Germantown is a very attractive suburb of Memphis, about 15 miles east of the City. Back in 1929, banjo player Gus Cannon, who worked in Memphis, made a recording that appears to have had the intended title 'Going to Germantown'.
Gus Cannon led a jug band, whose members included harmonica player Noah Lewis and guitarist Ashley Thompson. It is believed Lewis was probably the actual composer of the song.
Somehow - maybe because of the casual articulation of the words - the title was corrupted to 'Going to Germany'.
When Tuba Skinny recorded this attractive song for their album 'Tupelo Pine', with Greg Sherman as vocalist (CLICK HERE FOR A STREET PERFORMANCE), I think many viewers must have been as puzzled as I was about how a song about 'going to Germany' would have caught on in Tennessee in 1929.
Well, a fine clarinet-playing friend of mine - a Gus Cannon expert - told me about the corruption of the title. I think he must be right. The song is about going a few miles down the road to Germantown and not about going to Germany.
Gus Cannon died aged 96 in Memphis in 1979.
