BLACK MOUNTAIN RAG. Old-Time, Bluegrass; Rag. A major. AEAC# or GDAC. AA'BB'CC'. "One of the most popular fiddle tunes in modern history..." (C. Wolfe). The piece became popular in the late 1930's. It was claimed by fiddler Leslie Keith (who is featured on the very first recordings of the Stanley Brothers), who said he wrote it in the early 1940's after taking "a little bit of" 'The Lost Child', and " a little of two or three of the Carter Family's tunes." He named it "Black Mountain Blues" after the name of a mountain in Cumberland County, Tenn., however, "The Lost Child" is the basic melody for the tune. Curly Fox changed the name from "Black Mountain Blues" to "Black Mountain Rag" on his 1947 recording for King, which eventually sold over 600,000 copies (Charles Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Dec. 1982, pgs. 3-12). Several 'black mountains' have been suggested as the one referred to in the title, including one of the tallest peaks east of the Mississippi, Mount Mitchell. Mitchell was apparently called by various names in the past, beginning with Grey Eagle (due to a rock formation on its side). Later it became known as Black Mountain because of the dark appearance of the balsams at the top. The tune appears in a list of "traditional" fiddle tunes common to the Ozark Mountains, compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph in 1954. It was also a favorite "trick" fiddling tune in the Texas tradition. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 48. United Artists 9801, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (various artists). Rounder 0073, "The White Brothers, Live in Sweden." Vanguard VSD 45/46, "The Essential Doc Watson." Vanguard VRS 9152, "Doc Watson." County 703, Benny Thomasson - "Texas Hoedown." Elektra 7285, The Dillards with Byron Berline - "Pickin' and Fiddlin.'" Antilles 7014, "Country Gazette, Live." Mercury SRM 1-1058, Vassar Clements - "Superbow." County 730, Kenny Baker - "Baker's Dozen." Folkways FA 2398, "New Lost City Ramblers, Vol. 3." Folk Star 613(2764) - "Glen Neaves and the Grayson County Boys (Va.)." Mercury 6246 - Tommy Jackson. King Records 562, Curly Fox (Ga.) {1946}. Caney Mountain Records CLP 228, Lonnie Robertson (Mo.) - "Fiddle Favorites."
BULLY OF THE TOWN. Old-Time, Country Rag and Song Tune. USA; Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Missouri, northeast Tenn. G Major. Standard. AABB. The song "Bully of the Town" was originally written by Charles E. Trevathan (a southern sports writer, horse judge and amateur musician) in 1895 for the stage show "The Widow Jones" which opened at the Bijou Theater, New York City that September. It was sung in the production by Trevathan's girl-friend, May Irwin. "Bully of the Town" is mentioned as one of the frequently played tunes in a 1931 account of a LaFollette, northeast Tennessee fiddlers' contest. It was in the repertoire of Skillet Licker fiddler Clayton McMichen (Ga.) who recorded the tune with that group in a triple fiddle version at their first recording session in 1926. Musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph recorded the tune from Ozark Mountain fiddlers for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's.
**
John Garst finds that the song "Bully of the Town" was developed from an earlier blues ballad called "Ella Speed," based on a real-life incident in New Orleans in the middle years of the "Gay 90's." Garst relates that in September, 1894, Ella was a twenty-eight year old black or mullato prostitute living in a "sporting house" on what is now Iberville Street in the French Quarter. She was the object of the obsessive attentions of Louis "Bull" Martin or Martini, a bartending white Italian-American whom she had met several months previously at another establishment, and who wanted to set her up in an apartment as his mistress, a not uncommon arrangement at the time. Ella, however was lukewarm to him-she liked his money, but didn't care much for the man-and at any rate, she already had a husband, one Willie Speed. Louis was a bully who had been arrested and tried on three separate occasions on assault and battery charges, and who at the time of the murder was wanted by the constable for yet another brutal beating, that of an elderly black man near his place of work. Louis reportedly became enraged at the thought that she might be fond of another man (whether Willie or not). One night, after a day spent recreating, dining and drinking, they returned late to the bordello in which she was staying and, feeling the effects of their partying, retired at around 2:00 AM. The next time Ella was seen was in the morning when she screamed and emerged from her second story room, saying "Help me, Miss Pauline!, Louis shot me!" She collapsed in the hallway, just as the onrushing Madame spied Louis in the doorway, holding a smoking pistol. Louis disappeared, and soon a deputy arrived followed by an ambulance; but too late, for Ella had been shot through the breast with the bullet piecing her heart, left lung and liver, from which wounds she soon bleed to death.
**
A manhunt was raised to find Louis, who after a day turned himself in at the residence of a police Captain. He was arrested, held and charged with murder. After a trial a jury found him guilty of manslaughter, despite Louis's claim the shooting was an accident, and if Louis had counted on getting off easy with the reduced finding he was mistaken, for Judge John H. Ferguson (originally from Massachusetts) sentenced him to twenty years in prison, which Garst says was a stiff sentence for the time.
**
Garst thinks that the song "Ella Speed" appeared soon after the initial shooting and was based on newspaper accounts. "Ella Speed" appears in the collected papers of John A. Lomax (in a Texas version from 1909) and Carl Sandburg included it in his volume American Songbag (1927). Under the title "Bill Martin and Ella Speed," it was recorded several times by Leadbelly between 1933 and 1950, and in fact was recorded by several blues performers, including Mance Lipscomb, Tom Shaw, Tricky Same, Finious Rockmore, Lightnin' Hopkins and Jewel Long (as researched by John Cowley). Garst bases his hypothesis that "Ella Speed" was the model for "Bully of the Town" on three points: 1) the fact that "Bully" appeared a year or two after the "Ella" song, 2) the fact that Louis was a bully and the subject of a massive police hunt, as intimated in both songs, and 3) the similarity between the melodies of "Ella" and "Bully." He believes Trevathan heard "Ella Speed" from a black musician friend named Cooley, and that Trevathan substantially rewrote it, ending up with "Bully of the Town" (Trevathan gave several accounts of how he came to write the song).
**
Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 26. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 96, pg. 34. County 526, "The Skillet Lickers, Vol. 1" (1973. Orig. rec. 1926). Gennett 6447 (78 RPM), 1928, Tweedy Brothers (W.Va. brothers Harry, Charles, and George who played twin fiddles and piano). Marimac 9017, Vesta Johnson (Mo.) - "Down Home Rag." Rounder Records, Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers - "The Kickapoo Medicine Show" (appears as the 4th tune of the Kickapoo Medecine Show skit). Tradition TLP 1007, Etta Baker - "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians" (1956).
T:Bully of the Town
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Viola "Mom" Ruth - Pioneer Western Folk Tunes (1948)
K:G
D|D[GB][G>B>][GB]|[GB] [G2B2] [GB]|[GB][GB][G_B][G=B]|
G3F|[CE][C2E2][CE]|[Ge][G2e2][Ge]|cc c/B/A|(F2 F)(F/E/)|
D d3 ^c/=c/|ccBA|(G4|G3)||
|:(B/c/)|(d2 d)(3c/d/^d/|ed AB|c2 cA|F3 (A/B/)|(c2 c)(3B/c/^c/|
dc A_B|=B2 BG|D3G|(B2 B)(3A/B/c/|(d2 d)(3c/d/^d/|eecA|
E3_E|D d3 ^c/=c/|ccBA|(G4|G3:|
CLUCK OLD HEN [1]. AKA and see "Cackling Hen," "Chicken in the Barnyard," "Cluckin' Hen," "Hen Cackled," "Old Hen Cackled." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; West Virginia, southwest Virginia, western North Carolina, Kentucky. A Dorian or A Mixolydian (Phillips). Standard, DGDG (Harvey Sampson) or AEAE. ABB (Phillips): AABB. Charles Wolfe (1982) states the tune was popular with Kentucky fiddlers. Mt. Airy, North Carolina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell tells us that "Cluck Old Hen" is in the "old-timey tuning of A" also called the "sawmill key" (AEAE). Jarrell was inspired to learn the tune from a distant relative and musical contemporary of his father (fiddler Ben Jarrell), named Tony Lowe, who enphused the tune with an intricate routine which combined pizzicato "clucks" on the fiddle with elaborate gestures: "He'd swing the whole fiddle way out, and when he started back he'd pluck it in again and hit that with the bow, and all the while he'd never miss his time," said Jarrell (quoted by Barry Poss, 1976). It so happened that Russel County, southwest Virginia, musician Fiddlin' Cowan Powers was playing this tune on stage with the Stanley Brothers (Carter & Ralph) in Saltville, Virginia, when he had a fatal heart attack in the early 1950's.
***
My old hen's a good old hen,
She lays eggs for the railroad men;
Sometimes one, sometimes two,
Sometimes enough for the whole damn crew.
***
First time she cackled, she cackled in the lot,
Next time she cackled she cackled in the pot;
Cluck Old Hen, cluck and squall,
Ain't laid an egg since late last fall.
***
Cluck old hen, cackle and sing,
You ain't laid an egg since way last spring.
Cluck old hen, cackle and squall,
You ain't laid an egg since late last fall. (Johnson)
***
My old hen's a good old hen,
She lays eggs for the railroad men;
Sometimes one, sometimes two,
Sometimes three and sometimes four.
Sometimes five, sometimes six,
Sometimes seven and sometimes eight;
Sometimes nine, sometimes ten,
And thats enough for the railroad men.
***
My old hen's a good old hen,
She lays eggs for the railroad men;
Sometimes one, sometimes two,
Sometimes enough for the whole damn crew.
First time she cackled she cackled in the lot,
Next time she cackled she cackled in the pot;
Cluck Old Hen, cluck and sing,
Ain't laid and egg since late last spring.
***
My old hen, she won't do,
She lays eggs and 'taters too; (Frank Proffitt)
***
The old hen she cackled,
She cackled in the morn;
She cackled for the rooster
To come get his pecker warm. (Tom P. Smith, W.Va.)
***
Cluck old hen, cluck for your corn,
Cluck old hen, your winter's all gone.
***
Cluck old hen, cluck in a lot,
The next time you cluck, you'll cook in a pot.
***
I had a little hen, she had a wooden leg,
The best danged hen that ever laid eggs.
***
Laid more eggs than the hens around the barn,
Another little drink wouldn't do me no harm. (Tommy Jarrell)
***
Cluck Old Hen, cluck I tell you,
Don't lay an egg, I'm a-gonna sell you. (Joel Shimberg)
***
My old hen died, what'll I do
Guess I'll have some chicken stew (Neal Walters)
***
Cluck old hen, cluck all night,
Soon you will be Chicken Delight
***
Probable, possible. my fat hen.
She lays eggs in the relative when.
She might lay eggs in the positive now,
If only she could postulate how.
***
Cluck old hen, cluck I say,
The Dow-Jones average is down today.
