Forgotten History of: “BackUp and Push” (AKA, "Rubber Dolly")

The hidden history of the iconic fiddle tune "Back Up and Push" is wilder than you think! 🎶 Everyone knows this song as a classic, high-speed Bluegrass or Old-Time instrumental, famous for the driving double shuffle bowing (thanks to masters like Kenny Baker and Bill Monroe).

But did you know this aggressive breakdown started life as a ragtime cakewalk?

Join us as we trace the tune's origin back to 1900 and the Danish-American composer Jens Bodewalt Lampe. Learn how his rag "Creole Belles" was transformed by Southern musicians into the fiddle standard we know today, why the melody pushes everyone (including an 11-year-old fiddler!) to speed up, and the three popular theories on how it got its strange, famous name.

🎥 Video Chapters & Key Topics

0:00 - Intro: The Struggle to Control the "B" Part Rhythm
0:59 - The Composer: Jens Bodewalt Lampe and the Ragtime Era
1:31 - Scott Joplin and the "Maple Leaf Rag" Influence
1:47 - The True Original: "Creole Belles" (1900)
2:25 - The Transition to Folk: From Cakewalk to "Rubber Dolly"
3:02 - The First Hit Recordings (Georgia Organ Grinders & Skillet Lickers 1934)
3:45 - Codifying Bluegrass: Bill Monroe and Kenny Baker's Double Shuffle
4:24 - The Three Theories on the Tune's Strange Name (Bowing, Dance, and Train Slang)
5:18 - Lampe’s OTHER Famous Tune: The silent film robbery soundtrack (Pizzicato Mysterioso!)

Keywords:

Back Up and Push, Bluegrass Fiddle, Old Time Music, Ragtime History, Creole Belles, Jens Bodewalt Lampe, Bill Monroe, Kenny Baker, Double Shuffle, Hokum Bowing, Skillet Lickers, Fiddle Lesson, Banjo, Mandolin, Instrumental Music.

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