Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.fiddlehangout.com/archive/14022
Page: 1 2
lrhamp - Posted - 04/03/2010: 13:24:28
This week's tune is-----SOLDIER'S JOY.
I picked this tune because it is played by almost all fiddlers. If you don't learn it when you first start fiddling you'll eventually add it to your list of MUST tunes to know.
I first learned this tune on the mandolin at age 15. It's almost always played in the key of D. The Fiddler's Companion states "One of, if not the most popular fiddle tunes in history." The tune dates back to at least 1760.
The archives here on FHO has about 12 versions. Digital Library of Appalachia has about 50. Check out Clarence White, Doc Watson's and Earl Scruggs' versions on UTUBE. Everyone likes to play this tune no matter what instrument they play.
I'm only posting one link and that one is to The Fiddler's Companion. ibiblio.org/fiddlers/FCfiles.html . Just google Soldier's Joy and you'll get tons of info on the tune. Hope lots of fiddlers will post their versions of this tune. I'll post a version latter in the week. Tnx and have fun fiddling Soldier's Joy.
Moved from Other Fiddle-Related Topics. Let's keep TOTW in Playing Advice. - wormbower
Edited by - wormbower on 04/04/2010 09:19:32
wormbower - Posted - 04/03/2010: 14:38:52
Excellent choice for the Inaugural TOTW! I was just jamming in the park on this one this morning. Let the fun begin!
Paul
wormbower - Posted - 04/03/2010: 15:45:11
Lots of legends and lore around Soldier's Joy. I was just reading in Play of a Fiddle that Melvin Wine said he could trace the origins of the tune to his great uncle, Smithy Wine, but it's actually been around (I've heard) since the Revolution.
I guess Soldier's Joy is the quintessential jam tune. Here's a jam I went to a few weeks ago, where everyone was having so much fun, it didn't really matter that half of us were playing the A part while the other half were playing the B part. It still worked (sort of):
Soldier's Joy (Ride)
Paul
Edited by - wormbower on 04/03/2010 16:12:42
Ozarkian D.L. - Posted - 04/03/2010: 17:56:09
I'd sey thet covers it mighty well bro on all accounts. I read sumwheres where it were a popular tune played by both side of tha "Civil War", & thet tha soldiers referred to it as tha MORPHINE which tha field doctors carried wit them fer givin them for bad wounds & amputations. Not knowing back then that it was an addictive drug, many soldiers became addicted to it, tho it was the "Soldiers Joy" when received in tha field battles for the pain of wounds & amputations. I'll see if'n I can post my version. Ya gave us a great start on a great old tune.
Maybe even GGP Edmund Green Wood heard it in tha camps too. 
Edited by - Ozarkian D.L. on 04/03/2010 18:04:27
Fiddlepiper - Posted - 04/03/2010: 23:43:05
I had heard that a Soldier's Joy was what the English soldiers called their payday.
bj - Posted - 04/04/2010: 08:50:39
Ashley is hot, for sure. And I do hear some of this influence in her version:
Benton Flippen plays Soldier's Joy.
youtube.com/watch?v=95onv9ZI1xc
carlb - Posted - 04/04/2010: 10:06:28
quote:
Originally posted by wormbower
Lots of legends and lore around Soldier's Joy. I was just reading in Play of a Fiddle that Melvin Wine said he could trace the origins of the tune to his great uncle, Smithy Wine, but it's actually been around (I've heard) since the Revolution.
Of course, according to the link from the Fiddler's Companion, it's older then the American Revolution. It's from across the pond to the East.
forestabri - Posted - 04/04/2010: 10:42:07
What tuning do you use? I use ADAE. Could be standard though, huh? I'll post what I've been doing with it later.
tonyelder - Posted - 04/04/2010: 11:28:51
quote:
Originally posted by Ozarkian D.L.
I'd sey thet covers it mighty well bro on all accounts. I read sumwheres where it were a popular tune played by both side of tha "Civil War", & thet tha soldiers referred to it as tha MORPHINE which tha field doctors carried wit them fer givin them for bad wounds & amputations. Not knowing back then that it was an addictive drug, many soldiers became addicted to it, tho it was the "Soldiers Joy" when received in tha field battles for the pain of wounds & amputations. I'll see if'n I can post my version. Ya gave us a great start on a great old tune.
Maybe even GGP Edmund Green Wood heard it in tha camps too.
Have you heard Guy Clark's version? Played a twist, just a bit different - making it sound very haunting. Very well done. He gave it words from a civil war solider's perspective after being shot in battle. A very sober look at field medicine at the time.
