Dear Old Southland
"Dear Old Southland" is a 1921 jazz standard. It was composed by Turner Layton, with lyrics by Henry Creamer. It uses basically the same melody as the song Deep River. Popular recordings in 1922 were by Paul Whiteman and by Vernon Dalhart. Jack Mills published sheet music for it.
Other recordings
- Louis Armstrong recorded the song on April 5, 1930, for Okeh Records. Armstrong recorded the song again in 1956 for the album Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography.
- Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – December 4, 1933 for Victor Records.
- Benny Goodman and His Orchestra – June 25, 1935 for Victor Records.
- Paul Robeson – September 26, 1939 for Victor Records.
- Sidney Bechet's Blue Note Quartet – March 27, 1940 for the Blue Note label.
- Al Hirt released a version on his 1963 album, Our Man in New Orleans.
- Allen Toussaint released his own arrangement of Dear Old Southland, as a duet between a dominant piano part and a lamenting trumpet part, on his jazz album of 2009 The Bright Mississippi.
Lyrics
The lyrics of the 1921 version, which is out of copyright, are:Chorus
Verse 1
Verse 2