Today, I was in the mood for something a little bit fast and a little bit old timey. I played a little of the basic melody before fiddling around with it.

This song takes me back to sitting in the Lunch Room (Warm Up Room for the National Old Time Fiddle Contest) at the Weiser, ID High School. Often when you were sitting there, you would find yourself in the middle of a Jam Session by LEGENDS. At this moment, Dick Barrett and Texas Shorty were fiddling, and they started playing Soldier’s Joy. They played it for about 5 minutes, and really played the heck out of it, really sweet stuff. Shorty leaned over to me after all that great playing and said, “Do you remember what that song’s called?”

The  truth be told, I have those moments all the time, where I know the melody to a tune, I know I have played it before, and I have no trouble playing it, but I can’t remember for the life of me what it’s name is. In this case, I can, and I hope you enjoy Soldier’s Joy.

Soldier’s Joy according to Wikipedia

“Soldier’s Joy” is a fiddle tune, classified as a reel or country dance. It is popular in the American fiddle canon, in which it is touted as “an American classic” but traces its origin to Scottish fiddling traditions.  and Irish fiddle traditions. It has been played in Scotland for over 200 years, and Robert Burns used it for the first song of his cantata ‘The Jolly Beggars’. According to documentation at the United States Library of Congress, it is “one of the oldest and most widely distributed tunes” and is rated in the top ten most-played Old Time Fiddle tune. According to the Illinois Humanities Center, the tune dates as early as the 1760s. In spite of its upbeat tempo and catchy melody, the term “soldier’s joy” has a much darker meaning than is portrayed by the tune. This term eventually came to refer to the combination of whiskey, beer, and morphine used by Civil War soldiers.

Like many pure tunes with ancient pedigree, the melody of Soldier’s Joy has been used as a basis for construction of songs, which, unlike pure tunes, have lyrics. Robert Burns wrote lyrics for the tune in which a dismembered, homeless veteran sarcastically recounts his delight with battle.Melody as basis for song

Civil War era and post-bellum cultural references

According to the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC), the tune came to represent substance abuse during the Civil War. This is corroborated in concurring secondary sources.

Gimme some of that Soldier’s Joy, you know what I mean

I don’t want to hurt no more my leg is turnin’ green

The IHIC version is as follows:
Twenty-five cents for whiskey, twenty-five cents for beer

Twenty-five cents for morphine, get me out of here.

Chorus: I’m my momma’s pride and joy

I’m my momma’s pride and joy

I’m my momma’s pride and joy

Sing you a song called the soldier’s joy.

Country

Twenty five cents for whiskey, 25 cents for beer

Twenty five cents for morphine get me out of here

cho: I’m my momma’s pride and joy (3X)

Sing you a song called the soldier’s joy

Grasshopper sitting on a sweet potato vine (3X)

Along come a chicken and he’s say your mine.

I’m gonna get you there don’t you want to go (3X)

All for the soldier’s joy

Chicken in a bread pan scratching that dough

Granny does your dog bite no child no…

All for the soldier’s joy

Soldier’s Joy according to the Fiddler’s Companion

SOLDIER’S JOY [1] (Lutgair An Sigeadoir/t-Saigdiura). AKA and see “French Four” [2], “I Am My Mamma’s Darlin’ Child,” “John White,” “The King’s Head,” “The King’s Hornpipe [1],” “(I) Love Somebody [1],” “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 (Edden Hammons) tunings. 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 “vigorous” 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 morphine,

and fifteen cents for the beer.

Twenty-five cents for the old morphine

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 James Aird’s 1778 collection (vol. 1, No. 109) and Skillern’s 1780 collection (pg. 21). London publishers Longman and Broderip included it in their Entire New and Compleat Instructions for the Fife in 1785. Kate Van Winkler Keller (1992) says that the hornpipe “Soldier’s Joy” appeared with a song in London in about 1760. John Glen (1891) and Francis Collinson (1966) maintain the first appearance 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. 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 Scandinavia, the French Alps, and Newfoundland (Linda Burman‑Hall, “Southern American Folk Fiddle Styles,” Ethnomusicology, vol. 19, #1, Jan. 1975). Jean-Paul Carton identifies a version of “Soldier’s Joy” in the tablature manuscript of French fiddler Pierre Martin, dating from around 1880. He says: “I find (Martin’s) version of Soldier’s Joy—simply referred to as Été [a type of dance], tab #132—surprisingly close to some of the American versions, including the bowing, which is indicated in the tab.” [Reference: Claude Ribouillault, Violon du Poitou, Répertoire de danses en tablatures (Cahier de Pierre Martin, vers 1880), UPCP-Métive, Les Cahiers du CERDO No. 1, CPCP-Métive: 2003].

