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Dill Pickle Rag – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 52

February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Tonight, I got to hang out at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins, playing strolling Violin (Fiddle) for the Mardi Gras fundraiser for the Bas Bleu Theater Company. It was a fun time of playing lots of swing tune, and a little bit of cajun. I even pulled out a little bit of Mozart on request. When I got to a point where I could take a quick break to record my fiddle tune of the day, Dill Pickle Rag is what came to mind first, so that’s what I played.

I learned Dill Pickle Rag from Lisa Barrett, and I play a pretty straightforward version of it. I have always enjoyed ragtime tunes. They are especially fun when I get to play them with my dad joining me on tenor banjo. Tonight, it’s just me solo, but we will get my dad on a fiddle tune a day with me before long.
 

 

Dill Pickle Rag according to the Fiddler’s Companion

DILL PICKLE RAG. AKA – “Dill Pickles.” Texas Style, Old‑Time; Country Rag. USA; Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri. G Major (‘A’ and ‘B’ parts) & C Major (‘C’ part): sometimes then goes to F Major. Standard tuning. ABC (Silberberg): AABBCCAA (Brody): AA’BB’AA’CAA’BB’AA’C'AA’ (Phillips). A novelty rag composed in 1907 by Kansas City native and resident Charles L. Johnson (1876-1950), an African-American publisher and composer (under his own name and aliases), especially of cakewalk and ragtime pieces. The popular melody found its way into the old‑time repertoire. The title appears in a list of “traditional” Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954.

***

“Dill Pickle” was 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 the town of 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).

***

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On a Snowy Day – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 51

February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I know it might be considered bad form by some to play two waltzes in a row, but I’m going to let the chips fall where they may. I wrote On a Snowy Day when I was in junior high school, about 14 or 15 years old. School had been cancelled for snow, and I was fiddling around in the living room. I was looking out the window at the snow when this tune came to me.

The A part is a little bit melancholy and in a minor key, and the sun shines through in the B part with a major outburst. It returns to the minor key at the end of the B part for a little bit of reminiscence.

We went to the Ice Castles at Silverthorne yesterday, and of course I wanted to record my fiddle tune from there. Since it was 9 degrees (Fahrenheit) when we were there, I decided to record it at the Nepal Restaurant where we ate dinner – much safer for my fiddle which once belonged to my great grandfather.

The beautiful photos of the Ice Castles are courtesy of Colorado Photographer, Christina Gressianu.  And, since Windows Movie Maker is seriously limited, she helped lay the photos over the video with iMovie. Thanks!

 

 

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Waltz for Gloria – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 50

February 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This is another waltz that I learned from J.C. Hounshell after judging with him at the American Heritage Music Festival (Jana Jae’s fiddle contest) in Grove, OK. (Great contest by the way. I highly recommend it.)

JC and his wife Joyce, Gayle and LaRue Hopson and I sat around and played until they were ready for bed. And, I was pleased to learn this tune. JC Called it Gloria’s Waltz, and Gayle called with Waltz for Gloria. I have called it both. I’m not sure whether J.C. wrote it, or it’s older than him, but it doesn’t appear that there are any other recordings of this Gloria’s Waltz on the Internet (only another Gloria’s Waltz.)

I think it’s a beautiful tune, and I hope you do too.

 

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Jesse Polka (Jesusita en Chihuahua) – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 49

February 18, 2012 By 2 Comments

I originally learned this tune when I was about 12 from Heather Humphries, who was my first “real” fiddle teacher. Before Heather, I had violin teachers trying to teach me fiddle tunes, and I played tunes that I learned by ear from my dad or grandpa. Heather is a really sweet lady, and not only can she fiddle, but you should hear her sing Bury me Beneath the Willow. She has a beautiful voice to boot.

I first heard the name Jesusita en Chihuahua from Paul Anastasio, when he came back to Weiser from Mexico, where he had been studying the folk fiddling of Mexico from the great fiddle master of the tierra caliente, Juan Reynoso. And, since then I have used both names for it, because I think it’s good to give credit where credit is due.

And, regarding the decor – since Allie was doing the filming tonight, I let her pick the backdrop.

