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170:). In the New York Clipper, an article claimed that Nichols saw John Picayune Butler imitating the character in the song, and got the idea to do the same thing when he sang Jim Crow; at first he had sung it as a clown, but after seeing Butler, he began to sing it in blackface. The man "Corn Meal" also influenced Nichols, just as he had Butler.
277:. One was the original person, the subject of the 1845 song who would have been playing in about 1825. This player is interesting, in that he is described as using a 3-string gourd banjo, which is a banjo type found among descendants of African people in the Caribbean Islands and parts of North America, from the 1600s into the 1800s.
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185:, 1855) and Hiram Rumsey. Converse was himself a banjo performer and author of several banjo instruction books. In the early 1850s when he was about 14 years old, Converse saw Butler perform. He paid attention and later used his observations of Butler in formulating a standard system to teach the stroke or
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in many forms and called by many names, clawhammer, stroke style, frailing, etc., the movement is the same... strike the strings down with the nail of the finger and pull with the thumb...They ...increase volume and clarity...they protect the fingernail from
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The name was also listed in
November 1845 for a possible second performer with the "Eagle Circus," touring in Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana and Cincinnati, Ohio. A possible third performer is the main subject of this article, from New Orleans, listed in the
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George
Nichols, a blackface circus clown who was one of the pioneers of minstrelsy...from two New Orleans Negro singer, Picayune Butler and "Old Corn Meal." Little is known of Butler, from whom Nichols got "Picayune Butler Is Going
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on 24 November 1860 and 18 November 1864; he was "copper colored" and played a four-string banjo. Additionally, the name is reported to have been the stage name for a fourth performer, William
Coleman (1829-1867).
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Music historian Lowell H. Schreyer has brought up the possibility that more than one person may be incorporated in the name
Picayune Butler, some possibly inspired by popularity of the minstrel song
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Part of a news clipping discussing how George
Nichols looked at John Picayune Butler and "Corn Meal" as inspiration to begin singing "Jim Crow" in blackface. 24 November 1860 in the
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Nichols, a circus clown...claimed to have first introduced "Jim Crow" years before Thomas Rice...learned it from a black banjo player named
Picayune Butler...
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style of playing. Converse noted that Butler used a banjo thimble (metal covers that go over the fingernails, to use with the clawhammer/stroke style).
154:, through the blackface song "Picayune Butler's Come to Town", published in 1858, and named for him. His performance with the song influenced one
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In the early 1850s, Butler was one of three people who formed a rivalry, the best professional banjo performers of the day, according to
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John
Picayune Butler death, 18 November 1864, announced 10 December 1864 in New York Clipper.
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With a Banjo On Her Knee: Gender, Race, Class, and the
American Classical Banjo Tradition
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Twas a gourd, three stringed, and an ol pine stick But when he hit it, he made it speak"
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took his song "Picayune Butler Is Going Away" from him and claimed to have learned "
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On the Real Side: A History of
African American Comedy from Slavery to Chris Rock
369:. Mankato, Minnesota: Minnesota Heritage Publishing. pp. 57–58, 70–72, 148.
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463:. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Publishers. p. 228.
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Butler is one of the first documented black entertainers to have influenced
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Southern, Eileen (1996). "Black
Musicians and Early Ethiopian Minstrelsy",
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acts. His fame grew so that by the 1850s he was known as far north as
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Picayune Butler's Coming to Town, second page from Phil Rice's book,
499:[transcribers note: column 2[ Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections
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Picayune Butler's Coming to Town, first page from Phil Rice's book,
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About some twenty years ago, Old Butler reigned wid his ol Banjo...
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Phil Rice's Correct Method for the Banjo: With or Without a Master
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Phil Rice's Correct Method for the Banjo With or Without a Master.
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Phil Rice's Correct Method for the Banjo With or Without a Master
166:" from Butler (saying he was performing the song years before
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Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-century America
582:
Inside the Minstrel Mask: Readings in Modern Minstrelsy
584:. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press.
328:, republished in Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection
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in 1837. By the 1820s, Butler had begun touring the
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432:. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 45.
147:, but due to inebriation, he only placed second.
119:, Louisiana. He came to New Orleans from the
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181:minstrel players, Tom Briggs (author of the
559:. Boston: Ditson Company. 1858. p. 33.
460:Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing
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599:. Chicago, Illinois: Lawrence Hill Books.
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158:entertainer directly; circus performer
529:Gaddy, Kristina R. (October 4, 2022).
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81:Stage actor, singer, instrumentalist
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497:. November 24, 1860. p. 256.
326:. December 10, 1864. p. 278.
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512:"Hooks' Electric Banjo Thimbles"
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280:"Picayune Butler's Come To Town
533:. W. W. Norton & Company.
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636:Blackface minstrel performers
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21:John Butler (disambiguation)
577:. Florida State University.
365:Lowell H. Schreyer (2007).
177:. The other two were white
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656:African-American banjoists
646:American street performers
491:"The Dramatic Chip Basket"
407:Meredith 106–110, 246–248.
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641:Singers from New Orleans
573:Meredith, Sarah (2003).
426:Toll, Robert C. (1974).
262:The oldest known banjo,
254:Multiple people use name
183:Briggs Banjo Instructor
457:Knowles, Mark (2002).
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152:American popular music
105:John "Picayune" Butler
32:John "Picayune" Butler
595:Watkins, Mel (1999).
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135:performing music and
115:player who lived in
129:St. Charles Theatre
631:American banjoists
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133:Mississippi Valley
121:French West Indies
111:French singer and
107:(died 1864) was a
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376:978-0-9713168-9-8
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43:John Butler
615:Categories
568:References
187:clawhammer
141:Cincinnati
39:Birth name
517:damage...
179:blackface
156:blackface
445:Away"...
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297:Notes
137:clown
113:banjo
109:black
94:bones
90:banjo
601:ISBN
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434:ISBN
371:ISBN
168:Rice
68:Died
58:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
