Annotation:Massa's Gone Away

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MASSA'S GONE AWAY. AKA - "Old Master's Runaway." AKA and see "Doodletown Fifer (2) (The)," "Kingdom Coming," "Year of Jubilo," "Year of the Jubilo." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Virginia, West Virginia. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBA'A'. The melody was composed by Henry Clay Work as a song for the minstrel stage in 1862, originally entitled "Kingdom Coming or the Year of Jubilo." However, the title employed here (by Franklin George) is associated more strongly with another minstrel song, "Jimmy Crack Corn" or "Blue Tail Fly (The)" whose chorus ends with the line "Ol' Massa's gone away." See notes for "Annotation:Kingdom Coming" and "Annotation:Year of Jubilo" for more. The 1862 date predates Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, but anticipates the eventual freeing of slaves in the course of the American Civil War. Early 78 RPM era recorded versions of the song include Sam and Kirk McGee in 1927 (Vocalion 5167, as "Old Master's Runaway") and Frank Crummit (Victor 21108).

Source for notated version: fiddler and bagpiper Frank W. George (Bluefield, West Virginia.) [Krassen].

Printed sources: Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1983; pp. 100-101.

Recorded sources: Anachronistic 001, Franklin George- "Swope's Knobs." Musical Traditions MTCD0231, Sam Connor (Copper Hill, Floyd County, Va.) - "Far on the Mountain, vols. 1 & 2" (2002).

See also listing at:
The Ballad Index [1]