Jesusita en Chihuahua according to Wikipedia

“Jesusita en Chihuahua” is a Mexican polka which was written by Quirino Mendoza y Cortés while he was serving as a Lt. Colonel in the Mexican Revolution and directing the military band in Puebla.[1] [2] [3] Its premiere was held onChristmas Day 1916[1][2][3] and it has since been covered by a multitude of artists, under a variety of names. The composition became a trademark of the Mexican Revolution and was Pancho Villa’s favorite musical piece to have his bands play during combat.[4] The piece centers around soldaderas; women who accompanied the revolutionaries, tending to their needs and on occasion even taking up arms to participate in combat.[5]

Versions

“Jesusita en Chihuahua” came to be known by some as the “J.C. Polka” for short and overtime this developed into the “Jesse Polka” (or the “Jessie Polka”). Texas swing band Cliff Bruner and the Texas Wanderers started playing the piece in 1938 under the “Jessie Polka” name, bringing it great popularity. Cliff Bruner reportedly learned the piece as a child from Mexican farm workers in Beaumont, Texas. The piece also came to be known by the name “The Cactus Polka” under Lawrence Welk.

Film

A Mexican film titled “Jesusita en Chihuahua” was released in 1942 starring Pedro Infante as the mayor of Chihuahua who is aided by the tough Jesusita (Susana Guízar). Mendoza’s polka is featured in the film.

“Jesusita en Chihuahua” has been featured in many other films including “The Three Caballeros” (1944), “Anchors Aweigh” (1945), “This Was Pancho Villa” (1957), “¡Cielito lindo!” (1957), Sueños de oro” (1958), “Quiero ser artista (1958), “La diligencia de la muerte” (1961), “Perdóname mi vida” (1965), “Like Water for Chocolate” (1992), and “My Family” (1995). English and Spanish lyrics were written to the piece for the film “Love Laughs at Andy Hardy” (1946). Another set of English lyrics were written to the piece by Jack Elliott for the film “Old Los Angeles” (1948).

Jesse Polka according to the Fiddler’s Companion

JESUCITA/JESUSITA EN CHIHUAHUA. AKA and see “Jesse Polka.” Tex‑Mex, Polka. Texas, New Mexico, Mexico. A Mexican anthem, originally composed in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution in 1912. ‘Jesusita’ is the female personification of Jesus, while Chihuahua is a state in Mexico; the title refers, however, to female supporters of the revolutionary soldiers, who not only provided for their needs, but took up arms to fight alongside their men when the occasion demanded. It is a melody played today by school mariachi bands (around Tuscon, for example). The alternate title, “Jesse Polka,” may be related to the fact that Jesus was the seed of Jesse. According to Ned Kartchner Lawrence Welk played the song and called it the “Cactus Polka.” The tune features plucked (pizzicato) parts. It is used sometimes, according to Yankee Ingenuity, for the dance “The Jesse Polka.” Varrick VR‑302, Yankee Ingenuity ‑ “Heatin’ Up the Hall” (1989).

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Temperance Reel – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 48

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I first learned Temperence Reel, because my mom was learning it on the hammered dulcimer, and I had to learn it so that I could help her learn it. I had heard it many times before, and I’ve always thought it was a cool tune. I like the way it goes back and forth between major and minor. Considering the title, I think that the minor parts might be the booze talking, and in the major parts, it’s the sobriety.

 

 

Temperance Reel according to the Fiddler’s Companion

TEMPERANCE REEL. AKA and see “Devil in Georgia [1]” (Doc Roberts title), “Teetotaler(‘s Reel),” “Oh My Foot,” “Old Tiddley-Toe,” “Kingsport,” “Rocky Road to Denver,” “Six Hand Reel,” “Where is My Other Foot?” Irish, American; Reel. USA; New England, Michigan, West Virginia. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The tune, a North American version of the Irish “Teetotaler,” dates from the 19th century. Ken Perlman (1979) is of the opinion the tune is related to a Co. Kerry polka entitled “Pigtown” (which also goes by several other names including “Pigtown Fling”, “Ston(e)y Point [1]” and others). Ford prints a version under the title “Six Hand Reel,” presumably collected in Missouri, as were most of his tunes, however, other Missouri titles include “Rocky Road to Denver” (Roy Wooliver/Gene Goforth) and “Where is My Other Foot?” (Lonnie Robertson). The earliest American recording of the tune is by Joseph Samuels in 1919 (Meade).

