Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. "Get Off the Track!: A Song for Emancipation." Lyrics: Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. Tune: "Old Dan Tucker." Boston: Published by the author. 1844.

• "Get Off the Track!" was printed in Philip D. Jordan and Lillian Kessler, Songs of Yesterday: A Song Anthology of American Life (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1941), pages 335-337.
• A great recording of "Get Off the Track!" is included on Eastman Wind Ensemble and Chorale, Homespun America (2 CDs, Vox Music Group CDX-5088, 1993). A second fine recording - though an unusual one, because the vocal is accompanied by a dulcimer - is included on Chestnut Brass Co., Tippecanoe and Tyler Too! (CD, Newport Classic NPD-85548, 1992). Another of Jesse's antislavery verses, "The Fugitive's Song (I'll Be Free! I'll Be Free!)," also appears on Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!.
• In the Herald of Freedom issue dated January 13, 1843, Nathaniel Peabody Rogers (1794-1846) referred to instances of the Hutchinsons singing Jesse's fine parodies. Apparently he was aware of songs by Jesse that are unknown to present-day scholars. Rogers also spoke of members of the family singing antislavery sentiments at a recent meeting of the cause in Milford. It seems reasonably certain, then, that Jesse's earliest antislavery verses date back at least to the early days of 1843 and probably much farther. Nathaniel Rogers, in the December 9, 1842, issue of the Herald of Freedom, suggested a need for "a series of Anti-Slavery Melodies" in the Hutchinson Family's concerts. Brother Jesse was the principal advocate of this notion - and again, probably very early. Whether Jesse would have won the day through his arguments and the considerable force of his personality is not known. As it turns out, there was no need. Numerous Hutchinson Family fans learned of "Get Off the Track!" from newspapers & from the published score, liked the song, and wanted to hear it sung by the Hutchinson Family quartet. The singers were forced, by popular demand, to make a decision. As Sister Abby said years later, "It is much more inspiring to sing for liberty, than for slavery, and when one has a great and noble object in view, one can stand quite alone to proclaim it."
• Later, in a long set of verses, which follow the "Old Dan Tucker" rhythm, Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., wrote, "Some then thought you rather hasty, And of judgment seemed to lack, When you screamed, despite the hisses, 'Church and statesmen, clear the track.'"
• "Get Off the Track!" must be the most recorded Hutchinson Family original number. (The lyrics are Jesse's, though his song uses the pre-existing tune, "Old Dan Tucker.") An early, really good recording by Pete Seeger appeared on an otherwise forgettable Folkways box set (LPs) of Civil War songs. Seeger repeated the first set of lyrics from the B part of the song, turning that passage into a regular chorus that invited audience members to sing with him - an invitation the Hutchinsons rarely extended. By using "Roll it along! Roll it along!" as a chorus, though, Seeger effectively discarded the title from this piece. The words, "Get off the track," appear only in the B part. So Seeger renamed the song "Roll It Along Through the Nation." One of the other voices on this recording sounds as though it could belong to Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers.
• In 1872, John Hutchinson wrote a song that, for lack of an actual title, I call "Labor's Get Off the Track!", a parody of the earlier, more famous song by Brother Jesse. John and his son, Henry J. Hutchinson, sang this new production for the Boston Eight Hour League. At the very least, "The Workingman's Train" by labor-activist Edward R. Place (d. 1881) must show echoes of John's song. (It could owe an even greater debt.) Incidentally, if you know whether Place was the same person who wrote for William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator, please get in touch.

-- Alan Lewis, October 20, 2002