"The Preacher and the Bear" is an American popular song, originally a "coon song". The lyrics recount the story of a church pastor who appeals to God after being treed by a grizzly bear while out hunting on the Sabbath.[1] He falls out of the tree and has to fight the bear.[2] Various versions have been recorded.[3]
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George Fairman wrote the song.[4] Sheet music was published for it by Capitol Music House of Columbus, Ohio in 1904.[5] Publisher Arthur Longbrake composed the song using the pseudonym Joe Arzonia.[6] Ragtime artist Arthur Francis Collins recorded the song in 1905 and it became a huge hit, selling over a million records.[1] He continued performing and recording the song for various records over several decades. Sheet music for the song was also published in 1905 by Joseph Morris.[7] The song was later recorded by various artists including Phil Harris in 1947,[1] The Jubalaires, and Jerry Reed on his album Georgia Sunshine. It was also recorded by the Golden Gate Quartet.[8]
The University of Arkansas' Ozark Folksong Collection has a 1962 recording from Jasper, Arkansas, of an a capella version with racial slurs included in the lyrics.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 9. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ William Howland Kenney (8 July 1999). Recorded Music in American Life: The Phonograph and Popular Memory, 1890-1945. Oxford University Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-19-988014-0.
- ^ "Song: The Preacher and the Bear written by George Fairman | SecondHandSongs". Secondhandsongs.com.
- ^ Jasen, David A. (October 15, 2013). A Century of American Popular Music. Routledge. ISBN 9781135352714 – via Google Books.
- ^ Performing Arts Encyclopedia. February 22, 1904 – via Memory.loc.gov.
- ^ Hardy, Phil (8 February 1995). The Da Capo Companion to 20th-century Popular Music. Da Capo Press. ISBN 9780306806407 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The preacher and the bear". Duke Digital Collections.
- ^ "The Golden Gate Quartet - Jonah In The Whale / Preacher And The Bear". Discogs.
- ^ "Preacher and the bear :: Ozark Folksong Collection". Digitalcollections.uark.edu.