***

Swedish folklorist Jonas Liljestrom writes to say that Danish folk dance researcher Per Sørensen has traced the history of “Soldier’s Joy” in Denmark and Scandinavia, and has written that it can be found in the third volume of Rutherford’s Compleat Collection of two hundred of the most Celebrated Country Dances, Both Old and New, published in Scotland circa 1756. Sørensen’s article includes a transcription of the Rutherford version, nearly identical to the usual melody, and indicates the “Soldier’s Joy” title was used by Rutherford and that it was published with dance directions. Liljestrom cites: Sørensen, Per: “Dansens og musikkens rødder 42: Hornfiffen fra Randers 2.del” (“The Roots of the dance and music part 42: The Randers Hornpipe part 2″), (Published in “Hjemstavnsliv” issue nr. 11, 1999. The magazine is issued by “Landsforeningen Danske Folkedansere” ["National Association of Danish Folk Dancers"] in association with Danske Folkedanseres Spillemandskreds  ["Danish Folkdancers' Association of Fiddlers"].)

***

In America the melody is ubiquitous. Early printings of the melody are in Benjamin and Joseph Carr’s Evening Amusement (Philadelphia, 1796), Joshua Cushing’s Fifer’s Companion (Salem, Mass., 1804) and Daniel Steele’s New and Compleat Preceptor for the Flute (Albany, 1815). 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. Fiddler and outdoorsman Leizime Brusoe (Rhinelander, Wisconsin), born in Canada around 1870, recorded it on 78 RPM under the title “French Four,” which was actually the name of the dance he usually played it for. “Soldier’s Joy” is one of ‘100 essential Missouri tunes’ listed by Missouri fiddler Charlie Walden. 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). Howe (c. 1867) and Burchenal (1918) print a New England contra dances 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.

***

I am my mama’s darling child (x3)

And I don’t care for you.

***

Refrain

Dance all night, fiddle all day,

That’s a Soldier’s Joy.  (Kuntz)

***

The Holy Modal Rounders sang:

***

Bold General Washington and old Rochambeau

Buggering the hessians while the fire light’s aglow

Spending all their money, drinking all their pay

They’re never going to end the war this a way.

***

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?

***

When I think of the tune Danny Boy, I have a very specific recollection of me playing this tune. It was during my semester in Harlaxton College near Grantham, England. I woke up early on Saturday and took a cab to Grantham to busk (play for tips) at the street market. It was fall, and I remember my fingers getting a little bit stiff and cold as I played. There weren’t a lot of people at the market that day, and I didn’t make much money in tips, but I did get a few tips when I played Danny Boy. So, I played Danny Boy a few times that chilly morning at the market in England.

This morning, I hadn’t picked a tune yet, but since we were going to a morning networking group, I thought that would be a good time to record my tune of the day. I met a couple there, Gregg and Pam, who are doing tours to Ireland and England, at which point, I though “Danny Boy would make a good tune for today.” So, here’s to Gregg and Pam of Jolly Good Tours.

History of Londonderry Air according to Wikipedia

Londonderry Air is an air that originated from County Londonderry in Ireland. It is popular among the Irish diaspora and is very well known throughout the world. The tune is played as the victory anthem of Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. “Danny Boy” is a popular set of lyrics to the tune.

The title of the air came from the name of County Londonderry in Ireland. The air was collected by Jane Ross of Limavady.

Ross submitted the tune to music collector George Petrie, and it was then published by the Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland in the 1855 book The Ancient Music of Ireland, which Petrie edited. The tune was listed as an anonymous air, with a note attributing its collection to Jane Ross of Limavady.

For the following beautiful air I have to express my very grateful acknowledgement to Miss J. Ross, of New Town, Limavady, in the County of Londonderry–a lady who has made a large collection of the popular unpublished melodies of the county , which she has very kindly placed at my disposal, and which has added very considerably to the stock of tunes which I had previously acquired from that still very Irish county. I say still very Irish, for though it has been planted for more than two centuries by English and Scottish settlers, the old Irish race still forms the great majority of its peasant inhabitants; and there are few, if any counties in which, with less foreign admixture, the ancient melodies of the country have been so extensively preserved. The name of the tune unfortunately was not ascertained by Miss Ross, who sent it to me with the simple remark that it was ‘very old’, in the correctness of which statement I have no hesitation in expressing my perfect concurrence.

This led to the descriptive title “Londonderry Air” being used for the piece; the title “Air from County Derry” or “Derry Air” is sometimes used instead, due to the Derry-Londonderry name dispute.

The origin of the tune was for a long time somewhat mysterious, as no other collector of folk tunes encountered it, and all known examples are descended from Ross’s submission to Petrie’s collection. In a 1934 article, Anne Geddes Gilchrist suggested that the performer Ross heard played the song with extreme rubato, causing Ross to mistake the time signature of the piece for common time (4/4) rather than 3/4. Gilchrist asserted that adjusting the rhythm of the piece as she proposed produced a tune more typical of Irish folk music.