Cluck old hen, cluck six-ten,
The Dow-Jones average is down again. (Neil Rossi)
***
Possible, probable my black hen
She lays eggs in the relative when
She can't lay eggs in the positive now
For she's unable to postulate how. (Spark Gap Wonder Boys)
***
Sources for notated versions: Jay Unger (West Hurley, New York) [Kuntz]: Charlie Higgins and Wade Ward (Va.) [Krassen]. Ken Kosek [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 70. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 92 (appears as "Cackling Hen"). Johnson (The Kitchen Musician: Occasional Collection of Old-Timey Fiddle Tunes for Hammer Dulcimer, Fiddle, etc.), No. 2, 1982/1988; pg. 2. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 35. Kuntz (Ragged But Right), 1987; pg. 219-220. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 32. Warner (Traditional American Folk Songs), 1984; pgs. 292-293. Augusta Heritage Recordings AHR-004C, Harvey Sampson and the Big Possum String Band - "Flat Foot in the Ashes" (1986/1994. Learned by Calhoun County, W.Va., fiddler Harvey Sampson from his father and others). Bay 204, The Arkansas Sheiks- "Whiskey Before Breakfast." Carryon Records 007, The Renegades - "I Need to Find." Cassette C-7625, Wilson Douglas - "Back Porch Symphony." County 405, "The Hill-Billies." County 701, Kyle Creed & Fred Cockerham - "Clawhammer Banjo." County 745, John Ashby- "Down on Ashby's Farm." County 756, Tommy Jarrell- "Sail Away Ladies" (1976). Folk Legacy FSA 1, Frank Proffitt (1962). Folkways Records, Vester Jones - "Music of Carroll and Grayson Counties" (c. 1964). Gennett 6436 (78 RPM), 1928, G.B. Grayson (Va.). Heritage 080, Enoch Rutherford - "Old Cap'n Rabbit." In the repertoire of Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877-1952? (Russell County, Va.) and recorded by him for Edison in 1925. Recorded on a 78 by Grayson and Whitter. Rounder Records, "Spark Gap Wonder Boys" (1970). Voyager Records, Vivian Williams - "Winter Moon."
T:Cluck Old Hen
L:1/8
M:2/4
B:Kuntz - Ragged but Right
K:A
[Ae]a =g/a/g/f/|e/d/e/e/ df|[Ae]a =g/a/g/f/|e/c/B A2|[Ae]a =g/a/g/f/|e/d/e//e/ df|
[Ae]a =g/a/g/f/|e/c/B A2||
[Ae][Ae] [c>e>][ce]|[A/e/][B/e/][Ae] [=G>A>][GA]|[Ae][A/e/][B/e/] [c/e/][B/e/][c/e/]d/|
e/c/B A2|[Ae][Ae] [c>e>][ce]|[A/e/][B/e/][Ae] [=G>A>][GA]|
[Ae][A/e/][B/e/] [c/e/][B/e/][c/e/]d/|e/d/B A2||
FORKED DEER, (THE). AKA - "Forked Buck," "Forky Deer," "Forked-Horn Deer," "Forked Deer Hornpipe," "Long-Horned Deer." AKA and see "Deer Walk," "Bragg's Retreat," "Van Buren." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Widley known. D Major. Standard or ADAE. AABB (most versions): AA'BB (Phillips) {Many older versions have several more parts than the two that are commonly played in modern times. Clay County, W.Va., fiddler Wilson Douglas, heir to an older tradition, plays the tune in three parts, as did his mentor French Carpenter. Roscoe Parish of Coal Creek, Va., also had a third part. Blind northeastern Kentucky fiddler Ed Hayley played a five part version, as did Charlie Bowman and Kentuckian J.W. Day}. John Johnson, an itinerant man originally from West Virginia who had artistic talent in several areas, had a version that had six parts, played ABACCDEFDEF (son of a jailer, he was said to have "fiddled his way in and out of most jails from West Virginia to Abiline"). Johnson (1916-1996) visited Kanawha County, West Virginia, fiddler Clark Kessinger (1896-1975) just a week before he died, an encounter from which he remembered:
***
I went and played the fiddle for him, played The Forked Deer.
Clark said, "That's not The Forked Deer." "Well," I said, "I
don't know whether it's The Forked Deer or not, but I learned
it from a record Arthur Smith made when I was a kid, and I
know the tune's way older than I am." And Clark said, "That
ain't The Forked Deer." But you see, I play six parts of The
Forked Deer and he just played two. So I suppose that's the
reason why he said that wasn't The Forked Deer. I learned that
whole tune just like Arthur Smith played it. I've heard lots of
other fiddlers put just two parts to it. (Michael Kline, Mountains of Music, John Lilly ed. 1999).
***
R.P. Christeson (1973) notes that the tune bears considerable resemblance to a Scottish tune named "Rachel Rae," which can be found in some of the older Scottish tune collections (and which in America was printed in such collections as White's Solo Banjoist, Boston, 1896). He notes that some fiddlers play the first part of this tune differently than the Missouri version he gives, and use a portion of "The Forked Deer" as published in George Willig's or George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels (Vol. 1, No. 4, Baltimore, c. 1839)--which appears to be the first time the "Forked Deer" tune appears in print. It has been suggested (by William Byrne) that the title "Forked Deer" is a corruption of 'Fauquier Deer', referring to the name of a county in northern Virginia. Others believe it may have derived from association with the Forked Deer River in Tennessee. Apparently, it was asserted in a fictionalized traveller's account (published in the late 1880's by Dr. H.W. Taylor) entitled "The Cadence and Decadence of the Hoosier Fiddler" that the title referred to a Deer river and its tributaries (i.e. 'the forks of the Deer'). John Hartford and Pat Sky have speculated the original title may have been "Forked Air," meaning a crooked melody. Indeed, Paul Tyler reports the "Forked Air" title was used in a 1950 notebook in which A. Hamblen noted down tunes played by his grandfather and brought to Brown County, Indiana, from Virginia in 1857. The tune, as "Forkadair," appears in W. Morris's Oldtime Viloin Melodies: Book No. 1, and the "Forkedair Jig" is a title Gerry Milnes (1999) says was used in a minstrel-era version.
***
Miles Krassen (1973) remarks the tune is very popular through most of the southern Appalachians, though it was not played for the most part by Galax, Va., style bands. Tommy Jarrell, quintessential Round Peak (near Mt.Airy, N.C./Galax, Va.) fiddler learned the tune in Carroll County, southwestern Virginia, where he listened to his father-in-law, Charlie Barnett Lowe play it on the banjo with local fiddlers Fred Hawkes and John Rector. It is one of the tunes mentioned in the humorous dialect story "The Knob Dance," published in 1845, set in eastern Tenn. (C. Wolfe), and was also known before the Civil War in Alabama, having been recalled by Alfred Benners in Slavery and Its Results as played by slave fiddler Jim Pritchett of Marengo County. The tune was mentioned by William Byrne who described a chance encounter with West Virginia fiddler 'Old Sol' Nelson during a fishing trip on the Elk River. The year was around 1880, and Sol, whom Byrne said was famous for his playing "throughout the Elk Valley from Clay Courthouse to Sutton as...the Fiddler of the Wilderness," had brought out his fiddle after supper to entertain (Milnes, 1999). Charles Wolfe (1982) remarks it was popular with Kentucky fiddlers, especially in eastern Kentucky (a remark probably based on recordings of regional fiddlers Ed Hayley and J.W. Day). It was one of the few sides cut in the first recorded session of American fiddle music in June, 1922, for Victor--a duet between Texas fiddler Eck Robertson and Henry Gilliland (though unissued). The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph in the early 1940's from the playing of Ozark Mountain fiddlers. Alternate titles "Forked-Horn Deer" and "Forked Deer Hornpipe" appear in a list he compiled of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes.
***
Ira Ford's (1940) rather preposterous story of the origins of the title is as follows: "The old dance tune, 'Forked Deer', is easily traceable to the days of powder horns, bullet molds and coonskin caps. Like many other very old tunes of American fiddle lore, it had its origin on the isolated frontier and this one has been traced to the first settlers along the Big Sandy River, the border line of Virginia and Kentucky. In the family which preserved this tune, the story, handed down through several generations, credits the authorship to a relative, a noted fiddler of pioneer days. This kinsman was also a famous hunter. There was a spirit of friendly rivalry in the hunt, much the same as there were championships in other lines of activities, and he had established a reputation as a champion deer hunter by always bringing in a forked deer. The forked deer, or two-point buck, was considered prime venison. As a token of admiration for the hunter as well as the fiddler, his friends set the following words to this popular dance tune which comes down to us as 'Forked Deer'.
***
There's the doe tracks and fawn tracks up and down the creek
The signs all tell us that the roamers are near,
With the old flint-lock rifle Pappy's gone to watch the lick,
With powder in the pan for to shoot the forked deer.
***
Sources for notated versions: J.P. Fraley (Ky.) and The Highwoods String Band (N.Y.) [Brody]: Will Hinds (Haskell County, Oklahoma) [Thede]: George Helton (Dixon, Missouri) [Christeson]; Frank George and John Rector (W.Va., Va.) [Krassen]; Charlie Bowman (Ga.?) [Phillips/1989]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 110. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 64. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 45 (the first part is similar to some versions of "Grey Eagle"). Frets Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 7, July 1981. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician: Occasional Collection of Old-Timey Fiddle Tunes for Hammer Dulcimer, Fiddle, etc.), No. 2, 1982/1988; pg. 5. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 43 (includes one 'B' part variation). Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook: Old Time), 1989; pg. 20. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 91. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 135. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 80. Cassette C-7625, Wilson Douglas - "Back Porch Symphony." Columbia 15387 (78 RPM), Charlie Bowman (1929). Condor 977-1489, "Graham & Eleanor Townsend Live At Barre, Vermont." County 202, "Eck Robertson: Famous Cowboy Fiddler." County 527, Charlie Bowman (East Tennessee) and His Brothers- "Old-Time Fiddle Classics, Vol. 2." County 707, Major Franklin- "Texas Fiddle Favorites." County 756, Tommy Jarrell- "Sail Away Ladies" (1976. Learned from Fred Hawks, though Tommy's father Ben Jarrell also played it). Flying Fish FF-009, Red Clay Ramblers - "Stolen Love" (1975). Flying Fish FF-055, Red Clay Ramblers - "Merchant's Lunch" (1977). Front Hall FHR-021, John McCutcheon - "Barefoot Boy with Boots On" (1981. "Inspired by" J.P. Fraley and Tommy Hunter). June Appal 007, Tommy Hunter- "Deep in Tradition" (1976. Learned from his grandfather, James W. Hunter of Madison County, N.C.). Kanawha 301, French Carpenter (W.Va.). Library of Congress (2742-A-3), 1939, by H.L. Maxey (Franklin County, Va.) {as "Forky Deer"}. Marimac 9000, Dan Gellert & Shoofly - "Forked Deer" (1986. Ed Haley's version, "without the 5th part"). Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Cyrill Stinnett (1912-1986) - "Plain Old Time Fiddling." Morning Star 45003, Taylor's Kentucky Boys - "Wink the Other Eye: Old Time Fiddle Band Music from Kentucky, Vol. 1" (1980. Originally recorded in 1927 for Gennett). Ok 45496 (78 RPM), The Fox Chasers. Rounder 0037, J.P. and Annadeene Fraley- "Wild Rose of the Mountain." Rounder 0045, Highwoods String Band- "Dance All Night." Rounder 1010, Ed Haley- "Parkersburg Landing" (1976). Rounder 0047, Wilson Douglas- "The Right Hand Fork of Rush's Creek" (1975. Learned from French Carpenter, the tune appears as "Forked Buck"). Rounder 0058, John Rector (western Va.) - "Old Originals, Vol. II" (1978). Rounder 0194, John W. Summers - "Indiana Fiddler." Vetco 506, Fiddlin' Van Kidwell- "Midnight Ride." Vetco 102 (reissue), Jilson Setters (under the name Blind Bill Day). Victor 21407 (78 RPM), Jilson Setters (Blind Bill Day, b. 1860 Rowan Cty., Ky.), 1928. Voyager 340, Jim Herd - "Old Time Ozark Fiddling." Also recorded by Frank George and John Summers, French Carpenter and Uncle Am Stuart (b. 1856, Morristown, Tenn.){for Vocalation in 1924 under the title "Forki Deer"}.
