(Come Out Tonight)

A 19th century minstrel song commemorating the women who congregated at the western end of the Erie Canal, "Buffalo Gals" was immensely popular through the early portion of the 20th century. The earliest title for "Buffalo Gals" was "Lubly Fan"; "Round Town Gals" was another popular title for the song. The song's title was also adapted to many other locations. This site documents versions of "Alabama Gals" and "Portsmouth Airs" as well as the more common Buffalo version.

Many of the pre-1975 recordings of "Buffalo Gals" documented for this site are field recordings, and many others are bluegrass, often as instrumentals. The earliest recordings documented for this site are from groups such as Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters doing a bluegrass instrumental of "Round Town Gals" in 1926. Wanda and Ruth Neal have one of the earliest recordings of women doing any of these songs, with their 1927 version of "Round Town Girls." The earliest recording documented in this site under the name "Buffalo Gals" is from the mid-1930s by The Songs of the Pioneers (featuring Roy Rogers).

"Buffalo Gals" was the first of any of "The Seeger Sessions" songs recorded by Pete Seeger. His first recording of it was in 1941 with The Almanac Singers. This version may be found on the album "Which Side Are You On," which was released as a Pete Seeger album in 2002.

This site documents more pre-1950 recordings of "Buffalo Gals" than for any other song of "The Seeger Sessions" except "John Henry." Among those who recorded it were The Carter Family (a short of "Alabama Gals" for a 1939 radio show), Woody Guthrie with Cisco Houston, and Oscar Brand. In 1946, Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed warbled an off-key duet of it in "It's A Wonderful Life."

In 1944, a rewrite of "Buffalo Gals" under the title "Dance With a Dolly," composed by Terry Shand, Jimmy Eaton and Mickey Leader, became a top 10 hit 3 times -- for Evelyn Knight (#6), for Tony Pastor (#9), and for Russ Morgan (#3). The song became a big band standard in the mid-40's, and was performed and recorded by many orchestras. Bill Haley and His Comets recorded a rock version of "Dance With a Dolly" in 1952, and Bobby Darin based his minor late-50's hit "Plain Jane" on "Dance With a Dolly."

Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney performed a duet of "Buffalo Gals" in a 1962 concert (available on Clooney's "Girl Singer" album). Some notable instrumental performers include Blind James Campbell, Eric Weissberg, and Flatt & Scruggs (as "Round Town Gals"). Most of the recent recordings of "Buffalo Gals" have been as a children's song.