In 1974, Hugh Shields found a long-forgotten traditional song which was very similar to Gilchrist’s modified version of the melody. The song, Aislean an Oigfear (in modern Irish Aisling an Óigfhir, “The young man’s dream”), had been transcribed by Edward Bunting in 1792 based on a performance by harper Donnchadh Ó Hámsaigh at the Belfast Harp Festival. Bunting published it in 1796. Ó Hámsaigh lived in Magilligan, not far from Ross’s home in Limavady. Hempson died in 1807. In 2000, Brian Audley published his authoritative research on the tune’s origins. He showed how the distinctive high section of the tune had derived from a refrain in The Young Man’s Dream which, over time, crept into the body of the music. He also discovered the original words to the tune as we now know it which were written by Edward Fitzsimmons and published in 1814; his song is ‘The Confession of Devorgilla’, otherwise known by its first line ‘Oh Shrive Me Father’.

The descendants of blind fiddler Jimmy McCurry assert that he is the musician from whom she transcribed the tune but there is no historical evidence to support this speculation. A similar claim is made that the tune came to the blind itinerant harpist Rory O’Cahan in a dream, and a documentary detailing this version was broadcast on the Maryland Public Television in USA in March 2000.

Lyrics Set to Londonderry Air (including Danny Boy)

Danny Boy

The most popular lyrics for the tune are “Danny Boy” (“Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling”), written by English lawyer Frederick Edward Weatherly in 1910, and set to the tune in 1913.

There are various theories as to the true meaning of “Danny Boy”. Some listeners have interpreted the song to be a message from a parent to a son going off to war or leaving as part of the Irish diaspora. The 1918 version of the sheet music included alternative lyrics (“Eily Dear”), with the instructions that “when sung by a man, the words in italic should be used; the song then becomes “Eily Dear”, so that “Danny Boy” is only to be sung by a lady”. In spite of this, it is unclear whether this was Weatherly’s intent, or simply a publisher’s note; Weatherly did, however, acknowledge that “Danny Boy” was sung “all over the world by Sinn Feiners and Ulstermen alike”, and noted that the song had “nothing of the rebel song in it, and no note of bloodshed”.

(There are a number of variations on these lyrics.)

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer’s gone, and all the roses falling
‘Tis you, ’tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow
‘Tis I’ll be there in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.And when you come, and all the flowers are dying
If I am dead, as dead I well may be
You’ll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an “Ave” there for me.

And I shall hear, tho’ soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

I’ll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

And I shall rest in peace until you come to me.

Oh, Danny Boy, Oh, Danny Boy, I love you so.

The Confession of Devorgilla

The first lyrics to be sung to the music were, “The Confession of Devorgilla”, otherwise known as “Oh! shrive me, father”.

‘Oh! shrive me, father – haste, haste, and shrive me,

‘Ere sets yon dread and flaring sun;

‘Its beams of peace, – nay, of sense, deprive me,

‘Since yet the holy work’s undone.’

The sage, the wand’rer’s anguish balming,

Soothed her heart to rest once more;

And pardon’s promise torture calming,

The Pilgrim told her sorrows o’er.

The first writer, after Petrie’s publication, to set verses to the tune was Alfred Perceval Graves, in the late 1870s. His song was entitled ‘Would I Were Erin’s Apple Blossom o’er You.’ Graves later stated ‘…..that setting was, to my mind, too much in the style of church music, and was not, I believe, a success in consequence.’ (ref Audley, below).

Would I were Erin’s apple-blossom o’er you,

Or Erin’s rose, in all its beauty blown,

To drop my richest petals down before you,

Within the garden where you walk alone;

In hope you’d turn and pluck a little posy,

With loving fingers through my foliage pressed,

And kiss it close and set it blushing rosy

To sigh out all its sweetness on your breast.

[edit]Irish Love Song

The tune was first called “Londonderry Air” in 1894 when Katherine Tynan Hinkson set the words of her “Irish Love Song” to it:

Would God I were the tender apple blossom

That floats and falls from off the twisted bough

To lie and faint within your silken bosom

Within your silken bosom as that does now.

Or would I were a little burnish’d apple

For you to pluck me, gliding by so cold

While sun and shade you robe of lawn will dapple

Your robe of lawn, and you hair’s spun gold.

Hymns

As with a good many folk tunes, Londonderry Air is also used as a hymn tune; most notably for I cannot tell by William Young Fullerton.

I cannot tell why He Whom angels worship,

Should set His love upon the sons of men,

Or why, as Shepherd, He should seek the wanderers,

To bring them back, they know not how or when.

But this I know, that He was born of Mary

When Bethlehem’s manger was His only home,

And that He lived at Nazareth and laboured,

And so the Saviour, Saviour of the world is come.