T:Forked Deer
L:1/8
M:C|
K:D
|:(3ABc|defg a2fa|g2gb agfe|defg a2fa|gfed cABc|defg a2fa|g2gb agfe|
dAFD GBAG|FDEF D3:|
|:(A|A2)A2c4|ABAF E2 EF|A2AB c2cA|BAFE FD3|A2A2c4|ABAF E2FE|
D2ED FDGD|FDEF D3:|
HOME BREW RAG [1]. Old-Time, Country Rag. USA; north Georgia, West Virginia. F Major (Phillips/1995): F Major ('A' part) & B Flat Major ('B' part) {Phillips/1989}. Standard. One part (Phillips/1995): AB (Phillips/1989). Source for notated version: Lowe Stokes (north Georgia) [Phillips/1995]. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 22. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 64. Gennett 7240 (78 RPM), 1930, Tweedy Brothers (three W.Va. brothers, Charles, Harry, and George, who played twin fiddles and piano).
IDA RED. AKA- "Idy Red." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; West Virginia, southwest Virginia, north Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas. A Major (Phillips): G Major (Krassen). AEAE or Standard. AB: AABB (Krassen). Ida Red was originally supposed to have been an African-American bad man, but the gender of the character in most versions is feminine or androgynous. The tune, which varies widely though retains distinctive cadences, was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's. Riley Pucket's (north Georgia) version of the tune, released in 1926, became the second best-selling country music record for the year. Kentucky fiddler Jim Bowles plays a crosstuned version.
***
Ida Red who lives uptown, weighs three hundred and forty pounds,
Down the road and 'cross the creek, don't get a letter but once a week.
***
Refrain
Ida Red, pearly blue,
My little honey don't I love you.
***
I don't know and I don't care, know there's hard times everywhere,
Ida Red you won't do right, won't do nothin' but quarrel and fight.
***
Down the road hat in my hand, hello sherrif I've killed my man,
Ida Red you won't do right, won't do nothin' but quarrel and fight.
***
Down the road a mile and a half, my little honey looks back and laughs,
Ida Red you're workin on the road, work enough money to buy a load.
***
Ida Red, Ida Blue, Ida bit a hoecake half in two,
If I'd a-listened to what Ida said, I'd a-been sleepin' in Ida's bed. {Kuntz}
***
I went down town one day in a lope,
Fool around till I stole a coat;
Then I come back and I do my best,
Fool Around till I got the vest.
O weep! O my Idy!
For over dat road I'm bound to go. {Thede}
***
Sources for notated versions: Double Decker String Band (Kuntz): Frank West (Murray County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; Bob Wills and Sleepy Johnson (Texas) [Phillips]; Tweedy Brothers (W.Va.) [Phillips]. Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; pg. 37. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 16. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 387-388. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 117 (two versions). Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 60-61. Fretless 144, Double Decker String Band- "Giddyap Napoleon." Bluebird 5488A (78 RPM), Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers (North Ga.) {1934}. Gennett 6604 (78 RPM), 1928, Tweedy Brothers (Wheeling, W.Va. brothers Harry, George, and Charles who played twin fiddles and piano). Rounder CD0364, The Red Mules - "The Marimac Anthology: Deep in Old-Time Music." Victor 19434 (78 RPM, recorded 1925), Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877-1952? (Russell County, S.W. Virginia).
T:Ida Red
L:1/8
M:2/4
B:Kuntz - Ragged but Right
K:A
c>c BB|A/B/A/F/ EF|AA/c/ B/A/F|EF AA/B/|cc/c/ BB|A/B/A/F/ EE/F/|AA/c/ B/A/F|
EF A>(c||c/)e/e [ee][ee]|c/A/B AA|B/A/B/A/ c/A/B|E/E/F AA|c/B/c/d/ ee|c/d/e AA|
B/A/B/A/ cB|E/F/A A2||
JOHN DOHERTY'S REEL [1] (Ríl Sheáin Uí Dhochartaigh). AKA and see "All Around the World," "Cooley's," "The Connemara Rake," "Doherty's," "Grehan's," "John Doherty's," "Johnny Doherty's," "Jolly Beggar," "The Knotted Chord" [2], "Maids of Mullaghmore," "Matt Molloy's," "The Mistress," "Mot Malloy," "Tinker Doherty's," "The Wise Maid" [1]. Irish, Reel. Ireland, County Donegal. D Major. Standard. AB. John Doherty was a famous fiddler from County Donegal, born into a family of hereditary musicians and travelling tinsmiths in 1900. The family travelled extensively throughout Donegal plying their trade and sharing music with the community; they were said to have had a vast repertoire. Only three brothers, Simey, Mickey and John, were ever recorded, with John the best known. Source for notated version: fiddler Paddy Glackin (Ireland) [Breathnach]. Breathnach (CRE III), 1985; No. 149, pg. 70. Gael-Linn Records CEF 018, John Kelly & Willie Clancy - "Seoda Ceoil I" (1968). Gael-Linn CEF060, "Paddy Glackin." Green Linnett GLCD 1137, Altan - "Island Angel" (1993).
KATY HILL [1]. AKA- "Going Around the World," "Sally Johnson." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA; Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, northeast Alabama, Missouri, Nebraska. G Major. Standard. AABB (Christeson, Lowinger, Phillips): AB (Brody). North Carolina fiddler Tommy Jarrell told an interviewer in 1982 he thought the melody derived from "Piney Woods Gal," and that "Sally Johnson" was in turn derived from "Katy Hill": "There's three tunes played just about like that, right there" (Peter Anick, "An Afternoon with Tommy Jarrell," Fiddler Magazine, Spring 1995). The tune was popularized by Tennessee's Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, but it was also known as a signature tune of north Georgia fiddler Lowe Stokes (1898-1983). Stokes recalled his father playing the tune but he actually learned it from Alabama fiddler Joe Lee (b. 1883, Etowah County, Alabama), a man who influenced that generation of north Georgia fiddlers including the great Clayton McMichen. Lee was, Stokes declared in an interview printed in 1982 (in Tony Russell's Old Time Music), the "best old time fiddler I ever heard, but he couldn't win a prize to save his life," due to the degree of the performance anxiety he suffered from when on stage. The tune was listed in reports (1926-31) of the De Kalb County (northeast Alabama) Annual (Fiddlers') Convention (Cauthen, 1990).
***
Randolph County, West Virginia, fiddler Woody Simmons (b. 1911) told his version of the tale of the great bluegrass fiddler Chubby Wise's audition with Bill Monroe to Goldenseal magazine in 1979. Wise, who lived in Florida, heard on Saturday night that Monroe's regular fiddler, Big Howdy Forrester, was going to be inducted into the army on Monday. He drove to Nashville that night, sought out Monroe's venue, and asked to see the bandleader. He was shown in back behind a curtain and there was Monroe:
***
He went in there and asked...'I hear you need a fiddle player.' Bill said, 'Yes I do.' Said, 'Can you play?' Said, 'Yes.' Said, 'How about playing me a hoedown.' He said, 'All right.' Said he played Katy Hill. Monroe said to him, he said, 'How about playing one of my songs that I sing, and let me sing and you play it.' And he said he done Footprints in the Snow. Bill said, 'Where's your clothes at?' So he fiddled for him for several years" (Mountains of Music, John Lilly ed., 1999, pg. 23).
***
Sources for notated versions: Alan Block [Phillips]: Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) [Christeson]: Kenny Baker [Brody, Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 154. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 100. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; pg. 20. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 25. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 130. Caney Mountain Records CEP 213 (privately issued extended play LP), Lonnie Robertson (Mo.), c. 1965-66. CMH 6237, Paul Warren- "America's Greatest Breakdown Player." Columbia 15620-D (78 RPM), 1930, Lowe Stokes (North Georgia). County 538, Charlie Monroe- "On the Noonday Jamboree- 1944" (appears as "Going Around the World"). County 745, John Ashby (Va.) - "Down on Ashby's Farm." County 750, Kenny Baker- "Grassy Fiddle Tunes." Heritage XXIV, Smokey Valley Boys - "Music of North Carolina" (Brandywine, 1978). Heritage XXXIII, The Puryear Brothers Band - "Visits" (1981. Learned from the Ithaca, N.Y., Correct Tone String Band). RCA Camden CAL-719, Bill Monroe- "The Father of Bluegrass Music." Rounder 0089, Oscar and Eugene Wright - "Old-Time Fiddle and Guitar Music from West Virginia" (learned from Fiddlin' Arthur Smith). Rounder CD 0371, Mac Benford & the Woodshed All-Stars - "Willow" (1996). Voyager 301, Bill Long- "Fiddle Jam Session." Voyager 340, Jim Herd - "Old Time Ozark Fiddling."
T:Katy Hill
M:2/4
L:1/16
Q:122
C:Trad.
R:Reel
A:Missouri
D:As recorded by Cyril Stinnett on his album "Cyril Stinnett Plays His
D:Favorite Old Time Tunes.'
Z:B. Shull, trans.; R.P. LaVaque, ABC
K:G
d2-|:d2g(a bg)a(g|eg)d(g ea)ge|d(eg)(a bg)a(g|e)d-[dg][eg]- [d3g3]e-|!
gdg(a bg)a(g|eg)d(g ef)g(a|ge)d(B A)(GEG)|(DE)GB A([GB][G2B2]):|!
|:[G3B3]G A(GE)(F|G)(AB)d e(fge)|(dB)GB A(GE)(G|DE)GB A[GB][G2B2]|!
[G3B3]G A(GE)(F|G)(AB)d e(fga)|(ge)d(B A)(GE)G|(DE)GB A([GB][G2B2]:|!
[G3B3]G A(GE)(F|G)(AB)d e(fga)|(ge)d(B A)(GE)G|(DE)GB A(FG2:|!
KEPPOCH DESOLATE (A' Cheapach na fasach). AKA and see "Ceapach Na Fasach." Scottish, Slow Air (9/8 time). F Sharp Minor. Standard. AABB'. "Very Old...(This tune) commemorates a horrid massacre of three brothers of the family of Macdonald of Keppoch, at the instigation of the next in succession, some generations back. The air seems to be the original on which the Mucking of Geordie's Byre is built, and by no means inferior to it, as sung by the editor's progenitor" (Fraser). See Neil's (1991) note under the title "Ceapach Na Fasach" for more information. Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 31, pg. 11. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 159, pg. 205.
