Banjo tablatures for Golden Slippers
Traditional
Recomended level: Intermediate
The song was written in 1879 by prominent songwriter and banjo player James A. Bland (formally called Oh, Dem Golden Slippers). The song later became the folk and fiddling practice from the minstrel stage. Hey, Dem Golden Slippers were initially a Golden Slippers parody, a Fisk Jubilee Singers religious album. The edition of Bland overshadowed the success of the Fisk album and is now commonly called Golden Slippers. The Golden Slippers of https:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden Slippers is a song popularized by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in the years following the American Civil War. The album is also recognized as "What kind of shoes you were gwine (going)" by its opening line. The album became the source of a minstrel show parody song, "Hey, Dem Golden Slippers," which became a Popular pop standard. "Golden Slippers", the spoof version, is described in its earliest performances as a moving and proud album, different from its somewhat animated parody. In it, the lead singer tells the group what kind of finery they're going to wear throughout meeting the Heavenly choir. The song has a beautiful stanza and had singers like The Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Golden Echo Quartet, and many others record the song as "Golden Slippers" in the first half of the twentieth century. As "What Kind Of Shoes You Gwine To Wear," William Rexroat and his Cedar Crest Singers recorded the song in the late 1920s with a significantly different up-tempo melody and playful arrangement. The lead singer interjects a smart-aleck response before following them as the chorus performs each of the questions and answers. (Example: "I'm going to wear my old work boots!" to "What kind of shoes to carry, golden shoes!"). This latter version appears on Bob Coltman's 1973 folk album" Lonesome Robin "as" What kind of feet.
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Scruggs Style
- Difficulty
- Key G
- Tempo 120 bpm
- Tuning gDGBD
Some tough syncopation. Hammers and pulls in somewhat expected spots. But sometimes, that's what it takes to get a little closer to the melody with Scruggs style banjo. This tune and...
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Melodic Style
- Difficulty
- Key G
- Tempo 105 bpm
- Tuning gDGBD
This is a straightforward melodic version of Golden Slippers. Not too many challenges. There are a couple triplets, but those layout easy under the left and right hand. Triplets are ...
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Single String Style
- Difficulty
- Key G
- Tempo 110 bpm
- Tuning gDGBD
Not a super flashy arrangement of Golden Slippers, but it stays true to the melody with a few good licks. Sometimes that's all you need. This arrangement uses hammer ons and pull off...
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