American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

ACWGC Forums

* ACWGC    * Dpt. of Records (DoR)    *Club Recruiting Office     ACWGC Memorial

* CSA HQ    * VMI   * Join CSA    

* Union HQ   * UMA   * Join Union    

CSA Armies:   ANV   AoT

Union Armies:   AotP    AotT

Link Express

Club Forums:     NWC    CCC     Home Pages:     NWC    CCC    ACWGC
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:07 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 12:28 pm 
I have long been amazed at how Dixie can be used in so many movies to emphasize so many different things. In Ken Burns Civil War it is both a haunting melacholy refrain and at other times a joyous upbeat number. In Gettysburg it is used in the same way at the start and end of the movie. From Gone with the Wind to a hundred other westerns and Civil War films the music of Dixie can be heard. I can't name very many other songs that can be so altered by a change of beat, tempo, and instrumentation. Whether a banjo, saxophone, trumpet, piano, electric guitar, or harmonica it seems every instrument in the book has dabbled with Dixie. I can only surmise the uses for Dixie to set a mood or express emotions will never be exhausted.

And I know at least one person in this Club must have played Dixie at their Wedding.... whoever it was fess up 8)


Top
  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 1:39 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2002 8:29 am
Posts: 498
Location: South Africa
I have Dixie as my cellphone ringtone!

_________________
General Stewart Stiles
Image Image
Army of Northern Virginia
Image


Top
 Profile Send private message  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 10:27 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:57 am
Posts: 164
Location: USA
I remember being surprised when hearing in Ken Burn's documentary that upon the Confederacy's surrender at the Appomattox courthouse Lincoln asked a band in Washington D.C. to play "Dixie," adding, "I have always thought 'Dixie' to be one of the best tunes I've ever heard."

_________________
Brigadier General Richard Simonitch
1st Brigade, 2nd Division
VI Corps, AoS


Top
 Profile Send private message  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:02 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:02 am
Posts: 293
Location: H.Q. Army of Georgia ACWGC
Image
Dan Emmett

"Born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, on October 29, 1815, Emmett grew up in the rough frontier community, hearing church hymns, the fife and drums of the militia, and the jolly tunes of the fiddler. He taught himself to play the fiddle and began composing his own tunes at an early age. Dan first performed his song Old Dan Tucker at the age of fifteen during a Fourth of July celebration on the village green in Mount Vernon. At seventeen, he joined the United States Army, becoming the leading fifer at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He was discharged on July 8, 1835, after the Army learned he had falsified his age in order to enlist. Afterwards he traveled with various circus bands, where he learned the technique of Negro impersonation.

In the winter of 1842-43, four stars of the minstrel profession formed a novel ensemble, consisting of the fiddle, bones, banjo, and tambourine. Calling themselves the "Original Virginia Minstrels," the four men, Dan Emmett on the fiddle, Frank Brower on the bones, Billy Whitlock on the banjo, and Dick Pelham on the tambourine, first performed in public at theBowery Amphitheater on February 6, 1843, in New York. This unique ensemble, along with their song Old Dan Tucker, swept the entire minstrel world. Wearing ill-assorted garments, oddly shaped hats, and gaudy pants and shirts, the four Virginia Minstrels were an often rowdy, fun-loving group. Within a few short months scores of similar minstrel bands were performing throughout the country. The Original Virginia Minstrels had a short life. After a financially disastrous tour of the British Isles in 1844, the group disbanded. All of the minstrels eventually returned to the United States except Dick Pelham, who remained in England.

Emmett composed Dixie in the spring of 1859, while with Bryant's Minstrels in New York. The tune, written as a walkaround, became popular almost immediately and at the outbreak of the Civil War was popular in both the North and South. In the beginning of the war the troops of both armies marched to war to the tune of Dixie but by the end of 1861 Dixie had become identified as a Southern tune, much to the chagrin of Emmett who was anything but a Southern sympathizer."
SOURCE: http://www.danemmett.org/

I am no expert, Sir, but that sure does sound like a great song to me.

_________________
ImageImageImageImage
Image
General Prax Swan
1/3/III ANV
Image


Top
 Profile Send private message  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 101 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group