T:Keppoch Desolate
T:A' Cheapach na fasach
L:1/8
M:9/8
S:Fraser Collection
K:A
C|F2F F>^EF A2 z/ A/4B/4|c2 B/A/ A2 F/E/ E2 z/ A/4G/4|F2F F>^EF A2 z/ B/4c/4|
f2 c/B/ A2 F/^E/ F3:|
|:f2f f>ec c>B z/A/|c2 B/A/ A2 F/E/ E2 c/B/|1 A2 G F>^EF ABc|
f2 c/B/ A2 F/>^E F2:|2 a/g/|fcB A2 G/F/ ABc|f2 c/B/ A2 F/^E/ F2||
LAMENT FOR ROGERS O'NEILL. Irish, Slow Air (4/4 time). G Minor Standard. AB. O'Neill, in his 1913 work Irish Minstrels and Musicians, identifies this melody as having been written in 1904 "on the death of a young collegian of brilliant promise in Chicago." Rogers O'Neill was the last surviving son of compiler Captain Francis O'Neill (three younger brothers had all died in childhood, on the same day, from diptheria) who contracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of 18. In addition to his academic success, Rogers was also a promising violinist (Carolan, 1997). O'Neill (1913), pg. 118.
LOST JOHN. AKA and see "Lost Boy Blues." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown and Song. USA; Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky. G Major. Standard. AB (Phillips): AAB (Brody, Kuntz). Mark Wilson reports that folklorist/musicologist Alan Lomax links these songs (plural, for there are several tunes which use this floating title) to ante-bellum folklore about the character of John the Trickster Slave. Charles Wolfe remarks that the family of songs has several branches, including the old-timey 'hillbilly' song, a blues harmonica solo version by De Ford Bailey (Victor, 1920's), a vaudeville song ("Lost John Dean from Bowling Green"), and a work song "Wake Up, Dead Man"). Tom Rankin (1985) differentiates the different melodies using the title: Enos Canoy, Burnett and Rutherford, Henry Whitter, De Ford Bailey and Oliver Sims' (the latter three are harmonica versions. Enos Canoy originally learned the tune on the harmonica and transferred it to the fiddle). The tune was recorded by the Northwest Alabamian (Fayette) of August 29, 1929, as likely to be played at an upcoming fiddlers' convention (Cauthen, 1990).
***
The funniest man I ever seen
Was Lost John goin' through Bowling Green;
No hat on his head, no shoes on his feet,
Begging the women for something to eat.
***
Refrain
Long gone, long gone.
***
Lost John sittin' on a railroad track,
Waiting for the freight train to come back;
Freight train come, never made no stop,
You ought to seen Lost John gettin' on top.
***
Had an old dog and his name was Will,
Run Lost John to the top of the hill;
Ain't caought Lost John and he never will,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
***
John's barefoot when he left his home,
He outrun a message on the telephone;
Along come a passenger a-skippin' and a-flyin',
Missed the cowcatcher but he caught the blind.
***
Sources for notated versions: Kenny Baker [Brody], Rutherford and Burnett (Ky) [Kuntz], Ralph Troxell & Kenny Baker [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 178-179. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 269-270. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 81. Columbia 15103 (78 RPM), Oliver Sims (1926). Columbia 15122-D (78 RPM), Burnett and Rutherford (1926). County 719, Kenny Baker- "Portrait of a Bluegrass Fiddler" (1968. Learned from his father). Mag 1018, Ted Powers- "Old Time Fiddler." Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, Enos Canoy Band - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985). Okeh 40391 (78 RPM), Henry Whitter (1928). Rounder 0034, Jim Gaskin. Rounder 1004, "The Songs of Dick Burnett and Leonard Rutherford." Vocalation 5441 (78 RPM), Stripling Brothers (Alabama) {1929}. Vocalation (78 RPM), Southern Moonlight Entertainers (Tenn.) {1930}.
NÓRA CRÍONA (Wise Nora). AKA - "Nora Chreena," Nóra Críonna," "Nora(h) Creina." AKA and see "Hushed be sorrow's sigh," "Lesbia hath a beaming eye," "The Metal Bridge," "Norah Jig." Irish; Single Jig, Double Jig or Slide (12/8 time). G Major. Standard. AB (Mitchell): ABB (Moylan): AABB (Mitchell, Tubridy): AABBCD (Mitchell): AABBCCDDEEFF (O'Neill). The melody was first published in O'Farrell's Pocket Companion for the Irish or Union Pipes (1804-1816). The tune, when played as a "piece," or listening tune, is known as a showcase tune for uilleann pipers; it is also rendered as a jig. The late Donegal fiddlers, brothers Mickey and Johnny Doherty, played this as the middle tune in a set with "Enniskillen Dragoons" and "Miss McLeod's" (though sometimes "The Piper of Keadue" was substituted for the latter), in a rare AAAE tuning, which required playing the set in position. Bulmer & Sharpley's "Metal Bridge" Clancy's setting of "Nóra Chríonna" that he obtained from Patsy Tuohey. Clancy prints three settings: No. 151 is a close variant of the O'Neill's version; No. 152 a bit more distanced, and No. 150 could be a separate variant category altogether. The title "Lesbia hath a beaming eye" comes from a song by Thomas Moore adapted to tune. Philippe Varlet finds early versions recorded in the 78 RPM era under the titles "Nora Greena" (a 1929 recording by piper Tom Ennis) and "Sullivan's Jig" (a 1924 recording by piper Jimmie McLaughlin). Sources for notated versions: accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border) [Moylan]; piper Willie Clancy (1918-1973, Miltown Malbay, west Clare) [Mitchell]. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 76. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 2; No. 228, pg. 26. Mitchell (Dance Music of Willie Clancy), 1993; No. 150, pg. 118; No. 151, pgs. 118-119 & No. 152, pg. 119 (the latter Clancy identified as "Patsy Tuohey's version"). Moylan (Johnny O'Leary), 1994; No. 347, pgs. 195-196. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 36. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 126, pg. 36. Roche Collection, Vol. 2; No. 312. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two), 1999; pg. 29. Spin CD1001, Eoghan O'Sullivan, Gerry Harrington, Paul De Grae - "The Smoky Chimney" (1996. Slide setting). Mickey Doherty - "The Gravel Walks." Bob Smith's Ideal Band - "Better than an Orchestra" (1977).
X:1
T:Nóra Chríonna
M:12/8
L:1/8
R:slide
D:The Smoky Chimney, track 1(c)
K:D
DED D2 E F2 D A2 F|DED D2 F E2 F G2 E|
DED D2 E F2 D A2 F|1E2 c cBc E2 F G2 E:|2E2 c cBc E2 F G2 F||
E2 A A2 G F2 D D2 F|ABA A2 G E2 F G2 F|
E2 A A2 G F2 D DEF|1E2 c cBc E2 F G2 F:|2E2 c cBc E2 F GFE|D3-D3 z6||
X:2
T:Wise Nora
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:O'Neill - 1001 Gems (126)
K:G
D|GAG G2A|B2G d2B|GAG G2B|A2B dcA|GAG G2A|BAG ABc|d2e fef|A2B cBA:|
|:ded d2c|B2G d2B|ded d2B|A2B cBA|ded d2c|BAG ABc|d2e fef|A2B cBA:|
|:BGG dGG|BAG dBG|AFF cFF|AFA cBA|BGG dGG|BAG ABc|d2e fef|A2B cBA:|
|:GBd GBd|GBd dcB|GBd GBd|A2B cBA|GBd GBd|GBd dcB|GBd fef|A2B cBA:|
|:GBd gfg|agf g2|GBd g2B|A2B cBA|GBd gfg|agf g2 g/a/|bag agf|A2B cBA:|
|:dBG GDG|BGB d2B|dBG GDG|A2B cBA|dBG GDG|BGB dcB|GBdd fef|A2B cBA:|
X:3
T:Nora Creina [1]
T:Nora Críona [1]
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Kerr/Cole
K:G Mix
g2G G2A|B2G d2B|g2G G2B|A2B cBA|g2G G2A|B2G d2B|A2=f fef|A2B cBA:|
|:ddd d2c|B2G d2B|ddd d2B|A2B cBA|ddd d2c|B2G d2B|A2=f fef|A2B cBA:|
OVER THE WAVES [1]. Old-Time, Waltz. USA; Ala., Ga., Ky., Pa., Mo., S.D., La., Arizona. C Major: G Major (Guntharp): G Major ('A' part) & C Major ('B' part). Standard. AABB (Guntharp): ABC (Phillips). One modern source maintained the tune was popular in Spain in the 15th century, while others attribute it to Strauss (The Waltz King), however, Charles Wolfe has determined it was written by Mexican composer Jurentino Rosas (1868-1894). He was a pure-blooded Otomi Indian and a fiddler and violinist so accomplished that at age 15 he obtained a job as first violinist in a touring opera company. After a stint in the Mexican army, he wrote the tune in 1891 as a set of waltz's called "Sobre las Olas" (Over the Waves). The melody quickly entered old time tradition and was common in many parts of the country {Charles Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 10, No. 3, September 1976}; in fact, musicologist Charles Wolfe calls it one of the most popular fiddle tunes in modern history" (Devil's Box, Dec. 1982). The available literature supports this: for example, Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner said: "(Hearing the melody was) One of my first memories about 1893" (Shumway). Originally Rosas' tune had five parts, sometimes with an added introduction and extended coda, however, in traditional repertory it is almost always played as a two or three-part tune. The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from the playing of Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's. It appears in a list of the repertoire of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's), and was heard commonly in Georgia in the early 1920's. African-American fiddler Cuje Bertram of the Cumberland Plateau region of Kentucky recorded the tune on a 1970 home recording, made for his family. Sources for notated versions: Harry Daddario (Buffalo Valley region, Pa.) [Guntharp]; Kenny Baker and Jehile Kirkhuff (Pa.) [Phillips]. Guntharp (Learning the Fiddlers Ways), 1980; pg. 106. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pgs. 290-291. Conqueror 8078, Doc Roberts (Ky.), 1931. County 719, Kenny Baker - "Portrait of a Bluegrass Fiddler" (1968). County 733, "The Legend of Clark Kessinger." Decca 5041 (78 RPM), Stripling Brothers (Ala.) {1934}. Marimac 9017, Vesta Johnson (Mo.) - "Down Home Rag." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Pete McMahon - "Kansas City Rag." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Vee Latty (1910-1956) - "Fever in the South." Opera 108 (78 RPM), Floyd LeBlanc, 1948 (Cajun recording). Rural Records RRCF 251, Curly Fox (1970). Voyager VRCD 344, Howard Marshall & John Williams - "Fiddling Missouri" (1999. Learned from his grandparents in the 1940's and 50's and from fiddler Taylor McBaine). Versions also recorded by Jimmy Wilson's Catfish Band (Texas, 1925; band influenced Bob Wills), Humphrey Brothers (OKeh Records), Perry Brothers (Decca Records), Bob Wills (Texas), Hugh Ashley (Arkansas), and the Mitchell (S.D.) Old Time Orchestra (Library of Congress recording). In the repertoire of Black Ky. fiddler Cuje Bertram.
