uncledelphi - Posted - 06/14/2013:  06:17:58

Greetings, all.  I have recently transcribed Eck Robertson's Brilliancy Medley, and would like to nail down what tunes are in it once and for all.  Since I have received excellent help with identifying tunes here before, I figured I'd try once again.

I have divided the medley into three general sections.  In the recording, Robertson played the first section, then the second section, then the third section, then reprised the first, and ended by reprising the second.  Transcriptions and recordings of me playing each section are attached to this post.  (As with any recording I post, these are for educational purposes only.  They are not high quality, and I have not put in the days or weeks it would take to get these ready for prime time.  I transcribe several tunes a week, and it just isn't practical for me to polish up every tune.)

I have seen references claiming that the Brilliancy Medley contains parts of many different tunes, including Drunken Billy Goat, Miller's Reel, Wake Up Susan, Old Billy Wilson, Bill Cheatum, Passaic Hornpipe, Trafalgar Hornpipe, and Dew Drop Hornpipe.  I don't think it has all of those.

I have taken a stab at identifying each section.  Please take a look at the transcriptions and/or listen to the recordings and let me know your thoughts.

First section: Looks like a single part of Old Billy Wilson followed by a single part of Drunken Billy Goat.  Both are reprised after the third section.

Second section: It looks like Wake Up Susan.  But there is a suspicious-looking third part in there.  Is this third part a legitimate part of Wake Up Susan, or did Robertson grab it from another tune and insert it into Wake Up Susan?

Third section: Undoubtedly Bill Cheatum.

Can anyone confirm or correct my identifications?  Thanks in advance.

Brilliancy Medley Part 3	Brilliancy Medley Part 2	Brilliancy Medley Part 1	Brilliancy Medley, Part 3
Brilliancy Medley, Part 2	Brilliancy Medley, Part 1

Fiddler - Posted - 06/14/2013:  06:36:03

It's called "Brilliancy Medley" for a reason. The first melody is "Brilliancy."  I'll have to go dig up my recording of Eck to confirm the others. Someone here may know definitively.  Here's what I ascertain from your playing & transcription.

Part 1: Brilliancy

Part 2: Wake Up Susan (low part) & LIttle Billy Wilson (high part)

Part 3: Bill Cheatham

bsed - Posted - 06/14/2013:  18:47:08

Eck played 2 of the 3 parts of Little Billy Wilson.

Edited by - bsed on 06/14/2013 18:49:50

uncledelphi - Posted - 06/15/2013:  08:00:46

quote:

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Originally posted by Fiddler

 

It's called "Brilliancy Medley" for a reason. The first melody is "Brilliancy."  I'll have to go dig up my recording of Eck to confirm the others. Someone here may know definitively.  Here's what I ascertain from your playing & transcription.

Part 1: Brilliancy

Part 2: Wake Up Susan (low part) & LIttle Billy Wilson (high part)

Part 3: Bill Cheatham

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Do you know if Brilliancy originated with Eck Robertson, or was this played as such before him?  Is this still played as Brilliancy by modern Texas fiddlers?  If so, then it looks like a case of parts of older tunes being put together as a new tune, which is all part of the "folk process."

And please excuse my ignorance of Texas fiddling.  I'm trying to learn.  I've only lived in Texas for two years, and all my prior fiddle exposure was Appalachian breakdown fiddling.

uncledelphi - Posted - 06/15/2013:  08:02:08

quote:

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Originally posted by bsed

 

Eck played 2 of the 3 parts of Little Billy Wilson.

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Could you please point out which parts of which sections are the two of three parts of Billy Wilson?

DougD - Posted - 06/15/2013:  08:22:49

I've never heard of a tune called "Brilliancy," only this medley which I believe was put together by Eck Robertson as a show/contest piece. I don't know if its still played in Texas, but its certainly still played under that title. Our band played it many times, and I used to know the individual tunes, but haven't thought about it for awhile. I'll have a listen and see if I can sort it out. I'm thinking "Wake Up Susan" only comes at the end, because that was the signal to the guitarist (me) that we were about to finish. Although the American tunes may be based on some of those hornpipes, I doubt very much if the hornpipes were actually known to Eck Robertson.

DougD - Posted - 06/15/2013:  08:52:03

Here's a page about ""Brilliancy Medley" where the tunes are identified (correctly I believe) as "Billy Wilson," "Wake Up Susan," Bill Cheatum," and "Drunken Billy Goat" (which I know as "Rocky Mountain Goat") but he doesn't identify the sequence of parts. He does include recordings of those individual tunes by other players, so maybe you can figure it out from there:  oldweirdamerica.wordpress.com/...n-family/

Sorry, the download link doesn't seem to work anymore. Maybe those recordings can be tracked down elsewhere.

