"The Yellow Rose of Texas" is a traditional American song dating back to at least the 1850s. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. Many versions of the song have been recorded, the most popular of which was by Mitch Miller, whose version reached No. 1 in the United States in 1955. Its popularity made it an unofficial state song of Texas (the actual state song is "Texas, Our Texas").

Origin

The earliest known version of "The Yellow Rose of Texas" is found in Christy's Plantation Melodies. No. 2, a songbook published under the authority of Edwin Pearce Christy in Philadelphia in 1853. Christy was the founder of the blackface minstrel show known as the Christy's Minstrels. The song was uncredited in the songbook and it had no sheet music. In 1858, someone named J.K. revised the lyrics of the song and added a piano accompaniment to the song. Research in 2010 proposed that J.K. was John Kelly, who used the stage name J.K. Campbell, later J.K. Edward, as a member of the Christy's Minstrels. It is possible that J.K. was the original writer of the song.

Like most minstrel songs, the lyrics are written in a cross between a parody of a generic creole dialect historically attributed to African-Americans and standard American English. The song is written in the first person from the perspective of an African-American singer who refers to himself as a "darkey," longing to return to "a yellow girl" (that is, a light-skinned, or bi-racial woman born of African or African-American and European-American progenitors).

The song became a popular song particularly associated with Texas, and its popularity continued into the 20th century. In 1933, Gene Autry and Jimmie Long made it into a cowboy song with some revisions of the lyrics, for example, replacing "no other darkey knows her, no darkey only me" with "no other fellow knows her, nobody else but me." Roy Rogers performed a version of the song in the 1944 film The Yellow Rose of Texas. The lyrics continued to evolve in the 20th century into a song that is racially neutral.

A story emerged in the 20th century that "The Yellow Rose of Texas" referred to Emily D. West, who was supposedly involved in the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. The claim is disputed, but it nevertheless spawned a number of books on the subject.

This song became popular among Confederate soldiers in the Texas Brigade; upon taking command of the Army of Tennessee in July 1864, General John Bell Hood introduced it as a marching song. The final verse and chorus were slightly altered by the remains of Hood's force after their crushing defeat at the Battle of Nashville that December:

(Last verse)

Or alternatively:

The modified lyrics reference Confederate military commanders Joseph Johnston, P.G.T. Beauregard, and Robert E. Lee. Soldiers sang it openly to mock Hood's mishandling of the campaign on Nashville.

In this version of the chorus, "soldier" replaced "darkey." The same substitution is made throughout the song.

The song was very popular with not only Texan troops but other infantry units in the west such as Louisiana and Arkansas.

Mitch Miller's recording

In 1955, Don George reworked the song, gave the song a marching beat, and this version appeared in an album of Civil War songs. Miller was convinced of the potential of the song, and ordered a pressing of 100,000 copies of the single, with the promise that he would buy back all copies at cost if they did not sell.

The song reached number one hit on the Billboard retail chart on September 5, 1955, knocking Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" from the top of Billboards Best Sellers chart. It stayed top of the chart for six weeks, interrupted by Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing for a week on October 8. Miller's was No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart the same week Giant star James Dean died, and 13 months later, Miller's hit version was used for a key scene in the 1956 Texas-based film Giant that starred James Dean. The song became a gold record in the US, with a million copies sold.

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Gene Autry and Jimmy Long version

Gene Autry first recorded this song on January 27, 1933, at Victor Studios, without supporting musicians. On March 1, he and Jimmy Long recorded the better-known version for American Record Corporation (ARC). This was released in June 1933 on Melotone Records (catalog No. 12700). Perfect and several other dime store labels distributed by ARC. His version started with "There's a yellow rose in Texas, I'm going back to see,

no other fellow knows her, nobody else but me." On March 10, Autry filed a copyright not for lyrics, but for his arrangement and melody. Whether the copyright was good is unknown, Gene knew all the tricks of the trade, and he learned how to squeeze every dime out of his creative efforts. He made a small fortune from songwriting and publishing over the years (600 songs), and in 1961 he bought a major league baseball team.

The soundtrack to the TV miniseries James A. Michener's Texas dates a version of the song to June 2, 1933, and co-credits both the authorship and performance to Gene Autry and Jimmy Long.<!-- Not "Jimmy D. Long", the Louisiana politician. -->

Other versions

In 1955, Johnny Desmond also released a version around the same time as Mitch Miller. Desmond's version reached No. 6 on the retail chart, and No. 4 on the most-played by deejay chart. Stan Freberg also issued a parody version of the song the same year in which the bandleader warred with the snare drummer, Alvin Stoller, who also featured prominently in Miller's arrangement.

  • Dacosta Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, Gennet - 6143 (1927)
  • Dario Moreno
  • Elvis Presley
  • Roy Rogers (1942)
  • Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1955 for use on his radio show and it was subsequently included in the CD So Rare: Treasures from the Crosby Archive (2010)
  • Ernest Tubb released a version of the song in 1955, which went to No. 7 on the Billboard country and western chart and remained on the chart for 11 weeks.
  • Ronnie Hilton - this reached the No. 15 spot in the UK charts in 1955.
  • Michael Holliday - a single release in 1955.
  • Mantovani (1959)
  • Pat Boone (1961)
  • Hoyt Axton (1991) on "Songs of the Civil War" CD (Columbia)
  • Kidsongs (1997)
  • Waldemar Matuška
  • Willie Nelson.

The Yellow Rose

In 1984, country music artists Johnny Lee and Lane Brody recorded a song titled "The Yellow Rose," which retained the original melody of "The Yellow Rose of Texas" but with new lyrics, for the title theme to a TV series also titled The Yellow Rose. It was a number one country hit that year.

Original lyrics

Earliest known 1853 version, from Christy's Plantation Melodies. No. 2: (The lyrics have since been modified.)

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:There's a yellow girl in Texas

:That I'm going down to see

:No other darkies know her

:No darkey, only me

:She cried so when I left her

:That it like to broke my heart,

:And if I only find her

:We never more will part

;[Chorus]

:She's the sweetest girl of color

:That this darkey ever knew

:Her eyes are bright as diamonds

:And sparkle like the dew

:You may talk about your Dearest Mae