RAGTIME ANNIE [1]. AKA and see "Raggedy Ann (Rag)," "Bugs in the 'Taters." Old-Time, Canadian; Breakdown. USA, very widely known. D Major ('A' and 'B' parts) & G Major ('C' part). Standard. AAB (Phillips/1989): AA'B (Sweet): AABB (Ford, Welling): AA'BB (Ruth): AA'BB' (Krassen): ABCC (Christeson): AABCC (Jarman, Johnson): AA'BCC' (Reiner & Anick): AA'BBC (Messer): AA'BB'CC (Miskoe & Paul): AA'BB'CC' (Phillips/1995). A popular tune and a staple of the North American fiddling repertoire. "Ragtime Annie is almost certainly a native American dance tune, possibly less than 100 years old" (Krassen, 1973), in fact, rumors persist that it first was heard played by Texas fiddlers around 1900-1910. Guthrie Meade has a similar point of view regarding the tune's antiquity, noting that this very popular piece appears in many relatively modern collections, but not in early ones. Reiner & Anick (1989) suggest the tune is derived from a piano piece called "Raggedy Ann Rag," and catagorize it as a 'Midwest' and 'Southwest' tune. One "Raggedy Ann Rag" was written by Joe "Fingers" Carr and published in 1952, far too late to have been the original for "Ragtime Annie," which was first recorded by Texas fiddler Eck Robertson (along with Henry C. Gilliland) in June, 1922, (backed with "Sally Goodin'" it was the best-selling country music record for that year), and a few years later by the Texas duo Solomon and Hughes. It was later recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's.
***
There is often some confusion among fiddlers whether to play the tune in two or three parts, and both are correct depending on regional taste. Eck Robertson's version was in three parts (the third part changes key to G major) as are many older south-west versions, and some insist this form was once more common that the two-part version often heard in more recent times. Other Texas fiddlers only learned the two-part version. Glen Godsey writes: "Of the fiddlers I knew in Amarillo in the 1940's-1950's, Eck was the only
one who played the third part. I learned only two parts as a kid, and we always played just two parts for the square dances. I only learned the third part many years later from Eck's recording." Little Dixie, Missouri, fiddler Howard Marshall says the third part has been a vital part of the tune in Missouri for many many years, offering that the renowned regional fiddler Taylor McBaine remembered playing it that way as a child in the very early 1920s. Marshall reports that local speculation is that the third part was inserted to relieve a square dance fiddler from the stress of keeping the main part of the tune going through a long set. Some feel the third part is reminiscent of "Little Brown Jug," although there can be considerable variation from fiddler to fiddler in the way third parts are rendered.
***
"Ragtime Annie" was the first tune learned by itinerant West Virginia fiddler John Johnson (1916-1996), originally from Clay County, from fiddler Dorvel Hill who lived in a coal-mining town called Pigtown, not far from Clay, W.Va.
***
I was bashful back then and wouldn't go in anybody's house hardly. I'd
sit on the railroad and listen to Dorvel play the fiddle at night. And I
learned most all of Dorvel's tunes. I just set down there and listened
to all his tunes and then go home and play them. (Michael Kline, Mountains of Music, John Lilly ed. 1999).
***
See the related "Going Uptown." Sources for notated versions: African-American fiddler Bill Driver (Miller County, Missouri) [Christeson]; Hector Phillips [Reiner & Anick]; Alexander Robertson [Phillips/1995]; transplanted French-Canadian fiddler Omer Marcoux {1898-1982} (Concord, N.H.) who "played (the tune) way back in Canada" [Miskoe & Paul]. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 171-172. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 44. Frets Magazine, "Byron Berline: The Fiddle," July 1980; pg. 64 (includes variations). Jarman, 1944; pgs. 2-3. Johnson, Vol. 7, 1986-87; pg. 12. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 48-49. Messer, 1980; No. 10, pg. 1 (appears as "Raggedy Ann"). Miskoe & Paul, 1994; pg. 35. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 36. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 107. Reiner & Anick (Old Time Fiddling Across America), 1989; pg. 131. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 123, pg. 43. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 75. Welling (Welling's Hartford Tunebook), 1976; pg. 5 (with variations). Caney Mountain CEP 212 (privately issued extended play LP), Lonnie Robertson (Mo.). Columbia 15127-D (78 RPM), 1926, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers (Posey Rorer, fiddler). County 507, The Kessinger Brothers (Clark Kessinger, fiddler) - "Old Time Fiddle Classics." County 509, "Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, Vol. 2." County 725, "The Riendeau Family: Old-Time Fiddling from Old New England." County 733, "The Legend of Clark Kessinger." Folkways FA 2381, "The Hammered Dulcimer as played by Chet Parker" (1966). Folkways 8826, Pers Four--"Jigs and Reels." Fretless 200a, Yankee Ingenuity--"Kitchen Junket" (1977). Front Hall 01, Bill Spence and Fennigs All-Stars--"The Hammered Dulcimer." Heritage 048, Gordon Tanner - "Georgia Fiddle Bands" (Brandywine 1982). Marimac 9110, Floyd County Ramblers - "It'll Never Happen Again" (orig. rec. 1930). Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association 002, Taylor McBaine - "Boone County Fiddler" (played in three parts). Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Cyril Stinnett - "Plain Old Time Fiddling." Rounder 0100, Byron Berline - "Dad's Favorites." Vanguard VSD 79170, "Doc Watson and Son." Victor LPV 552, Eck Robertson - "Early Rural String Bands" (a reissue of the original 1922 recording). Victor 19149 (78 RPM), Eck Robertson (1922). Victor Vi V-40244 (78 RPM), {Ervin} Solomon & {Joe} Hughes (1929. A twin fiddler version). Voyager VRCD 344, Howard Marshall & John Williams - "Fiddling Missouri" (1999). Voyager, Benny Thomasson - "Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle?"
T:Ragtime Annie
Z:Nigel Gatherer
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:D
FE|DFBF AFBF|DFBF A2FE|DEFG ABAF|A2c2c2cB|
ABcA B2cB|ABcA BAcB|ABcd egfe|d2dc d2:|]
fg|a2ab afd2|A6 fg|a2ab agf2|g6 ef|
gfef gfef|gagf e2ef|gagf edcB|A6 fg|
a2ab afdB|A2AB A2 AA|d4 =c4|B6 A2|B2 b2 b2ag|
f2a2 a2gf|A2ef gfec|d2=c2 B2A2||
K:G
:G6 AB|c6 cB|A2f2 f2ef|gfga gedc|D2B2 B2AB|E2 c2 c2cB|
A2f2 f2ef|gfga g2:|
Variant of 'C' part from Dave Barton:
|: "G" B5AB2| "C" c3d cBAG| "D" F2fe fdef| "G" gage dBAG
| B5AB2| "C" c3d cBAG| "D" F2fe fdef| gfga g4:|
SALLY GOODIN'. AKA - "Sally Goodwin." Old-Time; Texas Style; Breakdown. USA; Widely known. A Major (most versions): G Major (John Brown, Phillips/Davenport). AEAE (Eck Robertson) or Standard. AB (Bayard): AAB (Phillips/Martin): AABB (Brody, Kartchner, Phillips, Thede): AABB' (Phillips/Davenport): AABBCCDD (Sweet): AA'BB'CDCD (Ford): AABBCCDDEE (Phillips/Franklin): AABB'CC'DDEE (Frets). USA, A widely known breakdown and play party tune. Bayard (1981) suggests that the tunes "Sally Goodin," "Old Dan Tucker" and his Pennsylvania collected "Rye Whiskey" (a breakdown, not the 3/4 time version) are related "in an affinity that goes back a long while;" and, in fact, some versions of these tunes do seem to blend with one another. Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner said: "Old Texas tune. Only a few play it well. All try it" (Shumway). Charles Wolfe (1982) states it was popular with Kentucky fiddlers. It was asserted to be one of the standard tunes in a square dance fiddler's repertoire, according to A.B. Moore in his History of Alabama (1934). Rosenbaum (1989) remarks that it is an almost universally known fiddle tune in the South, but that the verses (an example is given below) are not sung as frequently today as they were in the past. Texas fiddler Eck Robertson was the first person to record the tune in 1922 when he was aged thirty-four (Robertson is remembered playing the tune at various times in both AEAE and standard tuning, though on his early and famous recording he played in AEAE). He was by accounts a colorful personality, who used to introduce the tune in performance something akin to the following (according to Byron Berline):
**
There was a girl named Sally who had two boyfriends. The two
boys were both fiddle players, and one of the boys had the last
name of 'Goodin.' Sally couldn't decide which one to marry, so
she thought a fiddle contest between the two would be a good
way to make her selection. Of course, the fellow Goodin won
the contest, and Sally became Sally Goodin. They were very
happy and had a productive life with 14 children, so I'm going
to play 'Sally Goodin' 14 different ways.
**
The melody was in the repertoires of Fiddlin John Carson (North Ga.) {1922}, Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877-1952? (Russell County, S.W. Va.) {and who recorded the tune for Victor in August, 1924, though it was unissued}, Uncle Am Stuart (b. 1856, Morristown, Tenn.) {and who re-recorded it for Vocalation in 1924}, Uncle Jimmy Thompson 1848-1931 (Tenn.) {as "Sally Goodwin"}, and Alabama fiddler Monkey Brown (1897-1972). Also in repertoire of legendary fiddler J. Dedrick Harris, born in Tennessee, and who played regularly with Bob Taylor while he was running for Governor of the state in the late 1800's. Harris moved to Western N.C. in the 1920's and influenced a generation of fiddlers there: Osey Helton, Manco Sneed, Bill Hensley, Marcus Martin. The title was mentioned in reports of the De Kalb County Annual (Fiddlers') Convention, 1926-31 (Cauthen, 1990). At the turn of the century it was played by George Cole of Etowah County, Alabama, as recorded by Mattie Cole Stanfield in her book Sourwood Tonic and Sassafras Tea (1965). The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's; he said it was popular at play-parties in the Ozarks in the 1890's (see his Ozark Folksongs, Vol. 3). Similarly, it was recorded in 1939 for the Library of Congress by Herbert Halpert from the playing of Itawamba/Tishomingo County, Mississippi, fiddler John Brown and, in the same year from Franklin County, Virginia, fiddler J.W. 'Peg' Hatcher (2741-B-2). Texas fiddler Eck Robertson's 1923 release of "Sally Goodin'" (backed with "Ragtime Annie") was the number one country music bestseller for the year 1923.
**
Had a piece of pie, had a piece of puddin',
Give it all away to see Sally Goodin'.
**
I love pie, I love puddin',
Crazy 'bout the gal they call Sally Goodin'.
**
Looked up the road, seen Sally comin',
Thought to my soul she'd break her neck a-runnin'. (Thede)
**
Had five dollars, now I've got none,
Give it all away to see Sally Goodin.
Hey, ho, old Sally Goodin,
Hey, ho, old Sally Goodin.