It was also used as a setting for I would be true by Howard Arnold Walter at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales:

I would be true, for there are those that trust me.

I would be pure, for there are those that care.

I would be strong, for there is much to suffer.

I would be brave, for there is much to dare.

I would be friend of all, the foe, the friendless.

I would be giving, and forget the gift,

I would be humble, for I know my weakness,

I would look up, and laugh, and love and live.

“Londonderry Air” was also used as the tune for the Southern Gospel hit “He looked beyond my fault” written by Dottie Rambo of the group “The Rambos”

Amazing Grace shall always be my song of praise,

For it was grace that bought my liberty,

I do not know just why He came to love me so,

He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary,

To view the Cross where Jesus died for me,

How marvelous His grace that caught my falling soul,

When he looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

Other hymns sung to this are:

• I Love Thee So
• My Own Dear Land
• We Shall Go Out With Hope of Resurrection
• Above the Hills of Time the Cross Is Gleaming
• Lord of the Church, We Pray for our Renewing
• “What Grace is Mine” by Kristyn Getty

In Derry Vale

W. G. Rothery, a British lyricist who wrote the English lyrics for songs such as Handel’s “Art Thou Troubled,” wrote the following lyrics to the tune of “The Londonderry Air”:

In Derry Vale, beside the singing river,

so oft’ I strayed, ah, many years ago,

and culled at morn the golden daffodillies

that came with spring to set the world aglow.

Oh, Derry Vale, my thoughts are ever turning

to your broad stream and fairy-circled lee.

For your green isles my exiled heart is yearning,

so far away across the sea.

In Derry Vale, amid the Foyle’s dark waters,

the salmon leap, beside the surging weir.

The seabirds call, I still can hear them calling

in night’s long dreams of those so dear.

Oh, tarrying years, fly faster, ever faster,

I long to see that vale belov’d so well,

I long to know that I am not forgotten,

And there in home in peace to dwell.

When we decided to go out for breakfast this morning, I thought, “That’s a perfect opportunity to record a breakfast oriented Fiddle Tune a Day.” And, so I brought my fiddle with me to Cafe Bluebird, and decided to play a little Whiskey Before Breakfast. As it turned out, I ran into my friend, Robert Cline, Jr. there, and I sent him home to get his guitar. And after breakfast, we played a little Whiskey Before Breakfast.

The History of Whiskey Before Breakfast according to the Fiddler’s Companion

WHISKEY BEFORE BREAKFAST. AKA and see “Spirits of the Morning.” Canadian (originally), Old‑Time; Breakdown. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. A widely known tune, often mistaken for an old traditional old‑time tune (it was even listed on one album as “an Irish tune which has been popular in America for a number of years”). It has generally been credited to the mid‑twentieth century by Manitoba, Canada, fiddler and composer Andy de Jarlis (known for his fine waltzes) probably on the strength of his copyrighted arrangement (it is a common practice among music publishers to copyright arrangements of traditional tunes). ” “Whiskey Before Breakfast” was included in de Jarlis’ book Canadian Fiddle Tunes from Red River Valley (1957), where he is credited for the arrangement only.  According to Paul Gifford, the tune’s popularity in the United States is fairly recent, probably stemming from its inclusion on a Voyager Records LP called “More Fiddle Favorites,” by Canadian fiddle champion Lloyd Sexsmith, who probably learned it from de Jarlis (sometimes DesJarlis). It is often used as musical accompaniment for the quadrille ‘Reel of Eight’ in Canada. Gibbons (1982) notes that “Whiskey” is a favorite of Metis (native American) dance troupes in Western Canada, and in this connection Gifford suggests that de Jarlis learned the tune from Metis fiddler Teddy Boy Houle’s father (de Jarlis himself had Metis blood). It seems that de Jarlis and the elder Houle were up playing till dawn with the aid of libation before finally passing out.  On finally awaking, de Jarlis remembered the last tune they played and perhaps gave it the “Whiskey” name. Perlman (1979) identifies it as coming from Canada’s Maritime provinces where it is called “Spirits of the Morning.” It has been pointed out by several sources that the ‘A’ section is similar to the older melodies “Liverpool Hornpipe,” “Great Eastern,” “Bennett’s Favorite” and the Irish reels “Silver Spire” and “Greenfields of America,” however, the original source for all these tunes may be “Speed the Plow.” Folksinger/multiinstrumentalist Mike Cross wrote words to the melody which have become popular in Bluegrass circles (Bryan Bowers also recorded his song). Sources for notated versions: Frank Lowery (Prince Georges, British Columbia) [Gibbon]; Clem Myers [Phillips]; Dick Barrett [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 290. Frets Magazine, April 1989; pg. 64. Gibbons (As It Comes: Folk Fiddling From Prince George, British Columbia), 1982; No. 3, pgs. 14‑15 (includes variations). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pgs. 254-255 (two versions). Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; pg. 168. Sing Out!, 198‑, pg. 75. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 20. American Heritage 19A, Loyd Wanzer‑ “Plain and Fancy Fiddlin.’” Bay 204, “The Arkansas Sheiks.” Fretless 103, “Clem Myers: Northeast Regional Fiddle Champion 1967 & 1970.” June Appal 003, John McCutcheon ‑ “How Can I Keep From Singing?” (1975. Learned from Ben Hensley, Speedwell, Tenn.). London EBX 4118, Andy DeJarlis ‑ “Backwoods Fiddle Tunes.’ Marimac 9017, Vesta Johnson (Mo.) ‑ “Down Home Rag.” Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association 002, Taylor McBaine (Mo.) ‑ “Boone County Fiddler.” Revonah RE‑924, “The West Orrtanna String Band” (1977). Rounder 0063, Norman Blake‑ “Whiskey Before Breakfast.” Voyager 304, Dick Barrett‑ “More Fiddle Jam Sessions.”