*****************
First I thought a snake had got me it happened dreadful quick
Was a bullet bit my leg, right off I got sick
I came to in a wagon load of ten more wounded men
Five was dead by the time we reached that bloody tent
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 doctor came and looked at me and this is what he said
Your dancin’ days are done, son, it’s a wonder you ain’t dead
Then he went to work with a carvin’ knife sweat fell from his brow
‘Bout killed me tryin’ to save my life when he cut that lead ball out
Give me some of that Soldier’s Joy, ain’t you got no more
Hand me down my walkin’ cane I ain’t cut out for war
Red blood run right through my veins run all over the floor
Run right down his apron strings like a river out the door
He handed me a bottle and said, son drink deep as you can
He turned away then he turned right back with a hacksaw in his hand
Gimme some of that Soldier’s Joy you know what I like
Bear down on that fiddle boys just like Saturday night
Gimme some of that Soldier’s Joy you know what I crave
I’ll be hittin’ that Soldier’s Joy til I’m in my grave
There used to be a YouTube video, but apparently it's been removed.
Sorry if this was too morbid, but I love his version - even if it is a little too real.
FiddlerJones - Posted - 04/04/2010: 15:24:15
I wasn't sure if this was the right place to post this, but here's my contribution. The bowing I use in the A part the second time through is something I made up years ago when I was trying to translate Jesse McReynolds-style mandolin cross-picking to the fiddle. Also, I like throwing in a tri-tone in the cadence in the B part.
fiddlehangout.com/myhangout/me...archived=
My apologies if this isn't the right place to post this, but the moderator's note suggested it is.
dancinbear - Posted - 04/04/2010: 16:18:18
I'm really glad we kicked off this TOTW. I love the history of these old tunes, as well as learning how to play them. I have a book by Wayne Erbsen that says that Soldier's Joy goes by Payday in the Army down south. He also states that some say it dates back to a tune The Kings Head from England. Not sure if he wrote these lines but here is one verse:
Fifteen cents for the morphine
Twenty-five cents for the beer
Fifteen cents for the morphine
They're gonna take me away from here
Makes me wonder how old those words are. Can't be very old with beer costing twenty-five cents...
Shawn Craver - Posted - 04/04/2010: 18:51:41
SW PA, West MD and N WVA, it was commonly called Kings Head up until modern times... It wasnt uncommon for fiddlers (traditional) ones to stick a sharpend G note in it leading up to the high A note... (not a mistake... a nuance... cause they'd hit the straight G natural easily went they WANTED)
Also heard a modal version of this once by an old fiddler one time in Garrett County MD
Also the words of the old mountain tune Jaybird (scottish origins there Bonny Breast Knot)were intermixed with this tune at times.
TAKE HEED!!!!! Politcally incorrect and swearing words from a traditional source in the high Alleghenies of Western Maryland--- FOREWARNED) DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU THINK FIDDLE MUSIC IS GOOD CLEAN FUN!!!!!!!!!!!! 
-----------------------------------------------------------
Jaybird Jaybird damn your soul
did you ever see a ****** with a white *** hole
yes sir yes sir ive seen three
dig a whole and bury me
Edited by - wormbower on 04/04/2010 19:20:45
tiquose - Posted - 04/04/2010: 19:36:20
My first fiddle teacher, the late Bill Daily of Canon City, Colorado, always said that if he had to pick one favorite fiddle tune out of the zillions he knew, it would be Soldier's Joy. He taught me a simplified version without all the bow rocking.
brya31 - Posted - 04/05/2010: 03:07:03
Tiquose I would love to hear your version. This is one tune that I never am happy with the way I play it. 
quote:
Originally posted by tiquose
My first fiddle teacher, the late Bill Daily of Canon City, Colorado, always said that if he had to pick one favorite fiddle tune out of the zillions he knew, it would be Soldier's Joy. He taught me a simplified version without all the bow rocking.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/05/2010: 07:23:58
Really cool... very interesting versions of a good ol' tune. I haven't played it yet... one reason is that I don't see how I could play it interesting with so many interesting versions all over the place.
Fiddler Jones, yours was especially interesting!!!! I like that cascading sound you got in there.
All of 'em sound great... I need to look up Doc Watson's version, somebody mentioned it was on youtube.