**
Raspberry pie, blackberry puddin',
Give it all away to kiss Sally Goodin.
Hey, ho, old Sally Goodin,
Hey, ho, old Sally Goodin. (Rosenbaum/Knight)
**
Sources for notated versions: Lee Ennis (Oklahoma County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; Kenner C Kartchner (Arizona) [Shumway]; Marion Yoders (fiddler and fifer from Greene County, Pa., 1961) [Bayard]; fiddler L.D. Snipes via Ray Knight (Lumpkin County, Georgia) [Rosenbaum]; Marcus Martin (western N.C.) [Phillips]; Major Franklin (Texas) [Phillips]; Clyde Davenport (Ky.) [Phillips]. Adam, 1928; No. 50. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 273, pg. 229. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pgs. 246 & 247. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 64 and 128 (discord version) [Ford also prints additional verses on page 419, and a dance of the same title on page 209]. Frets Magazine, "Byron Berline: The Fiddle," May 1980; pg. 60. Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; pgs. 30 & 60. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; pgs. 13 & 33. Phillips, 1989{A}, pg. 37. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 210 (three versions). Rosenbaum (Folk Visions and Voices: Traditional Music and Song in North Georgia), 1989; pg. 210. Shumway (Frontier Fiddler), 1990; pg. 270 (mislabled as "Sally Johnson"). Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 76. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 32-33. Briar 4201, Scotty Stoneman- "Live in L.A." Caney Mountain Records CEP 210 (privately issued extended play LP), Lonnie Robertson (Mo.), c. 1965-66. County 744, Kenny Baker- "Dry and Dusty." County 733, Clark Kessinger (W.Va.) - "The Legend of Clark Kessinger." County 703, Bartow Riley- "Texas Hoedown." County 705, Sonny Miller- "Virginia Breakdown." County CD5515, Eck Robertson - " (1998). Flying Fish 102, New Lost City Ramblers - "20 Years/Concert Performances" (1978). Folkways FA 2397, New Lost City Ramblers- "Vol. 2" (also on "Twenty Years Concert Performances"). Gennett 6733 (78 RPM), 1928, G.B. Grayson (east Tenn.). Gennett 7221 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts (Ky.). Heritage 048, Lowe Stokes - "Georgia Fiddle Bands" (Brandywine 1972). Old-Timey Records OT-101, Eck Robertson - "Old Time Southern Dance Music: The String Bands, Vol. 2" (appears as "Sallie Gooden"). Omac 1, Thomasson, Shorty, Morris, O'Conner- "A Texas Jam Session." Omac 2, Berline, Bush and O'Conner- "In Concert." Rounder 0044, "J.D. Crowe and the New South." Rounder 0073, The White Brothers- "Live in Sweden." Rounder 1027, Johnnie Lee Wills- "Tulsa Swing." Rounder 0099, Dan Crary- "Lady's Fancy." Rounder 0101, John Hickman- "Don't Mean Maybe." Rounder CD 0359, Skip Gorman - "Lonesome Prairie Love" (1996). Rounder Cd0278, Mike Seegar - "Solo-Old Time Country Music" (1991). Rounder C11565, Ricky Skaggs - "Rounder Fiddle." Sonyatone 201, Eck Robertson (West Texas) - "Master Fiddler." Tradition TLP 1007, Mrs. Edd Presnell - "Instumental Music of the Southern Appalachians" (1956). Victor 18956 (78 RPM), Eck Robertson (West Texas) {1922}.
SHORTENIN' BREAD [1]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; east Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, north Georgia, Arkansas. A Major: D Major (Fuzzy Mountain String Band). Standard, ADAD (Reaves White County Ramblers) or AEAE. AABB. The melody has wide currency in the South, and appears in many traditional song collections starting with Perrow (1915). Perrow's version was collected from East Tennessee white singers, and has been called an "east Tennessee favorite" by musicologist Charles Wolfe. Mattie Cole Stanford, in her 1963 book Sourwood Tonic and Sassafras Tea, listed it as one of the tunes played at the turn of the century by fiddler George Cole of Etowah County, Alabama (Cauthen, 1990). It was one of the first tunes recorded by Kentucky fiddler Doc Roberts in the 1920's and was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, from the playing of Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's.
***
African-American collector Thomas Talley, in his book Negro Folk Rhymes (1922, a new edition 1991 edited by Charles Wolfe), prints a unique version of the song as "Salt Rising Bread," which goes:
***
I loves saltin', saltin' bread,
I loves saltin', saltin' bread.
Put on dat skillet, nev' mind de lead,
Caze I'se gwinter cook dat saltin' bread;
Yes, ever since my mammy's been dead,
I'se been makin' an' cookin' dat saltin' bread.
***
'Saltin' bread' seems to refer to bread made from water-ground corn meal, remarks Charles Wolfe, while the more common 'shortenin' bread' is bread mixed with bacon bits or bacon gravy, sometimes called 'cracklin' bread.' See also related tune "Three Little Niggers Layin' in Bed" (Pa.). Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1973; pg. 15. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1979; pg. 12. County 519, Reaves White County Ramblers - "Echoes of the Ozarks, Vol. 2." County 526, "The Skillet Lickers, Vol. 2" (1973). Gennett 6529 (78 RPM), 1928, Tweedy Brothers (W.Va. brothers Henry, Charles and George playing two fiddles and a piano). Mountain 310, Tommy Jarrell - "Joke on the Puppy" (1976. Learned from his father). Old Homestead OHCSS 191, "Dykes Magic City Trio" (east Tenn.). Rounder 0035, Fuzzy Mountain String Band - "Summer Oaks and Porch" (1973. Learned from Dan Tate, Fancy Gap, Va.). Rounder 0057, Fred Clifton - "Old Originals, Vol. 1" (1978). Rounder 0089, Oscar & Eugene Wright - "Old-Time Fiddle and Guitar Music from West Virginia." Rounder 0320, Bob Carlin & John Hartford - "The Fun of Open Discussion." Voyager VRLP 328-S, "Kenny Hall and the Long Haul String Band" (learned from a Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers recording).
SHUTTER'S HUMOURS. English, Reel. England, Northumberland. D Major. Standard. AAB. See note for "Shuter's Hornpipe." Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 359.
SI BHEAG, SI MHOR. AKA - "Sidh Beag Agus Sidh Mor," "Sheebag, Sheemore," "Sheebeg and Sheemore," "Shebeg, Shemore," "Shi Bheag, She Mhor." AKA and see "The Hills of Haversham," "The Bonny Cuckoo." Irish, Air (3/4 time). D Major. Standard. One part (Ó Canainn): AB (Cranitch): AABB (most versions). The air, according to O'Sullivan (1958) and tradition, was probably the first composed by blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738). The title of the air often appears as "Sheebag, Sheemore," an Englished version of the original Gaelic "Si Bheag, Si Mhor" which means "so big, so little," but it has been suggested that "Si" is derived from the medieval Irish "Siod," meaning "fairy hill" or "fairy mound;" thus the title may also refer to "big fairy hill, little fairy hill." It seems that the young Carolan first found favor at the house of his first patron, George Reynolds at Letterfain, Co. Leitrim (himself a harper and poet), who told the harper the legend of the two nearby hills and the fairy bands who lived inside. These fairies had a great battle with much shooting, and Reynolds encouraged Carolan to write a song about the event. Some versions of the legend have the mounds being topped by ancient ruins, with fairy castles underneath in which were entombed heros from the battle between the two rivals. O'Sullivan believes the air to be an adaptation of an older piece called "An chuaichin Mhaiseach" ("The Bonny Cuckoo" or "The Cuckoo"), which can be found in O'Neill, Bunting (1796) and Mulholland's Collection of Ancient Irish Airs (1810). A dance by Gail Tickner appeared in CDSS news #69, March/April 1986 by the title "The Bonny Cuckoo" to the melody.
***
The following set of words for Si Bheag, Si Mhor was published by the Irish Text Society in The Poems of Carolan (Amhrain Chearbhallain):
***
Imreas mór tháinig eidir na ríoghna,
Mar fhíoch a d'fhás ón dá chnoc sí,
Mar dúirt an tSídh Mór go mb'fhearr í féin,
Faoi dhó go mór ná 'n tSídh Bheag.
***
"Ní raibh tú ariamh chomh uasal linn,
I gcéim dár ordaíoch i dtuath ná i gcill;
Beir uainn do chaint, níl suairceas ann,
Coinnigh do chos is do lámh uainn!"
***
An tráth chruinnigh na sluaite bhí an bualadh teann,
Ar feadh na machaireacha anonn 's anall;
'S níl aon ariamh dár ghluais ón mbinn
Nár chaill a cheann san ár sin.
***
"Parlaidh! Parlaidh! agus fáiltím daoibh,
Sin agaibh an námhaid Charn Chlann Aoidh,
Ó bhinn Áth Chluain na sluaite díobh,
'S a cháirde grá dhach, bí páirteach!"
***
Source for notated version: Shetland fiddler Aly Bain via Fred Breunig (Putney, Vt.) [Miller]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 253. Bunting, 1796; No. 63. Cranitch (Irish Fiddle Book), 1996; pg. 98, Matthiesen (Waltz Book I), 1992; pg. 42. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977; Vol. 1, No. 58. Ó Canainn (Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland), 1995; No. 24, pg. 27. Phillips (Fiddle Case Tunebook: British Isles), 1989 {B}; pg. 43. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1979; pg. 55. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Vol. 1), 1999; pg. 41. Acorn Music, Tony Elman - "Shakkin' Down the Acorns." CBS MK 42665, Pierre Bensusan - "Spices" (1988). Claddagh CC18, Derek Bell- "Carolan's Receipt" (appears as "Sidh Beag Agus Sidh Mor"). June Appal 014, John McCutcheon- "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" (1977. Appears as "Si Bheag, Si Mhor"). Kicking Mule 206, Tom Gilfellon- "Kicking Mule's Flat Picking Guitar Festival." Kicking Mule 301, Happy Traum - "American Stranger" (1977. Learned from Boys of the Lough). North Star NS0031, "Dance Across the Sea: Dances and Airs from the Celtic Highlands" (1990). Rooster Records, "Swallowtail." Rounder 0113, Trapezoid - "Three Forks of Cheat" (1979). Rounder 3038, Pierre Bensusan - "Musiques" (1979). Shanachie 79002, "Boys of the Lough" (1973). Shanachie 79009, "Planxty" (appears as "Si Bheag, Si Mhor"). Shanachie 79013, Derek Bell - "Carolan's Receipt" (1987). Shanachie 97011, Dave Evans - "Irish Reels, Jigs, Airs and Hornpipes" (1990). Trailer 2086, "Boys of the Lough" (1973). Transatlantic 341, Dave Swarbrick- "Swarbrick 2." Warner Brothers, Dave Bromberg- "My Own House" (appears as "Si Bheag, Si Mhor").
