Cotton Babes

Parent Collections

Kake Walk at UVM

Title

Cotton Babes

Creator

Weinrich, Percy.

Performer

UVM Band

Arranger

Lechnyr, Joseph.

Composer

Weinrich, Percy.

Date Created

1940-1959

Description

"Cotton Babes" was the signature musical piece used for Kake Walk.  All Kake Walkers choreographed their high-stepping dances to the beat of this instrumental piece. It was performed live by the UVM band during the Walk. The syncopated melody was composed by Percy Weinrich around 1910 in the easy-to-follow musical style of the national cakewalk dance craze, then in its height.  "Cotton Babes" was used as the Kake Walk theme starting in 1912 or 1913. Tradition holds that the university's sheet music was destroyed in a fire in 1929 and that UVM Band Director Joseph Lechnyr rewrote the music from memory. The original record was probably produced in the 1940s - 1950s. Its green and gold label reads: University of Vermont / Cotton Babes / Arranged by Dr. Joseph F. Lechnyr / University of Vermont Band / Director, Dr. Joseph F. Lechnyr / 77764

Subject

Cakewalk (Dance).

Ragtime music.

Extent

1 sound disc: analog\, 78 rpm ; 10 in.

Note [Digital Version]

2010-05-12, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Libraries

Form

sound recording

Type of Resource

sound recording

Source Document Location

University of Vermont Libraries. Special Collections.

Shelf Location

University Archives, Record Group 53: Fraternities and Sororities, Series: Kake Walk

Publisher

Special Collections, University of Vermont Libraries

Access Conditions

In Copyright

Access Conditions [Local]

For further information please contact Special Collections, University of Vermont Libraries at uvmsc@uvm.edu.

Identifier [Local]

kwaudio001

Digital Format

audio/wav