mfa7064 Camptown Races:
"Camptown Races") is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864).
It was published by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, in February 1850. Benteen published another edition in 1852 with guitar accompaniment under the title, "The Celebrated Ethiopian Song/Camptown Races".
Foster quite specifically tailored the song for use on the minstrel stage. He composed it as a piece for solo voice with group interjections and refrain ... his dialect verses have all the wild exaggeration and rough charm of folk tale as well as some of his most vivid imagery ...
Together with "Oh! Susanna", "Camptown Races" is one of the gems of the minstrel era. |