T:Si Bheag, Si Mhor
M:3/4
L:1/8
Q:225
K:D Major
de|f3ed2|d3ed2|B4 A2|F4 A2|BA Bc d2|e4 de|f4 e2|d4 f2|\
B4 e2|A4 d2|F4 E2|D4 f2|B4 e2|A4 dc|d6-|d4:|*
de|f3 e d2|ed ef a2|b4a2|f4 ed|e4 a2|f4 e2|d4 B2|B4 BA|\
F4 E2|D4 f2|B4 e2|A4 a2|ba gf ed|e4 dc|d6-|d4:|**
SOLDIER'S JOY [1] (Lutgair An Sigeadoir/t-Saigdiura). AKA and see "French Four" [3], "I Am My Mamma's Darlin' Child," "John White," "The King's Head," "The King's Hornpipe," "(I) Love Somebody," "Payday in the Army," "Rock the Cradle Lucy." Old-Time, Bluegrass, American, Canadian, English, Irish, Scottish; Breakdown, Scottish Measure, Hornpipe, Reel, Country Dance and Morris Dance Tune. D Major (almost all versions): G Major (Bacon, Bayard-Simmons). Standard or ADAE. AB (Athole, Bayard-Simmons, Shaw): AABB (most versions): ABCDE (Cooke {Ex. 54}). One of, if not the most popular fiddle tune in history, widely disseminated in North America and Europe in nearly every tradition; as Bronner (1987) perhaps understatedly remarks, it has enjoyed a "vigarous" life. There is quite a bit of speculation on just what the name 'soldier's joy' refers to. Proffered thoughts seem to gravitate toward money and drugs. In support of the latter is the 1920's vintage Georgia band the Skillet Lickers, who sang to the melody:
***
Well twenty-five cents for the morphene,
and fifteen cents for the beer.
Twenty-five cents for the old morphene
now carry me away from here.
***
Bayard (1981) dates it to "at least" the latter part of the 18th century, citing a version that has become standard in Aird's 1778 collection (Vol. 1, No. 109_) and Skillern's 1780 collection (pg. 21). John Glen (1891) and Francis Collinson (1966) maintain the first appearence in print of this tune is in Joshua Campbell's 1778 A Collection of the Newest and Best Reels and Minuets with improvements. It has been attributed to Campbell himself but Collinson notes it is hardly likely as it is a well known folk dance tune in other countries of Europe. There is also a dance by the same name which is "one of the earliest dances recorded in England, but no date of origin has been established. It is still done in Girton Village as part of a festival dance. The tune is also well known in Ireland" (Linscott, 1939). The melody was used in North-West England morris dance tradition for a polka step, and also is to be found in the Cotswold morris tradition where it appears as "The Morris Reel," collected from the village of Headington, Oxfordshire. The Scots national poet Robert Burns set some verses to the tune which were published in his Merry Muses of Caledonia. In the first song of Burns' cantata, The Jolly Beggars, by the soldier, is to the tune of "Soldier's Joy." Early versions of "Soldier's Joy" can be traced to a Scottish source as far back as 1781; variants can be found in Scandanavia, the French Alps, and Newfoundland (Linda Burman-Hall, "Southern American Folk Fiddle Styles," Ethnomusicology, Vol. 19, #1, Jan. 1975).
***
In America the melody is ubiquitous. It was cited as having commonly been played for country dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), and Bronner (1987) confirms it was a popular piece at New York square dances in the early 20th century. The title appears in a repertoire list of Norway, Maine, fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunahm {b. 1853} was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's). Musicologist Charles Wolfe (1982) says it was popular with Kentucky fiddlers. The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, from the playing of Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's, and, for the same institution by Herbert Halpert in 1939 from the playing of Mississippi fiddlers John Hatcher, W.E. Claunch and Stephen B. Tucker. It was also recorded by legendary Galax fiddler Emmett Lundy, and is listed as one of the tunes played at a fiddlers' convention at the Pike County Fairgrounds, Alabama (as recorded in the Troy Herald of July 6, 1926) {Cauthen, 1990}. Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner said: "Every fiddler plays this. Some not so good" (Shumway). Burchenal prints a New England contra dance of the same name with the tune. Tommy Jarrell, the influential fiddler from Mt. Airy, North Carolina, told Peter Anick in 1982 that it was a tune he learned in the early 1920's when he first began learning the fiddle, at which time it was known as "I Love Somebody" in his region. Soon after it was known in Mt. Airy as "Soldier's Joy" and, after World War II, as "Payday in the Army." Another North Carolina fiddler, African-American Joe Thompson, played the tune in CFGD tuning. Gerald Milnes (1999, pg. 12) remarks that tune origins were of significant value to West Virginia musicians who often tried to trace tunes to original sources. It was the first tune learned by Randolph County, W.Va., fiddler Woody Simmons (b. 1911). Braxton County fiddler Melvin Wine (1909-1999), says Milnes, used family lore to attribute the tune to his great-grandfather, Smithy Wine, of Civil War era. Smithy, it seems, had been detained by the Confederates in Richmond under charges of aiding Union soldiers. Although imprisoned, his captors found out he was a fiddler and made him play for a dance, and Smithy later associated the tune with this incident, calling it "Soldier's Joy." For further information see Bayard's (1944) extensive note on this tune and tune family under "The King's Head." During a Senate campaign in the 1960's the piece was played to crowds by Albert Gore Sr., the fiddling father of the Vice President during the Clinton administration (Wolfe, 1997).
***
In England, the title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800. The novelist Thomas Hardy, himself an accordionist and fiddler, mentions the tune in his Far From the Madding Crowd:
***
'Then,' said the fiddler, 'I'll venture to name that the right
and proper thing is 'The Soldier's Joy' - there being a
gallant soldier married into the farm - hey, my sonnies,
and gentlemen all?' So the dance begins. As to the merits
of 'The Soldier's Joy', there cannot be, and never were,
two options. It has been observed in the musical circles
of Weatherbury and its vacinity that this melody, at the
end of three-quarters of an hour of thunderous footing,
still possesses more stimulative properties for the heel
and toe than the majority of other dances at their first opening.
***
At the turn into the 20th century the melody was in the repertoire of fiddler William Tilbury (who lived at Pitch Place, midway between Churt and Thursley, Surrey), the last of a family of village fiddlers who had learned his repertoire from an uncle, Fiddler Hammond (died c. 1870), who had taught him to play and who had been the village musician before him. The author of English Folk-Song and Dance concludes that "Soldier's Joy" was enjoyed in the tradition of this southwest Surry village about 1870, and was one of a number of country dances which survived well into the second half of the 19th century (pg. 144).
***
Some of the lyrics which have been sung to the tune are:
***
Chicken in the bread tray scratchin' out dough,
Granny will your dog bite? No, child, no.
Ladies to the center and gents to the bar,
Hold on you don't go too far.
***
Grasshopper sittin on a sweet potato vine, (x3)
Along come a chicken and says she's mine.
***
I'm a-gonna get a drink, don't you wanna go? (x3)
Hold on Soldier's Joy.
***
Twenty-five cents for the malteen,
Fifteen cents for the beer;
Twenty-five cents for the malteen,
I'm gonna take me away from here.
***
Love somebody, yes I do, (x3)
Love somebody but I won't say who.
***
Refrain
Dance all night, fiddle all day,
That's a Soldier's Joy. (Kuntz)
***
In Newfoundland, it is sometimes known as "John White" and sung accompanied by the fiddle or accordion:
***
Did you see, did you see, did you see John White?
Did you see, did you see, did you see John White?
Did you see, did you see, did you see John White?
He's gone around the harbour for to stay all night.
He's gone around the harbour for to get a dozen beer.
He's gone around the harbour and he won't be coming here.
He's gone around the harbour for to get a cup of tea.
If you sees him will you tell him that I wants he?
***
Sources for notated versions: John Carson and The Skillet Lickers (North Georgia) [Kuntz]; J.S. Price (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; Ben Smith (Dixon, Missouri) [Christeson]; Willie Woodward (Bristol, N.H.) [Linscott]: Floyd Woodhull (1976), Woodhull's Old Tyme Masters (1941), Pop Weir (c. 1960) {three versions from central New York State} [Bronner]; Bobbie Jamieson (Cullivoe, Yell, Shetland) [Cooke]; George Sutherland (Bressay/Vidlin, Shetland) [Cooke]; Lorin Simmons (Prince Edward Island, Canada, 1930's), James Marr (elderly fiddler from Missouri, 1949), twenty southwestern Pa. fifers and fiddlers [Bayard]; Richard Greene with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys [Phillips]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; Elliot Wright (b. 1935, Flat River, Queens County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]; fiddler Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ottawa Valley, Ontario) [Begin].
Adam, 1928; No. 2. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 86b, pg. 35. Bacon (The Morris Ring), 1974; pg. 197. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; Appendix No. 1A-B, pgs. 571-572, and No. 332A-S, pgs. 303-310. Begin (Fiddle Music from the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 47, pg. 56. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 262. R.P. Bronner (Old-Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 12, pgs. 71-72 and No. 25, pg. 110. Burchenal (American Country Dances, Vol. 1), 1918; pg. 6. Carlin (English Concertina), 1977; pgs. 40-411. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 19. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers' Repertory, Vol. 2), 1984; pg. 61. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 24. Cooke (The Fiddle Tradition of the Shetland Isles), 1986; Ex. 54, pg. 112 and Ex. 55, pg. 113. DeVille, 1905; No. 76. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 49. Harding Collection (1915) and Harding's Original Collection (1928), No. 20. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; pg. 9. Howe (School for the Violin), 1851; pg. 37. Howe (Diamond School for the Violin), pg. 41. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes), No. or pg. 23. Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; pg. 40. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 7. Kennedy (Fiddler's Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 4, pg. 2. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; Set 1, No. 6, pg. 3. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 15 and 45 (latter includes a 'A' part variation by Charlie Higgins {Galax, Va}). Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 295-296 (two versions). Lerwick (Kilted Fiddler), 1985; pg. 21. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 110-111. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; pg. 22. McGlashan (Collection of Scots Measures), c. 1780; pg. 32. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 38. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 183. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 1642, pg. 305. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 868, pg. 150. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 71. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989{A}; pg. 38. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 227 (two versions). Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 166 (appears as "King's Head"). Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1979; pg. 37 (includes several variations). Robbins, No. 56. Roche Collection, 1982, Vol. 2; No. 216, pg. 12 (appears as a hornpipe). Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 7, pg. 4 (an alternate title is given as "King's Head"). Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 383. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 150. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964; No. or pg. 43. Sym, 1930; pg. 13. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 118. Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 43. Wade (Mally's North West Morris Book), 1988; pg. 17. White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pg. 72. Bluebird 5658-B (78 RPM), Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers (North Ga.) {1934}. Caney Mountain Records CEP 210 (extended play LP, privately issued), Lonnie Robertson (Mo.), c. 1965-66. Columbia 191-D (78 RPM), Samantha Bumgarner {recorded as "I Am My Momma's Darlin' Child"). Columbia 15538 (78 RPM), Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. County 405, "The Hillbillies." County 506, The Skillet Lickers- "Old-Time Tunes. County 514, Gid Tanner's Skillet Lickers- "Hell Broke Loo"se in Georgia" (Originally recorded in 1934). County 756, Tommy Jarrell- "Sail Away Ladies." Edison 52370 (78 RPM), 1928, John Baltzell (appears as "Soldier's Joy Hornpipe") {Baltzell was a native of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, as was minstrel Dan Emmett (d. 1904). Emmett returned to the town in 1888, poor, but later taught Baltzell to play the fiddle}. Flying Fish 102, New Lost City Ramblers - "20 Years/Concert Performances" (1978). Folk Legacy Records FSA-17, Hobart Smith - "America's Greatest Folk Instrumentalist." Folkways FA 2381, "The Hammered Dulcimer as played by Chet Parker" (1966). Folkways FA 2492, New Lost City Ramblers - "String Band Instrumentals" (1964. Learned from Hobart Smith). Fretless 132, "Ron West: Vermont Fiddler." June Appal 007, Tommy Hunter - "Deep in Tradition" (1976. Learned from his grandfather, fiddler James W. Hunter, Madison County, N.C.). Library of Congress (2738-B-2), 1939, recording by Herbert Halpert of the Houston Bald Knob String Band (Franklin County, Va.). Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, Stephen B. Tucker - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985). Morning Star 45003, Taylor's Kentucky Boys - "Wink the Other Eye: Old Time Fiddle Band Music from Kentucky" (1980. Originally recorded in 1927). Revonah RS-924, "The West Orrtanna String Band" (1976). Rounder 0070, The Kentucky Colonels- "1965-1967." Rounder 0073, The White Brothers- "Live in Sweden." Rounder 1003, Fiddlin' John Carson- "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Goin' to Crow." Tradition TLP 1007, Lacey Phillips - "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians," 1956. United Artists 9801, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." Voyager VRCD 344, Howard Marshall & John Williams - "Fiddling Missouri" (1999). Bob Smith's Ideal Band - "Ideal Music" (1977). "Fiddlers Three Plus Two." "The Caledonian Companion" (1975).
