Anyone know if this was originally written for mandolin? It seems to fit amazingly well on the instrument, and the format is more like a guitar or banjo rag than a transcribed piano rag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1l5PiZG1V0
Anyone know if this was originally written for mandolin? It seems to fit amazingly well on the instrument, and the format is more like a guitar or banjo rag than a transcribed piano rag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1l5PiZG1V0
Dr H
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"I have nothing to say, and I am saying it, and that is poetry." -- John Cage
I think Fiddling Arthur Smith gets the credit for Sugar Tree Swamp
Russ Jordan
It's a fiddle rag, then?
Dr H
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"I have nothing to say, and I am saying it, and that is poetry." -- John Cage
The Stephen Parker book sources his transcription to Ralph Blizzard, a fiddler. Sounds like they are playing the book's version.
Oops. Late to the punch. As above, it's a Ralph Blizard tune.
I think there are two tunes with the same name. The one in that mandolin video above is from the Parker book. The other one (attached mp3) is by Fiddling Arthur Smith.
Jim
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19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Thanks, guys.
Dr H
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"I have nothing to say, and I am saying it, and that is poetry." -- John Cage
I have played this on mandolin for some time -- a great tune, key of D in Steve Parker’s book. Having now become a shadetree fiddler, I figured I’d trot out my fiddle and give it a rip. Well, that high D in bar #2 proved to be quite a challenge for a 1st position player like me. When I looked into it, I found Arthur Smith’s 1936 version in G. Same tune? Different tune?
I have since corresponded with Sue Parker, who I believe is related to Steve who passed away several years ago. A very pleasant and helpful person. I asked her about this and she said:
I’m not a musicologist, but this story has captured my attention. I’m gonna dig into this in G and try to figure out how Ralph got to Steve’s transcribed version in D.I spoke to my friends who were very close to Ralph and they said he usually played it in G. When he recorded it in 1989 on "Blizard Train" he played it in D and Steve transcribed it from that recording. Ralph attributes it to Arthur Smith. I think it's basically the same tune but Ralph jazzed it up when he played it. Kind of adding a lot of his own variations slurring notes and putting slides in. Ralph was a great performer and he liked to get the audience fired up. He also was always trying to trip up his band by playing things differently each time. So if you are learning it for yourself D is okay, but if you are playing it in a jam it would probably be in G.
BTW, Ralph Blizard was quite a good fiddler. Tennessee boy, born in 1918, started playing as a kid.
Strabo
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