Shawn Craver - Posted - 04/05/2010: 08:14:31
Ahhh, just listen peggy, you'll come up with a way to play it thats fine. I first learned this tune from my mother who played it on the piano. She didnt know what it was called. Most older people (not musicians) knew this tune in the mountains where I grew up... and come to think of it, it was commonly referred to as "This One" more than "Soldier's Joy" in my experience. For me it's always been a challenging tune and one of my favorites.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/05/2010: 08:22:51
i've heard it also called something like "Somebody loves me". Can't remember the words, but it was sung.
shellyrat - Posted - 04/05/2010: 21:18:21
flatpick.com/lessons/december2008.html
Here is one from flatpicking magazine. Has a downloadable pdf and mp3. Its for guitar but is in the key of d so could be easily used. has a little history with it tool.
Hope this is what your looking for in totw.
kathy c in ky
Sue B. - Posted - 04/06/2010: 05:48:17
Woody Guthrie. "Love Somebody, yes I do (3x) then, Love somebody but I won' t tell who" using skeletal version of this tune. I think it's in a book printed maybe about 10 years ago based on a hand-written kids' song book from his home.
fiddledan - Posted - 04/06/2010: 07:22:57
Great tune. A quick itunes search on my computer shows that with 39 versions I can listen to SJ for 1.3 hrs straight! Happy Happy!
Play nice,
Dan
Ozarkian D.L. - Posted - 04/06/2010: 17:14:23
My rough shakey contribution...LOL. My cameraman ( son ) dropped by un-expectably & I did'nt have time ta practice but a couple run-thrus. The Civil War soldier pic. is of great-grandpa & the Colt .44 caliber pistol he holds was regular army issue ( seen better under my photos homepage ). The one I have there is a duplicate & never been fired.
Anyways my version of "SOLDIERS JOY" :
youtube.com/watch?v=iC0I9Q9kLC...e=channel
Edited by - Ozarkian D.L. on 04/06/2010 17:17:35
Tennessee Tom - Posted - 04/06/2010: 17:38:19
quote:
Originally posted by Ozarkian D.L.
Anyways my version of "SOLDIERS JOY" :
youtube.com/watch?v=iC0I9Q9kLC...e=channel
Good stuff, Doyle! Now that the weather is getting warm, though, you gotta get out there on that ol' front porch swing!
Cheers,
Tom
wormbower - Posted - 04/06/2010: 20:13:14
quote:
Originally posted by fiddledan
A quick itunes search on my computer shows that with 39 versions I can listen to SJ for 1.3 hrs straight! Happy Happy!
's'at all? I've got 5 hours & 11 minutes worth of Soldier's Joy. Heck, 30 minute of that is just YOURS, Dan!
robinja - Posted - 04/07/2010: 07:01:14
My favorite version is by the Skillet Lickers. Apparently, you can download it here for free:
archive.org/details/Soldiersjoy
Warning: I did not test this since I already own it - use at your own risk!
Alternatively, you can preview it here or purchase just this tune or the whole CD (which is great!):
amazon.com/Old-Time-Fiddle-Tun...13&sr=8-3
My version is based on their version, but not nearly as good and funky, so I'll leave you with the original.
Judy
(P.S. In case the Amazon link does not work, go Amazon or your favorite music site and search for the Skillet Lickers' "Old Time Fiddle Tunes and Songs from North Georgia.")
brya31 - Posted - 04/07/2010: 14:33:50
You sounded great Ozarkian!
quote:
Originally posted by Ozarkian D.L.
My rough shakey contribution...LOL. My cameraman ( son ) dropped by un-expectably & I did'nt have time ta practice but a couple run-thrus. The Civil War soldier pic. is of great-grandpa & the Colt .44 caliber pistol he holds was regular army issue ( seen better under my photos homepage ). The one I have there is a duplicate & never been fired.
Anyways my version of "SOLDIERS JOY" :
youtube.com/watch?v=iC0I9Q9kLC...e=channel
Feodosia - Posted - 04/08/2010: 18:22:16
Crooked Tune Alert !!!
About 15 years ago I was up in Canada playing with the Gaspe fiddlers of Douglastown .... one day I caught a kind of shy fiddler playing some French dance music by himself ..... he played a French version of Soldiers Joy that was alittle crooked ...but his version got burned into me head , so it must have been pretty good ..... I sat down with the tape recorder tonight and tried to fiddle the jist of it .... its easier to play and get the right bounces with accompanyment but I think I caught the essence of his version anyway...
fiddlehangout.com/myhangout/me...archived=
Shawn Craver - Posted - 04/09/2010: 10:36:07
I like this a lot fredosia! very very nice...