Whiskey Before Breakfast Lyrics:

Early one morning ‘fore the sun could shine
I was walkin’ down the street, not feelin’ so fine
I saw two old men with a bottle between’ em
And this is the song that I heard them singin’

chorus: Lord protect us, Saints preserve us
We been drinkin’ whiskey ‘fore breakfast

I passed by the steps where they were a’ sittin’
I couldn’t believe how drunk they were gettin’
I said “Old men you been drinkn’ long?”
“Long enough to be singin’ this song”

They handed me a bottle, said, “Take a little sip”
And it felt so good, I just couldn’t quit
So I took a little more, next thing I knew
There were three of us sittin’ there singin’ this tune

One by one everybody in town
Heard our ruckus and they all came down
Pretty soon all the streets were a-ringin’
With the sound of the whole town laughin’ and singin’

I have always thought Redwing was a fun tune. It’s one of those songs where the words are a stark contrast to the melody. The tune is happy, and catchy, and sounds like it would be talking about love, and flowers, or maybe dancing. The words talk about love, but not in a happy way. They talk about love lost and an Indian brave who didn’t return home to Redwing. Maybe that contrast is one of the reasons that this song has had such staying power.

The History of Red Wing according to Wikipedia

“Red Wing” is a popular song written in 1907 with music by Kerry Mills and lyrics by Thurland Chattaway. Mills adapted the music from Robert Schumann’s composition for piano “The Happy Farmer, Returning From Work” from his 1848 work Album for the Young, Opus 68. The song tells of a young Indian maid’s loss of her sweetheart who has died in battle. It is most memorable for its chorus:
Now the moon shines tonight on pretty Red Wing,
The breeze is sighing, the night bird’s crying,
For afar ‘neath his star her brave is sleeping,[N 1]
While Red Wing’s weeping her heart away.[1]
^ in later versions usually: “For a far far away her brave is dying”

The song has been recorded numerous time in many different styles.[citation needed] It was parodied, in a version perpetuated among British schoolchildren, which begins with the line, “The moon’s shining down on Charlie Chaplin.” (See Iona and Peter Opie’s The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren.) The original version was sung by John Wayne and Lee Marvin in the 1961 film The Comancheros. In 1950 Oscar Brand recorded a bawdy version in his Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads, Volume 3.

Redwing Lyrics

There once was an Indian maid,

A shy little prairie maid,

Who sang a lay, a love song gay,

As on the plain she’d while away the day;

She loved a warrior bold,

This shy little maid of old,

But brave and gay, he rode one day

To battle far away.

Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Red Wing

The breeze is sighing, the night bird’s crying,

For afar ‘neath his star her brave is sleeping,

While Red Wimg’s weeping her heart away.

She watched for him day and night,

She kept all the campfires bright,

And under the sky, each night she would lie,

And dream about his coming by and by;

But when all the braves returned,

The heart of Red Wing yearned,

For far, far away, her warrior gay,

Fell bravely in the fray.

When I was about thirteen years old, The Wickam Family Band (of which I was the fiddler), had the opportunity to play for the Colorado Gun Collector’s banquet. This was a group of surly old cowboys – the real kind, tough looking old men with ruddy wrinkles, and a sinewy build to match. They were dressed to the 9′s in their fancy cowboy hats and sparkly belts.

We were playing our show, and I was playing my “hot fiddle tunes” like Jesse Polka and Back up and Push when one of these guys requested Red River Valley. Now, to me in my 12 year old fiddling brilliance, Red River Valley was a baby song. If a tune wasn’t difficult, then why would I bother playing it, but it was requested, so I played it. Inside, I was thinking, “This is dumb, why would this guy request such a simple song. I could be playing lots of tunes that are harder than this one.” But I played it to the best of my ability, and was shocked to look up and see the old man with tears in his eyes.

