Over in the classic banjo group on Ning I came across a couple recent versions (by Clarke Buehling on cello banjo and by Tim Twiss on minstrel banjo) of a catchy old number called “Too Utterly Too.” It looked fun to play so I learned the song on my 1916 Orpheum mandolin-banjo.

It’s from a book called “Banjoist’s Budget” by Mr. A. Baur. According to Carl Anderton:

Baur was from New York, soldiered in the Civil War, was badly wounded in Georgia during Sherman’s “March to the Sea,” and spent the next 9 years recovering his health. He practiced banjo constantly during his convalescance and became one of America’s leading players. His “Reminiscences of a Banjo Player” published in S.S. Stewart’s Banjo and Guitar Journal are quite insightful.

I didn’t find the date of this book, but I did find a stray comment on the internets claiming it’s from 1880, which sounds just right.

Here’s the sheet music for them that can read it:

My recordings here are all hereby dedicated to the public domain per CC0 1.0 Universal.

All the relevant files are on Archive.org.