TEETOTALER(‘S REEL). AKA and see “Temperance Reel,” “The Bowl of Coffee,” “O’Connell’s Welcome to Clare,” “Kingsport,” “Oh My Foot,” “Old Tiddley-Toe,” “Rocky Road to Denver,” “Where is My Other Foot?” Also called “The Devil in Georgia [1]” by Doc Roberts (Ky.). AKA – “Teetotaler’s Fancy.” Irish, Old‑Time, New England; Breakdown or Reel. G Major (‘A’ part) & E Minor (‘B’ part). Standard tuning. AB (O’Neill): AABB (most versions). The word “teetotaler” has nothing to do with any meaning built around “total” and “tea” to mean temperance, but rather is said to come about from the stammered pronunciation of “total” by a Richard Turner of Preston, England, in 1832. In that year a society in the town was formed, pledged to abstain from intoxicating liquors. There were many who urged that temperance did not mean total abstinence, when an emotional Turner piped up that half-and-half measures were of no use, and that “nothing but te-te-total would do.”

***

Taylor (1992) thinks the version in Roche (No. 80) uses “curious notation which suggests perhaps a Scottish origin.” See also the great Kerry fiddler Padraig O’Keeffe’s version of the tune called “Road to Newbridge.” The melody appears as “The Peeler’s Jacket [3]” in the American collections of White and Robbins and Bayard’s Dance to the Fiddle, although the “Peeler’s” title is usually given for another tune in Irish tradition. Other American titles include “Oh My Foot,” “Where is my Other Foot” and “Rocky Road to Denver.”

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Shortnin’ Bread – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 47

February 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The first time I heard a recording of Orville Burns playing Shortnin’ Bread, my fiddling life was changed. Orville’s bumping breakdowns had awesome drive, without really being very fast. He could groove a breakdown like a mad rooster strutting around a hen house. There aren’t many fiddlers that hold a candle to the rhythmic feeling that Orville had on the fiddle. So, when I first worked this tune out, it was mostly Orville with a little bit of me, and then I heard about Ace Sewell (another Texas Breakdown legend) playing it without the dropped beat in the fourth section of the song, and I was intrigued.

I often go back and forth between playing the last part in straight time, and playing it crooked during the same time of playing this tune. It really plays havoc with the rhythm players, they don’t know which way is up. :)

Tonight, I recorded it from Magnolia Music Studio, where I teach fiddle lessons, as soon as I finished my last lesson of the night. As a side note, this is NOT the same song as Mama’s Little Baby Loves Shortnin’ Bread.

 

Fiddler’s Companion Doesn’t have much on Shortnin’ Bread

SHORTENIN’ BREAD [3]. Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. Standard tuning. AA’BB’CC’DD’. A variation of version #2. Source for notated version: Gary Lee Moore [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; pg. 221.

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Polly Put the Kettle On – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 46

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This is one of the many tune known by the name “Polly Put the Kettle On”. This is the version that they play in Texas, Oklahoma, and Southern Missouri. There is also a French Canadian tune that Donna Hebert played for me once that has a very similar melody, but I don’t remember the name of it off hand. According to my research, this tune is also known as Granny will your dog bite.

I learned this tune from Junior Marriott at the American Heritage Music Festival at Grand Lake of the Ozarks in Grove, Oklahoma AKA the Jana Jae Fiddle Contest. :) The simpler version of the B part that I played the first couple of times around, I learned from the Solomon Family Fiddling album that I bought at CountySales.com a while back.
It is a fairly simple tune without a lot of notes, but it has a catchy melody and it’s a lot of fun to play, especially the bow bouncing part. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoy playing it.

 

 

Polly Put the Kettle On (This Version) According to the Fiddler’s Companion

POLLY PUT THE KETTLE ON [2]. AKA and see “Molly Put the Kettle On [1],” “Granny Will Your Dog Bite?” Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; east Tennessee, western N.C., north Ga. G Major (with flat 7th) {Ford}: D Major {Silberberg, Spandaro}. Standard tuning. ABC (Silberberg): AABB (Ford, Spandaro). Identified as a common East Tennessee tune. The tune was played by Wiley Harper (Monroe, Ga.) in an April, 1913, Atlanta, Ga. fiddlers’ contest, according to the newspaper the Atlanta Journal.

***

Polly, put the kettle on and slice the bread and butter fine.

Slice enough for eight or nine, we’ll all have tea.  (Ford).