And, as if seeing him cry wasn’t enough, when I finished playing, the old man came up to me and thanked me. He shook my hand, and nonchalantly placed a twenty dollar bill in my hand. Now at thirteen years old, twenty dollars was a lot of money, and it was hands down the biggest tip I had ever received.

That moment forever changed my perspective on what makes a good song. A good song isn’t decided by it’s difficulty or its musical complexity. It’s decided by the emotional significance that people tie to the song. Red River Valley meant something special to that man, and by playing it, I had an opportunity to brighten his pathway a while.

Origins of Red River Valley According to Wikipedia

Red River Valley is a folk song and cowboy music standard of controversial origins that has gone by different names—e.g., “Cowboy Love Song”, “Bright Sherman Valley”, “Bright Laurel Valley”, “In the Bright Mohawk Valley”, and “Bright Little Valley”—depending on where it has been sung. It is listed as Roud Folk Song Index 756, and by Edith Fowke as FO 13.

Edith Fowke offers anecdotal evidence that the song was known in at least five Canadian provinces before 1896. This finding led to speculation that the song was composed at the time of the Wolseley Expedition to the northern Red River Valley of 1870 in Manitoba. It expresses the sorrow of a local man or woman (possibly a Métis, meaning of French and aboriginal origin) as her soldier/lover prepares to return to Ontario or as his girlfriend or wife can’t take the harsh life in Texas and leaves him to return to Canada..

The earliest written manuscript of the lyrics, titled “Red River Valley”, bears the notations 1879 and 1885 in locations Nemha and Harlan in western Iowa, so it probably dates to at least that era.

The song appears in sheet music, titled “In the Bright Mohawk Valley”, printed in New York in 1896 with James J. Kerrigan as the writer.

In 1925, Carl T. Sprague, an early singing cowboy from Texas, recorded it as “Cowboy Love Song” (Victor 20067, August 5, 1925), but it was fellow Texan Jules Verne Allen’s 1929 “Cowboy’s Love Song” (Victor 40167, March 28, 1929), that gave the song its greatest popularity. Allen himself thought the song was from Pennsylvania, perhaps brought over from Europe.

Red River Valley Lyrics:

From this valley they say you are going.

We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile,

For they say you are taking the sunshine

That has brightened our pathway a while.

So come sit by my side if you love me.

Do not hasten to bid me adieu.

Just remember the Red River Valley,

And the one that has loved you so true.

I had an opportunity to get together and do some playing with my good friend (and excellent hammered and mountain dulcimer player) Steve Eulberg. We had a great time jamming, and putting together our audition taper for Beat Street, and what better time to record a fiddle tune a day. Steve told me that Golden Slippers is the unofficial Dulcimer national anthem because it is one of the first tunes that they learn, and consequently when they have a get together, you can count that Golden Slippers will get played.

You may also recognize that the first part of golden slippers is the same melody as Polly wally doodle. Anyway, Golden Slippers is a fun old tune, with a melody that really sticks in your head. I hope you enjoy it.

The History of Oh Dem’ Golden Slippers (According to Wikipedia)

“Oh, Dem Golden Slippers” is a popular song commonly sung by blackface performers in the 19th century. The song, penned by African-American James A. Bland in 1879, is considered an American standard today. It is particularly well-known as a bluegrass instrumental standard.

A minstrel show song set in the style of a spiritual, the song is apparently a parody of the spiritual “Golden Slippers”, popularized after the American Civil War by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Today “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers” is often referred to simply as “Golden Slippers”, further obscuring the original spiritual.

The song’s first stanza tells of the protagonist setting aside such fine clothes as golden slippers, a long-tailed coat and a white robe for a chariot ride in the morning (presumably to Heaven).

This leads to the refrain: Oh, dem golden slippers! / Oh, dem golden slippers! / Golden slippers I’m gwine to wear, because dey look so neat; / Oh, dem golden slippers! / Oh, dem golden slippers! / Golden slippers Ise gwine to wear, / To walk de golden street.

The second stanza describes the protagonist meeting up with other family members after his chariot ride. In the third, the protagonist tells children to prepare themselves for their own chariot ride.

Golden Slippers Lyrics:

Oh, my golden slippers am laid away

‘Cause I don’t spect to wear ‘em til my wedding day

And my long tailed coat, that I love so well

I will wear up in the chariot in the morn.

And my long white robe that I bought last June

I’m goin’ to get changed ’cause it fits too soon

And the old grey hoss that I used to drive

I will hitch him to the chariot in the morn.

Oh, dem golden slippers

Oh, dem golden slippers

Golden slippers I’se goin’ to wear

Because they look so neat.

