Omaha daily bee., 1897-11-28
THE DOMINANT "coox SONG"
Its Origin, Growth and Present X

Its Origin, Growth and Present Re-.
mnrknbIe Popularity.
In the United States the song market has
always been profitable market. We have no
folk-songs which children can learn in great
number from their parens q, and the general
intelligence of the people has Brought so
many musical instruments into use that the
demand for the popular song has really
grown to remarkable proportions. This de-
mand comes in types or styles One year 1t
is for ballads of a sentimental turn, and the
market is flooded wiki sentimental ballads OF
the popular order. Anothe' year comic songs
are called for, and then hundreds of thou
sands of this variety are disposed of.
At the present time there Is a craze for
what once were called negro melodies, but
VII ch are now known billy &C on songs"
1t began in small way several years ago,
when the half-negrO song, cntitled, Mamie,
Come Kiss Your Honey Boy" made its ap-
pearance on the market At that time the
popular songs We're OF Q strongly sentimental
turn and people We're hummjng THE sun
shine of Paradise Alley " Sidewalks Of New
York" and Take a Seat Old Lady" All of
these songs contained the common element
Of the popular ballad-regrot All were of
slightly mournful tn n, and all were sue
cesSes, one after another
Among these, however the coon song made
its occasional appearance and invariably sue
Mean No Harm" was one of the earliest to ar
rive. Then followed, Keep Those Golden
Gates Wide Open" "I'H BE True to My
Honey Boy" and Little Alabama Coon"
All of these were published as early as 1893,
and then nothing more was heard OF success
full coon songs until the season OF 1896,
when "De New Bully" was populnrzed In
"The Widow Jones"
1t may really be said that three truly
beautiful negro songs gave the present coon
song It's standing, and those songs were,
"Ill Be True TO My Honey Boy" II Want
Yer Ma Honey" and Louisiana Lou" which
was first introduced to American notice by
the Shop Girl" company several years ago
Although these three songs .eally gave the
coon song its popular impetus, he coon songs
We hear today are radical modification OF
the style in which those three were written.
Instead of sentiment there Is negro dnrng
and bravado as in 80, / Doan' Know You
Amt So Warm" Again the new coon song
is more realistic and prCsens negro tastes
and ambitions. This Will, perhaps strike
one as evident in the titles, my Gals
High Born Lady" and "All Coons Look Alike
to Me-" Again the negro instinct to have
a Wild good time Is expressed amply in the
song "a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight"
The Independence and light persihage of the
negro temperament comes out well in another
Of this now popular type entitled, Il Don't
Love Nobody"
or all these the most widely appreciated
is "A Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight"
There is nothing much to it, outside of the
melody, but that is so light and enthusiastic.
rolls easily from the tongue, and makes so
excellent whistling piece, that 1t has caught
the nation from parlor to street corner.
Only one Of these coon songs has been writ
ten by negro "a Hot Time" Is the lint
production to Bert Williams and Harry
Walker, both of whom are negroes. and sue
cessful vaudeville artists.