Sheet Music: Gwine to Run All Night

TitleGwine to Run All Night
Alternate titlesDe Camptown Races
Camptown Ladies
Doodah
ComposerStephen Foster (1826–1864)
InstrumentationFlute and Guitar chords
KeyD major
RangeD5–D6
Time signature2/4
Tempo108 BPM
Performance time0:35
Difficulty levelintermediate
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (102 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (473 kB)
Play-along accompanimentMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (489 kB)
Date added2011-01-17
Last updated2011-01-17
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 0.3 (not so popular)
Categories
Minstrel songs, Pentatonic, Traditional/Folk

Performances

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Monday 17 January 2011

Tune of the Day: Camptown Races

by Stephen Foster, arranged for Flute and Guitar

The original title of this song was actually “Gwine to Run All Night”. It was written in 1850 by Stephen Foster, known as the “father of American music”, who was the preeminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century. The original title referenced the African-American stereotype dialect in which the song was written.

The Camptown of Foster's own experience was in Pennsylvania, which now hosts an annual 10K cross-country foot race called Camptown Races. The word “camptown”, however, also refers to the temporary accommodations transients would set up around train tracks to make it easier to hop trains to get from job to job.

The song has made countless appearances in popular media, most notably in Mel Brooks's 1974 film Blazing Saddles. The 1998 song “Doodah!” by the Danish band Cartoons, which was a Top 10 hit in the UK, is a cover of Foster's “Camptown Races”.