Oh, dem golden slippers

Oh, dem golden slippers

Golden slippers I’se goin’ to wear

To walk the golden street.

Oh, my old banjo hangs on the wall

‘Cause it ain’t been tuned since way last fall

But the darks all say we’ll have a good time

When we ride up in the chariot in the morn.

There’s ol’ brother Ben and his sister, Luce

They will telegraph the news to uncle Bacco Juice

What a great camp meetin’ there will be that day

When we ride up in the chariot in the morn.

So, it’s good-bye, children I will have to go

Where the rain don’t fall and the wind don’t blow

And yer ulster coats, why, you will not need

When you ride up in the chariot in the morn.

But yer golden slippers must be nice and clean

And yer age must be just sweet sixteen

And yer white kid gloves you will have to wear

When you ride up in the chariot in the morn.

With it being Friday the 13th, (MUAHAHAHA) I had all these plans to do something scary, or maybe the Devil went Down to Georgia, or Satan Take a Holiday. And, that’s not what ended up happening. We went to the bluegrass jam at the Mandolin Cafe in Loveland, CO, and had some fun. * As a side note, the Mandolin Cafe is a fun place to eat and hangout, and eat. Alex (the owner) makes a mean portabello panini, and all of the sandwiches are named after famous mandolin players. Mandolin Cafe is also moving to a new location and will be reopening in May. That said, the closest we got to scary songs is the spinning effect of the camera (operated by my daughter). I hope you don’t get too dizzy while you watch today.

When I saw that Mike Moxie was at the Jam (the 5 string banjo player) I was inspired to play chicken reel. I kicked it off a little too slow for Mike to strut around the circle like Foghorn Leghorn, but we had fun with it nonetheless.

Chicken Reel History and Origins (From Wikipedia)

“Chicken Reel” is a dance tune. It was composed by Joseph M. Daly in 1910. Joseph Mittenthal added lyrics in 1911.

Along with “Turkey in the Straw,” “Chicken Reel” is probably best known for its use in early animated cartoons as a catchy tune used to represent animal activity. Originally composed as a novelty song, it has since passed into modern folk tradition. Today, the tune is usually played without the words, which would often have been sung in the minstrel style (in stereotyped African-American vernacular).

Chicken Reel was made popular again years later by Les Paul who recorded the song as a catchy instrumental, whimsically mimicking chicken sounds on his guitar.

“Chicken Reel” was arranged for symphony orchestra by Leroy Anderson; his arrangement was recorded by the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1992.

Chicken Reel Lyrics

Way down in Carolina where the sweet potatoes grow

There lives a dusky maiden by the name of Liza Snow

She used to go to parties where they’d always make her sing,

But say you ought to see that Baby do the pigeon wing.

They held a dancing contest and were goin’ to give a prize

They all had on their finest and it now was up to Lize.

Just who was goin’ to win it ev’rybody there could feel,

When Liza hollered to the band to play the Chicken Reel

Clear the crowd away

Tell the band to play

When you hear me say “GO” My honey

Chorus:

Oh, you Chicken Reel, how you make me feel

Say it’s really so entrancin’

Who could really keep from dancin’,

That’s the music sweet, like the chicken meat

Give it to me with the dressin’

I don’t need no dancin’ lesson

Put all the other fine selections right away

That is the only tune I want to hear you play

When I get married if there’s music I will say

“Hey boss keep a-playin’ Chicken Reel all day

One night when from a party she was walkin’ home with Bill

Now he’s a steady feller and the night was dark and still

It seems he stoe a chicken and when Liza heard of that,

She said I’m gonna wear it on my go-to-meetin’ hat.

I guess you’r goin’ crazy answered William with a smile,

But Liza said “Go on you havn’t heard the latest style.”

When first she wore it out the people asked her to explain

but Liza simply said Why I have chicken on the brain.

Clear the crowd away

Tell the band to play

When you hear me say “GO” My honey

(Chorus)

Today’s Fiddle Tune a Day comes from Magnolia Music Studio in Fort Collins, CO, where I teach fiddle lessons.

One of my favorite stories I tell my fiddle students involves the first time I met my ex-wife’s family. They lived in rural Illinois, and I was instructed to bring my fiddle, as that was a sure way to get them to like me.

After playing a few tunes, I asked her grandma if she had a request, and she asked me to play Wabash Cannonball. After playing it a couple of times through, I asked her if there was anything else she would like to hear. She responded, “Could you play Wabash Cannonball?” It was at that moment that I realized that she was in the early stages of Alzheimers.