 

More info from the Fiddler’s Companion on Granny Will your Dog Bite

GRANNY, WILL YOUR DOG BITE? [1]. AKA and see “Betty Martin,” “Boating Up Sandy [3],” “Brad Walters,” “Chippy/Gippy Get Your Haircut,” “Hog Eye an’ a ‘Tater,” “The Hog Eye Man,” “Hog Eye [1],” “Jake Gilly/Gillie,” “Old Mother Gofour,” “Old Granny Rattle-Trap,” “Pretty Betty Martin,” “Very Pretty Martin,” “Sally in the Garden [1],” “Tip Toe Fine,” “Fire on/in the Mountain [1].” Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; Kentucky, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma. A Major/Mixolydian (most versions): D Major (Sweet). Standard or AEae (e.g. Lon Jordan). AB (Silberberg): AA’B (Beisswenger & McCann): AABB (Christeson, Phillips, Sweet): AABBC (Thede). This melody is popular under several titles, however, the title itself “Granny Will Your Dog Bite” is also a floating title attached to several tunes. It was frequently played at Mid-Western fiddle contests. R.P. Christeson says his version is dissimilar to the tune of the same title in Ford (1940), but is similar to “Tip Toe, Pretty Betty Martin” in the same book. Bayard (1981) notes the resemblance between this tune and the “Betty Martin” variants, many listed as alternates above. He believes the tune possibly has Norwegian connections (though he did not elaborate or offer sustaining information). The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940′s (in particular from Arkansas fiddler Lon Jordan, in 1941), and was recorded commercially by Crockett’s Kentucky Mountaineers in 1928. See also related tunes “Gate to Go Through” and “Old Coon Dog [2].”  Ford (1940) said that “occasional verses” were sung by fiddlers while playing the tune, and indeed, various verses have been collected from both white and black sources. (Ford’s collection area was the Mid-West, often Missouri, and Thede printed Oklahoma versions).  Charles Wolfe (1991) remarks the tune has been collected widely from Mississippi to California, and notes that Ray Browne (writing in The Alabama Folk Lyric, 445) heard it often as a banjo tune popular more with blacks than whites.

***

Granny will your dog bite, cow kick, cat scratch?            

Granny will your hen peck, sow root the corn patch?

Granny will your duck quack, old grey goose hatch?

Granny will your dog bite? “Yes, child, No!” (Ford)

***

Granny will your hen peck, hen peck, hen peck,

Granny will your hen peck, Lord, child, no;

Hog bit ‘er pecker off a long time ago.  (Thede)

***

Granny will your dog bite, dog bite, dog bite,

Granny will your dog bite , Lord, child no;

Wolf bit ‘er biter off long time ago.

***

African-American collector Thomas Talley, in his Negro Folk Rhymes (edited in a new edition by Charles Wolfe in 1991) printed lyrics under the title “Chicken in the Bread Tray.” They go:

***

Auntie, will yo dog bite?

No, Chile, No!

Chicken in the bread tray

A makin’ up dough

***

Auntie, will yo broom hit?

Yes, Chile, Pop!

Chicken in the bread tray,

Flop, Flop, Flop!

***

Auntie, will you oven bake?

Yes, Jes fry!

What’s dat chicken good fer?

Pie, Pie, Pie!

***

Auntie, is yo pie good?

Good as you could ‘spec,

Chicken in the bread tray;

Peck, Peck, Peck!
***

Bruce Baker found the following reference in the North Carolina State Archives (Raleigh, N.C.) in the Lowry Shuford Collection in a folder marked “Civil War
Reminiscences.”  The folder contains a document titled “From 1861 to 1865 As I Remember” by J. A. Bush, Sr., of Lenoir, N.C., wherein he writes:
***

D. A. Griffin was one of them (i.e. the musicians).  When he came to

Lenoir to be sworn in, he was playing on his fife, ‘Oh, Granny, will

your little dog bite? No, child, no.’  He took his fife to camp with him

and played every evening.
***
Baker concludes that, while there is no way of knowing which of the “Granny” tunes was the one Griffin played, the reference it “does suggest the tune was playable on a fife and that this floating lyric was floating around Caldwell Co., N.C., in the early 1860s.”

***

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Maddie’s Waltz – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 45

February 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Maddie Wickam, this one’s for you. Happy Valentines Day!