Watergal82 - Posted - 04/09/2010: 16:06:18
I'm currently learning the tune off of fiddlehub.com/, which has a very slow, simple version in pieces for beginners to learn.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/10/2010: 04:28:51
Percy, the grooveshack version you linked sure was different... interesting... modal and sad instead of the dancy version we always hear.
Very interesting! I like it... but it's gruesome and sad... that's war, though, I guess. I've never heard it done that way before. Thanks for the link.
Percy - Posted - 04/10/2010: 04:41:54
Glad a few of you found that interesting. I have a feeling that may be the way the tune actually started -- "soldier's joy" was a nickname for morphine. I'm not an historian or anything -- but it seems to make sense that the tune wouldn't have started out as a "jolly" tune.
Also, I've noticed a lot of fiddling seems to head toward speeds that couldn't be danced to for any length of time. I can't see how anyone could have danced at those speeds for several hours.
It seems many modern fiddlers concentrate on speed. They are very talented and do it quite well... but the essence and feeling of the tunes (IMHO) are lost because of this "need for speed."
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/10/2010: 05:09:00
I agree. I can't say I know much about the history of fiddle tunes or old time music, but just from the clogging class i took, myself, a couple of years ago (I'm no good at dancing either, but I always did want to know more about dancing... ), I can see that it takes tons of skill to dance to tunes done really fast. Maybe some really, really good dancers who are at top atheletic shape could manage it, but it these tunes were for regular folks to ENJOY dancing to, they'd have to have been played at a much slower pace. It'd kill people trying to keep up with that in a real barn dance.
I just like them slower, myself, anyway. My ears can't hear that fast... also, unless the musicians are especially good at playing very fast (besides technically, which they are good at if they do play fast), the music becomes a hectic, tormenting sound, rather than musical... just my own opinion for whatever it's worth.
I probably like things too slow for most people, and that's okay... I can deal with them being sped up from my own preferences, but too much speed ruins the tunes, in my opinion.
WoodshopFiddler - Posted - 04/10/2010: 05:49:05
quote:
Originally posted by Percy
.
.
.
Also, I've noticed a lot of fiddling seems to head toward speeds that couldn't be danced to for any length of time. I can't see how anyone could have danced at those speeds for several hours.
.
.
.
It is my opinion that a tune for dancing shouldn't be played at any faster tempo than you can comfortably hop up and down on one foot.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/10/2010: 06:31:51
Ouch... hopping up and down on one foot doesn't sound so pleasant to me... LOL... after reading this this moring... I had to try it for myself... plus decided Soldier's Joy might be a good one for bowing experimentation... or messin around if you wanna call it that... after having realized just how bad my stage/ camera fright is, decided just to play around with it on youtube for the guts of it... here's what happened: (go easy on me.... not even on my second cup of coffee yet!!!) youtube.com/watch?v=S1xwDFhjTbA
shellyrat - Posted - 04/10/2010: 06:33:06
"My ears can't hear that fast" .Good one groundhogpeggy LOL
kathy c in ky
Edited by - shellyrat on 04/10/2010 19:21:12
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/10/2010: 06:36:49
Ha ha.... it's the TRUTH... I have slow-acting ears!
WoodshopFiddler - Posted - 04/10/2010: 08:32:03
quote:
Originally posted by groundhogpeggy
Ouch... hopping up and down on one foot doesn't sound so pleasant to me... LOL...
Hey, hey, hey!!!!!! You're hopping too fast.
BanjoBrad - Posted - 04/10/2010: 12:44:54
Nice job, Peggy. Great job, actually, considering you've never played it before!
-B-
oldtimer - Posted - 04/10/2010: 14:03:35
Many years ago, I was performing with Mike Seeger and he told me, "After all these years of digging up archaic obscure tunes, Soldier's Joy is still my favorite tune."
stay tooned....
Glenn Godsey
rafa - Posted - 04/10/2010: 17:58:06
Hey All, I always thought Soldiers Joy was a soldiers celebration for payday. Oh well, Percy`s theory sounds much more Joyful.
rafa - Posted - 04/10/2010: 18:07:03
Hey Peg, great job. slides ,drones etc. not to mention great intonation.
lrhamp - Posted - 04/10/2010: 22:39:26
Tnxs to everyone for making the TOTW an interesting and enjoyable experience. I'm sure everyone is anticipating TOTW--2. Stay Tooned.
Page: 1 2
