When I was a kid in Philadelphia we would sometimes stand outside of a  
friend's house and yell, "Yo, Eddie," until the friend came out to  
play baseball or football, whichever season was on.  So it isn't just  
for ritual greetings, Craig, or at least it wasn't some 60 years ago.

Ed S

On Sep 3, 2010, at 11:44 AM, Craig Hancock wrote:

> Patricia,
>     The song was actually written by Gershwin (the music) in  
> deliberate attempt to compose something that would sound like a folk  
> song. This is from Wikipedia:
> Musicologist K. J. McElrath wrote of the song:
>
> "Gershwin was remarkably successful in his intent to have this sound  
> like a folk song. This is reinforced by his extensive use of the  
> pentatonic scale (C-D-E-G-A) in the context of the A minor tonality  
> and a slow-moving harmonic progression that suggests a “blues.”  
> Because of these factors, this tune has been a favorite of jazz  
> performers for decades and can be done in a variety of tempos and  
> styles."
>
> The lyricist (Dubose Heyward) wrote the novel (Porgy) on which the  
> play is based. He would have attempted to write it "in  
> character" (his attempt at a black southern dialect of the time.)
>
> When I was first learning jazz guitar, it was one of the first songs  
> I learned, and I have come back to it time and again because it has  
> been done so well in so many different ways with so many nuances. As  
> i grow as a musician, the song accomodates that very well. Like many  
> performers, though, I wouldn't presume to sound like a black woman  
> and use what comes natural to me--"yur", which would rhyme (in my  
> dialect) with "fur" and "stir".
> Up north now, "yo" is used to call attention or in ritual greeting,  
> as in "Yo, 'sup?" for "hello, what's up?"
> Craig
>
> Patricia Lafayllve wrote:
>>
>> I wonder if that's not what I call "folk song drift" (there's  
>> probably a
>> more formal term for the phenomenon).  Every person interprets a
>> song/arranges a song differently, and what I see in folk music is a  
>> lot of
>> word replacement/phrase shifting.  Sometimes its deliberate and for  
>> the
>> best: "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" originally opened with "Never seen  
>> the like
>> since I been born, a big buck nigger with his sea boots on."   
>> Clearly not
>> appropriate for a modern audience!  The Mystic Seaport's chanty men  
>> changed
>> the line to "Never seen the like since I was born, an Arkansas  
>> farmer with
>> his sea boots on."  The meaning is the same, but avoids the  
>> inappropriate
>> terminology.  Other times it's a matter of the singer remembering a  
>> line
>> wrong, or adding a new phrase to an old tune, or even forgetting  
>> the lyrics
>> and improvising.
>>
>> I'm not sure what the original line was in Summertime; I know Sarah  
>> Vaughan
>> sang: "Oh your Daddy's rich and your Ma's good lookin'", for  
>> whatever that's
>> worth.
>>
>> -patty
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
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