The national Anthem of alabama: "Step around Johnny"
By Seth T. Reno
In the 1980s, Alabama folklorist Joyce Cauthen recorded musician Sam Taylor playing tunes at his home in Oneonta, Alabama, as part of her book and music project, With Fiddle and Well-Rosined Bow: A History of Old-Time Fiddling in Alabama (University of Alabama Press, 1989). Taylor, born in 1929, played in a band called The Hamilton Mountain Boys in the 1940s, and he continued to play as a notable musician in his community until his death in 2017. The most famous tune he played during the recording session is a song you’ve probably never heard: “Step Around Johnny,” a popular song for Saturday night country dances throughout Alabama during the first half of the twentieth century. Taylor learned the song from his grandfather, who had been playing it on fiddle since the late nineteenth century. This is a rarity: most nineteenth-century folk songs have no known composer. And the song was so popular then, and it has continued to be a central tune in old-time repertoires throughout the state, that it is now known far and wide as “The National Anthem of Alabama.”
I came across this song while doing research for my current book and music project, Alabama Banjo: A New History of America’s Instrument. While “Step Around Johnny” is technically a fiddle tune, any old-time fiddle tune is also a banjo tune, and vice versa: in old-time music, the banjo and fiddle are the two central instruments, and they most often play the same melody, with some slight variations to complement each other. I’ve also attended many old-time jams, fiddlers conventions, and banjo camps, and any time “Step Around Johnny” comes up or is played, everyone (whether they’re from Alabama or another state) calls it out as “The National Anthem of Alabama.”
One really cool thing about folk tunes is that everybody plays the song a little bit differently: there are no standard versions of folk songs, no one correct way to play them. Each generation, each musician, each community interprets and plays the songs in their own ways, so these folk songs are always evolving, always adapting, always finding new expressions. This is my version of “Step Around Johnny,” with an intentionally playful/bizarre music video. These old banjo and fiddle songs were not professional pieces played by professional musicians, for the most part: they were social songs played at country dances, on the streets, on porches, in the fields, etc., to bring people together to dance, sing, and have a good time. So, I hope my version gets you up and dancing! All instruments are acoustic and played by me: banjo, guitar, drum, and egg shaker. Enjoy!
