Alliance, North Carolina, Melodies

Topic: Early Versions - Performers
Julian Boyd’s collection of folk songs from Pamlico County, North Carolina, went through several filters before selections were published in the 1952 compendium of North Carolina folklore amassed by Frank C. Brown. [1]

Boyd sent a copy of his compilation to John Winslow Gordon in February 1927. Drawing on Boyd’s cover letter, Stephen Winick concluded: "he was apparently quite selective, keeping only those songs he deemed true folksongs and discarding the rest." [2]

When Brown received his copy of Boyd’s manuscript, he or some of his students went to Alliance to record some of the performers. Jan Philip Schinhan selected material from eight individuals when he transcribed the melodies in Brown’s collection in 1962.

It’s not known when Brown went to Alliance, but it was while Boyd was still there. A version by Minnie Lee was "recorded with the co-operation of Julian P. Boyd." [3]

This must have been a major event in Alliance. The settlement did not have electricity. [4] The recordings were done on wax cylinders, [5] with a machine run by a mechanical spring motor. Artists had to sing into a large bell. [6] Boyd may have provided a room in the school.

The session may have occurred soon after Brown received Boyd’s manuscript and may have contributed to the criticisms mentioned in the post for 6 February 2019 that led Boyd to leave the town at the end of the school year. He described his problems to Gordon in a March letter. [7]

The largest numbers of texts included in the Brown collection came from Lee (18), Catherine Bennett (14), and Jeannette Tingle (10). Only Lee and Tingle were recorded, and Lee provided 5 of the 19 published tunes.

Tingle was not in Boyd’s high school class, but the first cousin of one of his students, James Tingle. She was two years younger. [8] When she heard about the project, she may have volunteered her own material. There is evidence she was interested in music. Her daughter acted in amateur theater productions and taught drama at East Carolina University. [9]

Tingle’s son was a professional actor and antiques dealer in Chicago. When he died, a friend remembered "he could write a song and sit down at the piano and sing it." [10] Another recalled he was "a wonderful storyteller with a talent for the dramatic." [11]

Two songs were recorded by Claude James. One had been provided by Ruby Casey. Another came from Mr. T. Barnes. He may have been a Tingle relative. Jeannette’s mother was Clara Missouria Barnes. [12]

Boyd apparently also was collecting songs. Twenty-four of the texts were from unnamed sources or archives, including songs recorded by Mrs. L. F. Banks. Bryan Banks was one of his students. Boyd also was credited by Schinhan as providing a melody by Alfonso Coleman. [13]

Minnie Lee appeared as both a singer and a collector. The texts of two of the three songs recorded by Alexander Price were attributed to Lee.

Mary Price was one of the people included in Boyd’s collection who could not be identified. Alexander’s name was common in the county, and several married women named Mary. If she were not a student, she could have been the Mary Jane Ipock who married the son of Alex Price in 1901. [14] Or, she could have been Mary Holland Thomas who married Alexander Price. His father also was Alexander Price. [15]

End Notes
1. The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore. Durham: Duke University Press, 1952.

2. Stephen Winick. "The World’s First ‘Kumbaya’ Moment: New Evidence about an Old Song." Folklife Center News 34(3–4):3–10:2010. 4.

3. Brown. The Music of the Folk Songs. Edited by Jan Philip Schinhan. 1962. 5:446.

4. In 1940, only 24% of the houses in the Pamlico County had electricity, [16] and 39% had radios powered by batteries. [17]

5. Brown. The Music of the Ballads. Edited by Jan Philip Schinhan. 1957. 4:xv, xvi.

6. Andrew Boyd. "Recording Without Electricity." University of Houston. Engines of Our Ingenuity website. 8 May 2014.

7. Winick. 4.

8. J.D. Larimore. "Doris Jeanette Tingle Curtis." Find a Grave. 9 May 2014. Jeannette and James’ fathers were sons of Burney Sylvester Tingle. [18]

9. Joan Williams Bowen. Obituary. [New Bern, North Carolina] Sun Journal. 1 February 2004. 32.

10. Diana Bittel. Quoted by "Taylor B. Williams, 71, Chicago Dealer." Antiques and The Arts Weekly. 4 April 2006.

11. Pam Guthman Kissock. Quoted by Antiques.
12. Larimore, Jeanette Tingle.
13. Brown. 5:345.
Find a Grave website. 15 Aug 2017.

15. Doug Williams. "Laverta Belle Price." Find a Grave website. 22 May 2017. Updated by J.D. Larimore.

16. Joe A. Mobley. Pamlico County. Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1991. 118.

17. Mobley. 119.
Find a Grave website. 9 May 2014.