I was a bit torn, in recording this one today. I love the chords to it – so I wanted to have someone play it with me, and I told Maddie to watch for it today, so here it is. I wrote it for her when she was just a baby, and it makes a very nice lullaby.  They always look so peaceful when they are sleeping.

 

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Michelle – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 44

February 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I have a confession to make. I wrote this tune while I was in Harlaxton, England for a semester in college. Harlaxton Village is near Grantham Lincolnshire and University of Evansville has a campus there in a very large Manor house (the largest in the UK). I had just been in the Great Hall of the manor house practicing and came up with a new tune. I actually scrawled out the notes to it on another piece of sheet music – Blackbird by the Beatles if I remember correctly.

There was a girl there at Harlaxton, a friend, who asked me to write her a song soon after I had written this one. I hadn’t named it yet, so it became the song that I wrote for her. I called it Michelle in her honor. Kim Schug, after hearing this story gave it a subtitle – I just happened to have a song in my pocket.

Tonight, I am joined by Brent Hawley on guitar, and Jim Abraham on bass. We just finished our rehearsal for KRFC’s live at lunch program that we will be playing on soon. I hope you enjoy this raucous celtic-sounding reel.

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Sheebeg and Sheemore – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 43

February 12, 2012 By 1 Comment

This is one of those Irish melodies that I have long recognized, but didn’t really know the origins of it. It’s a beautiful tune, and from what I have been told, it tells a story of the big people (us), and the little people (leprechauns, fairies, and hobgoblins.) As it turns out, it was written by Carolan, the most celebrated harpist minstrel in the recent history of Ireland – at least that I’m aware of. It’s a beautiful melody, and I hope that you enjoy the version that Steve Eulberg (on lap dulcimer) and I whipped up for you.
 


 

The History of Sheebeg and Sheemore from Contemplator.com

This tune is said to be the first tune Carolan composed. After leaving Alderford at the age of 21, Carolan stopped at Squire Reynold’s house at Lough Scur. Mr. Reynolds, who had been a harper and poet himself, was not apparently impressed by Carolan’s musical abilities and asked him if he composed. When Carolan replied he did not, Squire Reynolds remarked he “might make a better hand of his tongue than of his fingers.” Reynolds planned to leave a few days and suggested Carolan make a tune out of a local legend of a “battle between the kings of the gentry [fairies].” (O’Sullivan, Vol. 2, p. 123) Upon his return Carolan had composed this tune.

In an account of his visit to the area in 1828, Edward O’Reilly tells of two ranges of hills. On the highest part of one of the ranges “is one of those ancient conical heaps of stones and earth called motes or raths, so common in this country, and which the popular voices says are inhabited by the Daoine Maithe, the “Good People”, which the country people dare not venture to call by the name of fairies. This mote, and the mountain on which it stands, are much celebrated in the popular poems and songs of Ireland under the name of Sigh Mor. ” (O’Reilly quoted in Sullivan, Vol. 2, p. 123) On the other range, near Squire Reynold’s home was another mote, Sigh beg which was also reputed inhabited by fairies. According to local tales during the period in which Fionn Mac Cubhail and Fianna Eirionn were defeated, one of Fionn’s heroes (perhaps Fionn himself), who was killed, was entombed in Sigh beg and a warrior of the other side was buried in Sigh mor. The battle of the two continued to be carried out by the immortals of Sig beg and Sig mor.

English Translation of Lyrics

FAIRY HILLS

Long long ago in this ancient land

A battle took place where two hills now stand
And on the plain there lay the slain
For neither the battle was won.

2. So the bard did sing of these fairy hills
Where bloom the white flowers and daffodils
One big one small Si Bheag Si Mhor
And never the battle is won.

3. Beneath these hills great heroes lie
Of the Red Branch Knights and their ancient foe
In still of night the immortals fight
But never the battle is won.

 

4. And so the harper was told these fairy tales
Of these fairy hills of the ancient Gaels
One big one small Si Bheag Si Mhor
And never the battle is won.

5. Twas after the battle the prophet foretold
No rest would be found for these warriors bold
Till they unite and fight one common foe
And then would the battle be won.

6. So then the harper wrote of these fairy hills
Where bloom the white flowers and daffodils
One big one small Si Bheag Si Mhor
And never the battle is won

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