OK, you can try to find these tunes at the Slippery Hill page for the Milliner Koken Collection:  slippery-hill.com/M-K/  There are a couple versions of "Wake Up Susan" and "Rocky Mountain/Drunken Goat" and the others are actually extracts from "Brilliancy Medley." Maybe that will help.

Edited by - DougD on 06/15/2013 09:08:15

DougD - Posted - 06/15/2013:  09:13:09

There are also other versions of "Billy Wilson" (Uncle Jimmy Thompson) and Bill Cheatham (Roy Wooliver) at that site for comparison. That's probably all I can do today.

hendrid - Posted - 06/15/2013:  09:40:26

There are a number of cuts of Brilliancy and so forth on youtube.com

youtube.com/watch?v=4i8vKiedxqU

A Little Billy Wilson fiddle lesson

youtube.com/watch?v=7oKgdzr16TE

Edited by - hendrid on 06/15/2013 09:56:41

DougD - Posted - 06/15/2013:  13:26:09

I think the earliest recording (and one of my favorites) of "Billy Wilson" was by Uncle Jimmy Thompson. Born in Tennessee in 1848, he lived quite a bit of his life in Texas, and must have brought tunes back and forth.  youtube.com/watch?v=5SbHdv_30_U

I see I'm repeating myself, but why not?

Edited by - DougD on 06/15/2013 13:39:19

bsed - Posted - 06/15/2013:  14:21:18

youtube.com/watch?v=4i8vKiedxqU

Billy Wilson starts at 0:46 and continues through 1:27.

DougD - Posted - 06/15/2013:  14:27:47

Thanks, Bruce.

I think I just learned how to do this from one of our fellow members, This should start at 0:45   youtu.be/4i8vKiedxqU?t=44s

And followed by "Bill Cheathum" till about 2:10.

Edited by - DougD on 06/15/2013 14:39:47

uncledelphi - Posted - 06/17/2013:  06:06:56

Thanks to everyone who responded.  I think I have it straight now.

DougD - Posted - 06/17/2013:  07:44:39

You're welcome. I meant to get back to this with one more post. If bsed and I are correct, that leaves 45 seconds at the beginning and end of the medley unaccounted for. Its the same in both places - three strains, each played twice. The first two are "Rocky Mountain Goat" aka "Drunken Billy Goat" - compare the Ted Gossett Kentucky version at Slippery Hill. Also, Slippery Hill includes all three parts as "Drunk Bill Goat" by Eck Robertson (excerpted from "Brilliancy." Its that third part that people think is "Wake Up Susan" - you can hear something similar in the Frank George recording of that tune on the same site - but the rest of the tune is not in the medley. Whether Eck included a quote from "Wake Up Susan," or had a third part for "Rocky Mountain Goat" I can't say, but that seems most likely to me.

Edited by - DougD on 06/17/2013 07:47:36

Reilly-Byrne - Posted - 06/18/2013:  05:53:36

It is my understanding the Eck Robertson wrote the tune Brilliancy, and yes that tune is heard a lot at Texas fiddle contests.

DougD - Posted - 06/18/2013:  06:08:28

You're the second person in this thread to refer to a tune called "Brilliancy." Can you describe how it goes, or refer us to music or a recording, and does it appear somewhere in this medley?

Fiddler - Posted - 06/18/2013:  07:03:26

quote:

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Originally posted by DougD

 

You're the second person in this thread to refer to a tune called "Brilliancy." Can you describe how it goes, or refer us to music or a recording, and does it appear somewhere in this medley?

Here's a link to a discussion and sound files.

oldweirdamerica.wordpress.com/...n-family/

Here's what Fiddler's Companion says about the tune.

