Dixie
Southern Heritage"To me the song DIXIE is the south. Southern heritage is rich in Florida and it's fun to include DIXIE in the film. I have been told that the song is not popular with some people. The people who tell me this are always vague about it saying "you know" a lot. I do know, I know Roosevelt and Rufus is about a southern man who goes to work each day by horse power and that is rich and rare and full of southern impressions to me and DIXIE is such a rich American song, written by a northerner from Ohio Daniel Decatur Emmett. The word Dixie in today's American vocabulary is a synonym for the Southern United States, and St. Augustine is in the south and St. Augustine is Dixie," said Roosevelt and Rufus Director Bruce Merwin.Songs From Roosevelt & Rufus1. DixieBruce Merwin (new words) Daniel Decatur Emmett (music) 2. A FROGGY WOULD A WOOING GO Unknown 3. SIMPLE GIFTS Joseph Brackett 4. OLD FOLKS AT HOME Stephen C. Foster 5. YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS Unknown 6. TENTING TONIGHT Walter Kittredge 7. TRAMP! TRAMP! TRAMP! (The Prisoner's Hope) George F. Root 8. AURA LEA W. W. Fosdick (words) George R. Poulton (music) 9. JOHNNY IS MY DARLING Unknown 10. BLUE TAIL FLY Unknown 11. BONNIE BLUE FLAG Harry McCarthy 12. CAMPTOWN RACES Stephen Foster 13. GOOBER PEAS Unknown 14. ROCK OF AGES Augustus Montague Toplady 15. TWO BROTHERS Irving Gordon 16. WEARING OF THE GRAY Unknown 17. WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOMELouis Lambert Main Music ComposerMusic Director's SiteMain Music Recorded at Walker Studio OrlandoWalker Studios OrlandoBackground on ROOSEVELT AND RUFUS Music RecordingAll of the above songs (including "Dixie") recorded in Orlando, Florida at Walker Studio September 1995 through March 1996. All songs produced by Bruce Merwin for PIM (Poetry In Motion). Music Director Victoria Lynn Schultz, for A Muse Entertainment. All songs engineered by Guy Walker at Walker Studios Orlando. All songs mixed by Charlie Brocco at Walker Studios. Victoria Lynn Schultz appears courtesy Solaire Entertainment Orlando. Bruce Merwin appeared courtesy A Muse Entertainment for PIM. Guitar and Mandolin Music Recorded at Merwin Films St. AugustineGuitar and Mandolin Music Composer Music Between The Main Southern SongAll of the songs found between the above songs were recorded by Katherine Archer in the Bruce Merwin Films edit suite in St. Augustine, Florida."Katherine plays out in St. Augustine in many locations all week. I was fortunate to hear and see her perform. She has a very easy going manner and I wanted to include her music in my latest film Roosevelt & Rufus. I needed to fill in some areas of Roosevelt & Rufus with transition songs and her music was spot on for what I needed. She came into the studio, put on the earphones and scored exactly what I need to fill in the spaces between the main songs", said the director Bruce Merwin.
Background on ROOSEVELT AND RUFUS the documentaryI live across the street from the stable that serves the horses for the St. Augustine carriage tours. There is a wonderful horseman, Murphy McDaniel, owner of Avalon Carriage Company who has helped me feel welcome in the neighborhood of Lincolnville (in the heart of our nation’s oldest city, St. Augustine) ever since I moved in a year ago.Every morning bright and early I would see a carriage horse diver go by heading into town for his morning tours. I started waving, I was working on a 100 year old house that sits across from where the carriage would pull out each morning and I could not help but wave at this handsome, dignified older gentleman as he rode by. I learned that the carriage driver was Roosevelt Upshaw. As I finished restoring my home and began filming around in St. Augustine I would see Roosevelt and his horse Rufus and I could catch little bits of his tour if I listened carefully. Roosevelt’s easygoing manner and his mater of fact historical perspective intrigued me. The more I saw of him the more I liked him. I started including footage of him in other commercial and historical films I was shooting on location. He photographed well and I like the look of Rufus, the carriage and Roosevelt, it seemed well-proportioned and easy to film and frame with the city in the background. One day I stopped in on a local St. Augustine sandal maker, a new friend who has a shop on one of the quaint old streets here in St. Augustine. Low and behold there was Roosevelt in there talking with my friend. We were properly introduced and my friend suggested that I should make a film about Roosevelt who had been around carriage horses for 43 years in St. Augustine. Roosevelt and me decided it was a good idea. I asked Roosevelt to check with his boss, who was Murphy McDaniel, owner of Avalon Carriage Company and we left it at that. I had already spoken to Murphy McDaniel about doing a carriage horse film but the film never got underway. With the added celebrity of Roosevelt Upshaw (a St. Augustine legend) I knew I had a great film subject. Roosevelt had been around carriage horses long enough to know just about everything a driver needs to know and his easygoing manner fit well with my directorial style. I started principal photography in the spring of 2011 and the filming went very well. We went out together each day at the same time of day so the color continuity worked very well. With the added benefit of having the stable across the street I was able to do any pick-up shots I wanted with ease. The result has been a great film shoot and reflects onto the screen. Audiences are going to fall in love with Roosevelt and his horse Rufus. Roosevelt & Rufus runs sixty six minutes and is now available online through Amazon.com.
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