Today in Music (1917): “Shenandoah” charted for first time

Shenandoah unknown

Writer(s): unknown (see lyrics here) Origins: 1837 (?) First Charted: October 20, 1917 (Henry Burr & Albert Campbell) Peak: 9 PM (Burr/Campbell), 36 AC (1967, The Brothers Four) (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 37.96 video, 6.52 streaming (multiple versions)

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Library of Congress calls “Shenandoah” (also known as “Oh Shenandoah” or “Across the Wide Missouri”) “one of America’s most recognizable folk tunes,” LC achieving widespread popularity by the end of the 19th century. Like many folk songs, its origins are unclear but it likely dates back to at least the Civil War. The Library of Congress says its first appearance was in 1882 in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in an article by William L. Alden called “Sailor Songs.” LC However, BalladOfAmerica.org places the song back to at least April 1876 when a song called “Shenandore” appeared in The New Dominion Monthly. Captain Robert Chamblet indicated he heard the song around 1850. BA The meaning of the lyrics is also indefinite. It has been said they refere to the river of the same name, but others say it comes from an African-American story about Sally, the daughter LC of the Oneida Iroquois chief John Skenandoa, BA who was courted by a white Missouri river trader for seven years. LC Alan Lomax, a folklorist who gathered field recordings, has suggested that the song was a sea shanty LC that originated with French Canadian fur traders who traded with Native Americans around the Great Lakes starting in the 16th century. BA Sea shanties were characterized by solo leads that alternated with boisterous choruses. LC Sailors used sea shanties “to coordinate the efforts of completing chores such as raising the ship’s anchor or hauling ropes.” LC The traders sang while paddling their canoes along the Mississippi River. BA In their book Best Loved American Folk Songs, Lomax and his father John said, “The melody has the roll and surge and freedom of a tall ship sweeping along before a trade wind. The sonorous succession of long vowels and soft and liquid consonants blend perfectly with the romantic air. The lines are a call from the homeland to the sailor wandering far out across the seas, a call not from a sweetheart, a house, or even a town, but from the land itself, its rivers and its familiar and loved hills.” BA Henry Burr and Albert Campbell were the first to chart with the song, reaching the top ten in the United States in 1917. Others who recorded the song include Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Paul Robeson, Pee Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Jo Stafford, and Tom Waits with Keith Richards. WK Resources: BA Ballad of America LC Library of Congress WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 12/1/2025.