History of Wabash Cannonball According to Wikipedia:

“The Wabash Cannonball” is an American folk song about a fictional train, thought to have originated in the late nineteenth century. Its first documented appearance was on sheet music published in 1882, titled “The Great Rock Island Route” and credited to J. A. Roff. All subsequent versions contain a variation of the chorus:
Now listen to the jingle, and the rumble, and the roar,
As she dashes thro’ the woodland, and speeds along the shore,
See the mighty rushing engine, hear her merry bell ring out,
As they speed along in safety, on the “Great Rock-Island Route.”
A rewritten version by William Kindt appeared in 1904 under the title “Wabash Cannon Ball”.

The Carter Family made one of the first recordings of the song in 1929, though it was not released until 1932. Another popular version was recorded by Roy Acuff in 1936. The Acuff version is one of the fewer than thirty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide.

It is a signature song of the Indiana State University Marching Sycamores and the Purdue All-American Marching Band as the ISU and Purdue campuses are near the Wabash River. It is also associated with the Stephen F. Austin State University Lumberjack Marching Band, the Kansas State University Marching Band, the University of Texas Longhorn Band. It was also used as the theme song by the USS Wabash (AOR-5).

The song “The Wabash Cannonball” is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.

In addition to The Carter Family’s 1929 recording and Roy Acuff’s 1936 recording, many hillbilly artists recorded “The Wabash Cannonball” during the Great Depression era of the 1930s and 1940s, and the song was also recorded by Piedmont Blues legend Blind Willie McTell. Bing Crosby recorded the song for his album “Bing Crosby Sings The Great Country Hits”. The song increased in popularity during this time.

There are many theories of the origin of “The Wabash Cannonball”. Utah Phillips states that hobos imagined a mythical train called the “Wabash Cannonball” which was a “death coach” that appeared at the death of a hobo to carry his soul to its reward.

The song was then created, with the lyrics and music telling the story of the train. Another theory states that the song is based on a tall tale in which Cal S. Bunyan, Paul Bunyan’s brother, constructed a railroad known as the Ireland, Jerusalem, Australian & Southern Michigan Line.

After two months of service, the 700-car train was traveling so fast that it arrived at its destination an hour before its departure. Finally, the train took off so fast that it rushed in to outer space, and for all is known, it is still traveling through space. When the hobos learned of this train, they called her the “Wabash Cannonball” and said that every station in America had heard her whistle.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_Cannonball

Wabash Cannonball Lyrics

Verse:

Out from the wide Pacific to the broad Atlantic shore

She climbs flowery mountain, o’r hills and by the shore

Although she’s tall and handsome, and she’s known quite well by all

She’s a regular combination of the Wabash Cannonball.

Verse:

Oh, the Eastern states are dandy, so the Western people say

Chicago, Rock Island, St. Louis by the way

To the lakes of Minnesota where the rippling waters fall

No changes to be taken on the Wabash Cannonball.

Chorus:

Oh, listen to the jingle, the rumor and the roar

As she glides along the woodland, o’r hills and by the shore

She climbs the flowery mountain, hear the merry hobos squall

She glides along the woodland, the Wabash Cannonball.

Verse:

Oh, here’s to daddy Cleaton, let his name forever be

And long be remembered in the courts of Tennessee

For he is a good old rounder ’til the curtain ’round him fall

He’ll be carried back to victory on the Wabash Cannonball.

Verse:

I have rode the I.C. Limited, also the Royal Blue

Across the Eastern countries on Elkhorn Number Two

I have rode those highball trains from coast to coast that’s all

But I have found no equal to the Wabash Cannonball.

Chorus:

Oh, listen to the jingle, the rumor and the roar

As she glides along the woodland, o’r hills and by the shore

She climbs the flowery mountain, hear the merry hobos squall

She glides along the woodland, the Wabash Cannonball.

Huckleberry Hornpipe is one of the first fiddle tunes that I remember playing in a fiddle contest. I didn’t play it very well at the time and didn’t do very well at the contest. Rather than thinking, “I should go practice some more.” I thought, “Gee, I must need a better song.”

That was dumb, but sometimes that’s how a 12 year old boy thinks!… Since then, I have often enjoyed playing Huckleberry Hornpipe. It’s one of those tunes that really does stick with you.

Huckleberry Hornpipe really is a great tune. It was written by the great bluegrass fiddler, Byron Berline. Enjoy!

Welcome to Day 9 of a Fiddle Tune a Day. I’m back home again in Colorado, and glad to be able to relax and catch up on my sleep after the Colorado State Fiddle Contest. Today, I’m playing Aura Lea, better known today as the tune that lends its melody to West Point’s “Army Blue”, and Elvis Presley’s “Love me tender”.

About 150 years ago, two men wrote a song together. One of them was a famous speaker and writer, named William Fosdick.  The other was an unknown music teacher at a small school in New York. Aura Lea became one of the most popular tunes of the Civil War era, popular in the south as well as the north. The melody of Aura Lea lives on in Love me Tender and Army Blue.

George R. Poulton was my Grandmother’s Great Uncle, and I am proud to have this music in my family.