Let's Hear It For The South Jersey Stomp

New Jerseyites can justifiably be proud of Ann Faith's South Jersey Stomp, a respectable attempt to launch some kind of a Northeastern hillbilly dance craze.  I have no idea who Ann Faith is, but the tune was released on Nashville's K-Ark label.  One clue to the story behind the record is her reference to driving down Highway 47 and seeing a big "cedar wood log cabin" where the crowds were enthusiastically doing the South Jersey Stomp.  Consulting the map shows that Highway 47 begins in Westville (just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia) and runs south through towns like Glassboro, Clayton, Franklinville, Vineland, Millville, and Dennisville before winding up in Wildwood.  My hunch is that the home turf of the South Jersey Stomp was likely in Wildwood, a popular tourist destination, but that's just a guess.

I've lived in Georgia since 1981, but I moved here from New Jersey.  Not surprisingly, I can't recall anybody in my NJ circle of friends talking about the South Jersey Stomp, probably because the record came and quickly vanished many years before my arrival in the Garden State in 1980.  So how about it?  Anyone know the story behind this infectious curiosity?

Ann Faith - South Jersey Stomp (2:02) MP3

Comments

[Lex10]

Thanks for this - never heard it yet & I'm from here. Wildwood seems an unlikely place for a log cabin though. It's more like a lesser micro-Miami. It's awesome, nonetheless. Plenty of cabins on the way, and in the past, quite a rural hidden area.

[michael]

My sister had this insight on it: "The Cedarwood was in Malaga! [near Vineland, about halfway between Philly and the Shore.] It was a bar that was a log cabin and it was on 47. It was still open when I was in college [about 1979] but didn't last long after that and has since been torn down. There was a period when that was the after-hours place to go (bars in Malaga were always open later than the ones in Millville - some were open all night). My favorite Cedarwood story was when when my friend Don (jokingly) asked the waitress to bring us their best bottle of wine, and she came back with a bottle of Riunite with a twist cap. Don't know anything about the song or the dance , though!"

[Michele]

The Cedarwood was in Malaga! It was a bar that was a log cabin and it was on Rt. 47. I believe it was a country place. It was still open when I was in college (late 70's/early 80's) but didn't last long after that and has since been torn down. There was a period when that was "the" after-hours place to go for my friends and I (bars in Malaga were always open later than the ones in Millville - some were open all night). My favorite Cedarwood story was when when Don Ayers (jokingly) asked the waitress to bring us their best bottle of wine, and she came back with a bottle of Riunite with a twist cap. Don't know anything about the song or the dance , though!

[michael]

sorry for the double post... she beat me to it!

[Phillyradiogeek]

Never heard of the song, but I'd love to pass it along to my parents and their chohorts. I happen to live a mere quarter of a mile from the beginning of Highway 47!

[tony c]

I lived in Cape May for 2 years. The Atlantic Ocean side of SouthJersey is different from the Delaware River side. I guess most folks drive down the Atlantic City Xpressway to the Garden State Parkway. Route 47 is in-land, past farms and such, and cities like Vineland. The locals like country music.

Cape May still has some of the old fishing crowd left. In local parlance, the SeaBilly. There was a local who used to fly the rebel flag outside his house. A transplant for sure, but south jersey is below the mason/dixon line. :-)

And somewhere on the Delaware side, maybe Salem County, is a jin-yoo-ine Rodeo.

P.S. This song make a fine b-side to Traveling Through New Jersey by Max and Ada Rogoff, another fine Jersey anthem courtesy of 'FMU a while back.