sleepy Opihi” (tiny shellfish).

2. Noho Paipai (2:22) is the “Rocking Chair” hula, in which the vocal portion is almost sleepy, while the syncopation of slack key accompaniment is rather rhumba-like. The lyrics are romantic: the poet yearns for his love, whom he has kissed as a stranger.

3. Yellow Ginger Lei (2:34) is sweet and slow, and this tremolo slack key version gives a vibrant quality appropriate to a hula about a fragile flower. The yellow ginger is a favorite island blossom, delicate and of spicy fragrance, which blooms in moist, verdant valleys.

4. “Susy” Ana E (2:49), lively and saucy, is a typical Hawaiian hula. It was written in admiration of a girl called “Susy” Ana, a girl with pretty eyes, a girl who goes swimming and fishing with her kane (man).

5. Nahenahe (1:50), another traditional tune with a new title, suggests sweet music, soft winds, gentle manners. Our slack key version reveals a strong Spanish influence, remembering slow, formal patterns of dance, courtly manners, and then…provocative castanets.

6. Ahi Wela (2:58), “Love Hot as Fire,” is an old and well-loved song in which Hawaiians use the hymn-like style of singing brought to them by New England missionaries…to tell of a passionate, all-consuming love.

the artists:

Leonard Kwan, slack key guitar and mandolin
Bob Pauhale Davis, baritone
The Kamaha’os Trio: Kalona Manning, Kaua Ioane, Kape Kauhane
Thomas Kaheiki, bass
William Kaawa, guitar

Notes by: Mazeppa Costa & Margaret Williams
Cover by: Allison-Nieman Graphic Design Associates, Honolulu
Published by: Tradewinds Records, Honolulu

TS-102

(Another thrift-store find, this one. The great 60’s era graphic design and wonderful title caught my eye. The music isn’t bad, but doesn’t grab me as much as many other find have, but that’s all part of the fun of randomly grabbing old records.)