X:1
T:Soldiers' Joy [1]
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Country Dances
B:The Athole Collection
K:D
dB|AFDF AFDF|A2d2d2cB|AFDF AFDF|G2E2E2FG|AFDF AFDF|
A2d2d2fg|afdf gece|d2D2D2||
ag|fdfg a2gf|ecef g2ag|fdfg a2 gf|edcB A2ag|fdfg a2gf|ecef g2fg|
afdf gece|d2D2D2||
X:2
T:Soldier's Joy
L:1/8
M:C|
S:Kuntz - Ragged but Right
N:From the playing of Fiddlin' John Carson
K:D
(3dcB|A2 FF D2 FF|A2 BA d2 dB|ABAG FGFD|E2 E4 (#G|
A2) FF DEFD|A2 BA d3 (e|f2) ff efec|d2 d4 (3dcB|A2 FF D2 FF|
ABAF dBAF|ABAG FGFD|E2 E4 (^G|A2) FE DEFD|A2 BA d3e|
f2 ff efdc|d2 d4||
|:A2|d2 f2 abaf|e2 ef g2 ge|d2 df abaf|edcB A3A|
d2f2 abaf|edef g2 ge|fafd egec|d2 d4:|
SUGAR IN THE GOURD [1]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Virginia, West Virginia, North Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri. G Major (Brody, Perlman, Reiner & Anick): A Major (Frets). Standard. AABB (Brody, Perlman, Reiner & Anick): AA'BB'C (Frets). The tune is melodically related to "Turkey in the Straw," and historically predates it, the words having been printed in the 1830's (Charles Wolfe). It was mentioned in an account authored by William Byrne describing a chance encounter with West Virginia fiddler 'Old Sol' Nelson during a fishing trip on the Elk River. The year was around 1880, and Sol, whom Byrne said was famous for his playing "throughout the Elk Valley from Clay Courthouse to Sutton as...the Fiddler of the Wilderness," had brought out his fiddle after supper to entertain the company on a hunting trip (Milnes, 1999).
***
There are a few explanations of the meaning of the title. Formerly it has been thought that 'sugar in the gourd' might refer to a practice of hanging sugar-filled vegetable gourds around a dance floor-to ease the friction for dancers sugar would periodically be thrown on those sections of the floor where the traffic was the heaviest. Another explanation, not mutually exclusive, is that 'sugar in the gourd' is a euphemism for completed coitis-in other words, depositing sperm into a womb is putting 'sugar in the gourd'.
***
"Sugar in the Gourd" is one of the tunes fiddlers would play to vie with each other in some older fiddle contests; the best version of "Sugar" and a few other 'universally' known tunes won the fiddler the prize, as, for example, was documented in 1899 in an account of a Gallatin, Tenn., contest (Charles Wolfe, The Devils Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). The melody was played by Rock Ridge, Alabama, fiddlers around 1920 (Bailey). The Clarke County (Alabama) Democrat of May 9, 1929, described it as one of the "popular old-time tunes" that would assuredly be "rendered in the most approved fashion" at a fiddlers' contest in Grove Hill, while the Northwest Alabamian of August 29, 1929, listed it as one of the tunes likely to be played at an upcoming convention in its area (Cauthen, 1990). The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Ken Perlman (1996) writes that this American southern tune was in circulation on Canada's Prince Edward island in the pre-radio 1920's, although how it got there is a mystery. His PEI collected version is similar to one printed by Reiner & Anick, from the playing of Georgia fiddler John Carson who recorded the melody in 1924, and it seems possible that this recording was obtained by an unknown PEI fiddler who learned the tune from it. Sources for notated versions: John McCutcheon and Kahle Brewer [Kuntz]; Alan Block [Phillips]; Fiddlin' John Carson (north Georgia) [Reiner & Anick]; Sidney Baglole (b. 1912, Freetown, West Prince County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman].
***
Well I'm goin' down the road and I met her on a board,
And the wind from her shoes knocked Sugar in the Gourd;
Sugar in the Gourd and the gourd upon the ground,
Well you wanna get to sugar got to break it all around.
***
Refrain
Sugar in the Gourd and you can't get it out,
When you wanna get to sugar got to break it all about.
***
I had a little hen who had a wooden leg,
That's the best hen that ever laid an egg;
Laid more eggs than he had around the farm,
And another drink of liquor wouldn't do you any harm.
***
I went down in the old clay field,
Blacksnake grabbed me by the heel;
I turned around to do my best,
And drove my head in a hornet's nest.
***
Went to the church want to climb the steeple,
Looked right down upon them people;
Some looked black and some looked blacker,
And some looked the color of a plug of tobaccer. (Kuntz)
***
I met her on the road and I laid her on a board,
Tune up the fiddle give her Sugar in the Gourd.
***
Sugar in the Gourd and I can't get it out,
The way get sugar out, roll the gourd about. (Carson)
***
Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 269. Frets Magazine, "Byron Berline: The Fiddle," October 1987; pg. 64. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 301-302. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 64. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 41. Reiner & Anick (Old Time Fiddling Across America), 1989; pg. 108. Briar 0798, Earl Collins- "That's Earl." Carryon Records 002, "Ace Weems and the Fat Meat Boys." County 745, John Ashby- "Down on Ashby's Farm." County 507, Kahle Brewer and Stoneman's Dixie Mountaineers - "Old-Time Fiddle Classics." Front Hall 021, John McCutcheon- "Barefoot Boy With Boots On" (1981. Learned from Uncle Charlie Osborne, Russell County, Va.). Gennett 6483 (78 RPM), 1928, Tweedy Brothers (three W.Va. brothers, Henry, Charles, and George, who played twin fiddles and piano). Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Pete McMahon - "Kansas City Rag." OKeh 7003 (78 RPM), Fiddlin John Carson {1924}. Rounder 1003, Fiddlin' John Carson- "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow." Rounder 1005, Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers- "Hear These New Southern Fiddle and Guitar Records." Rounder CD 7014, Sidney Baglole- "Fiddlers of Western Prince Edward Island" (1997. Baglole claimed to have leaned it from fiddlers in his community before the days of broadcasting).Sugar Hill 3750, Byron Berline & John Hickman - "Double Trouble." Victor 19449 {1924} and Edison {1925} (78 RPM's), Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877-1952? (Russell County, S.W. Va.). Voyager VRCD 344, Howard Marshall & John Williams - "Fiddling Missouri" (1999. An 'A' major version).
T:Sugar in the Gourd [1]
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Kuntz - Ragged but Right
K:A
|:A|c/B/c/d/ ee|c/ec/ e(e|f/)e/f/g/ a/b/a/f/|e/f/e/c/ e(g|a)a/b/ a/f/e/f/|g/f/e/d/ c/A/F/A/|
c/B/A/F/ E/F/A/B/|c/A/B/c/ A:|
|:A|c/B/A/F/ E/F/A/B/|c/B/c/d/ c/B/A/F/|c/B/A/F/ E/F/A/B/|c/A/B/c/ A:|
THREE THIN DIMES. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Ohio. A Major. AEAE or Standard. AABBCC. According to Seattle fiddler and old-time music expert Kerry Blech, the source for the tune is Barnesville, Ohio, fiddler Old John Hutchison, who never formally recorded. It seems that Hutchison's sons, Lost John and Zeke, had a bluegrass band in the 1970's with a gifted fiddler named Greg Dearth (now living in Dayton, Ohio) who took it upon himself to learn many of "The Old Seed's" (Old John's nickname) more exceptional tunes. These were recorded with the Hutchison Brothers band on the Vetco label. When played with the tune "Two White Nickels" the medley has jokingly been called the "Forty Cent Medley." Source for notated version: Pete Sutherland with the Arm and Hammer String Band (Vt.) [Phillips]. Kuntz, Private Collection. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 241. Heritage XXXIII, Arm and Hammer String Band (Vt.) - "Visits" (1981. Learned from John Hutchinson). Vetco 505, The Hutchison Brothers (out of print).
T:Three Thin Dimes
L:1/8
M:2/4
Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz
K:A
(3e/f/g/|"A"a/)A/g/A/ f/A/e/(a/|a)g/g/ f/f/e|"D"d/c/B/A/ F/D/E/F/|A/B/c/d/ e/f/g/e/|
"A"a/A/g/A/ f/A/e/(a/|a)g/g/ f/f/e|"D"d/c/d/e/ f/g/a/f/|"A"e/c/"E"B/c/ "A"A:|
|:"A"(A|A/)A/A/A/ cc|c/B/A/F/ E/ A (A/|A/)A/c/e/ f/e/a/e/|"D"f/e/c/A/ "A"B<A:|
|:"A"e/e/a/e/ e/e/a/e/|e/e/a/e/ f/e/c/A/|"D"f2 ff|"G"g2 "D"f2|"A"e/e/a/e/ e/e/a/e/|
e/e/a/e/ f/e/c/A/|"D"d/c/d/e/ f/g/a/f/|"A"e/c/"E"B/c/ "A"A:|
WALKING PLOW REEL. American, Reel. USA, North Dakota. A Major. Standard. AABB. Pancerzewski explains that the walking plow was once a mainstay for homesteaders on the prairie. Originally made of wood, then metal around World War I, the plow was pulled by three large steers or horses while a man walked directly behind it to guide it. Source for notated version: the four fiddling Nelson Brothers (Grinnell, North Dakota) [Pancerzewski]. Pancerzewski (Pleasures of Home), 1988; pg. 19.