BRILLIANCY. AKA‑ "Brilliance," "Brilliancy Medley." AKA and see "Liverpool Hornpipe [1]," "Louisville Hornpipe." See also related tunes "Drunken Billy Goat," "Miller's Reel," "Wake Up Susan." Old‑Time, Texas Style. USA, west Texas. A Major. Standard tuning. AABB (Christeson, Phillips/1994): AABBCC (Phillips/1995): AABBCCDDEE (Brody). John Hartford and others note that the first strain of "Passaic Hornpipe" is the same as this tune, as is "Trafalger Hornpipe" (the latter is cognate with the ‘A’ and ‘C’ parts of “Brilliancy”). Stacy Phillips remarks that the tune is a combination of "Passaic," "Trafalgar" and "Dew Drop" (the ‘B’ part) hornpipes. See also the related tune "Butterfly Hornpipe." There is some thought that "Brilliancy" was Eck Robertson's name for the set of variations he developed for "Drunken Billy Goat," though Charles Wolfe (1997) states the tune is an amalgam of several fiddle tunes including “Drunken Billygoat” in combination with “Wake Up Susan,” “Old Billy Wilson” and “Bill Cheatum.” The piece was one of Robertson’s best known pieces and sold over 2,600 copies when it was released in September, 1930 (Wolfe, 1997). Harry Smith (Folkways FA2952, 1952) writes: “’Eck’ Robertson was one of the pioneer rural recording artists, with unaccompanied solos issued by Victor thirty years ago. His playing in the present recording is quite archaic in its studied and exaltant formality, but the medley of traditional tunes is more suited to the popular dance steps of the 1920’s than for the square dance.” Sources for notated versions: Red Williams [Christeson]; Eck Robertson (West Texas) [Brody]; Howard Forrester [Phillips]. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 2), 1984; pg. 5. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 57‑58. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; pg. 37. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 183. County 507, Eck Robertson‑ "Old‑Time Fiddle Classics." Folkways FA2952, Eck Robertson (1922) ‑ "American Folk Music, vol. 2." Rounder 0046, Mark O'Conner‑ "National Junior Fiddle Champion." Sonyatone 201, Eck Robertson‑ "Master Fiddler." Victor 40298A (78 RPM), Eck Robertson & Family {1929. 2nd fiddle by Dr. J.B. Cranfill}.

Fiddler - Posted - 06/18/2013:  07:19:03

I just realized that the links to the sound files mentioned in my last post are no longer active.    Sorry!

DougD - Posted - 06/18/2013:  07:24:50

Fiddler, you have reposted the link I provided in my second post above. In that blog it says (correctly I believe) "“The Brilliancy medley” recorded by Eck Robertson is a wonderful mix of tunes that Eck put together for another of his virtuoso performance on the fiddle. Brilliancy is a medley of the following fiddle tunes: Wake Up Susan, Bill Cheatham, Little Billy Wilson and Drunken Billy Goat. All this tunes are in the key of A and have related melodic and harmonic progressions."

Nowhere in that blog, or at the Fiddler's Companion is there mention of an individual tune called "Brilliance" or "Brilliancy" - its simply the title of a medley of other tunes. You and Reilly-Byrne have mentioned it as an actual individual tune, which you listed as Part 1 of the medley, and if such a tune exists I'd like to know what it is. BTW, here's some info I just came across from the Victor ledgers of an unreleased recording by Eck Robertson from his first session in 1922 with the title "Brilliancy and cheatum," subtitled "Jigs and reels." Wonder what that was:  victor.library.ucsb.edu/index....d_cheatum

Uncledelphi - One of the great things about this medley is how similar the component tunes are (what Gadaya referred to as "related melodic and harmonic progressions"), and yet "still there's a difference!" I've accompanied it many times on guitar and it flows beautifully, although you don't always know where one tune ends and another begins.

Finally, there are several versions of both "Rocky Mountain Goat" and "Wake Up Susan" at the Digital Library of Appalachia you might want to listen to. I think all the recordings of "Rocky Mountain Goat: are just two parts, and several of the recordings of "Wake Up Susan" have a part similar to the third strain at the beginning and end of "Brilliancy," so maybe Eck snuck a little of it in there. As you may know, "Wake Up Susan" is kind of an American reworking of "Mason's Apron." It often includes a pizzicato part which isn't in "Brilliancy," but not everyone includes that either.

Edited by - DougD on 06/18/2013 07:34:10

uncledelphi - Posted - 06/18/2013:  07:32:49

quote:

---

Originally posted by DougD

Uncledelphi - One of the great things about this medley is how similar the component tunes are (what Gadaya referred to as "related melodic and harmonic progressions"), and yet "still there's a difference!" I've accompanied it many times on guitar and it flows beautifully, although you don't always know where one tune ends and another begins.

Finally, there are several versions of both "Rocky Mountain Goat" and "Wake Up Susan" at the Digital Library of Appalachia you might want to listen to. I think all the recordings of "Rocky Mountain Goat: are just two parts, and several of the recordings of "Wake Up Susan" have a part similar to the third strain at the beginning and end of "Brilliancy," so maybe Eck snuck a little of it in there. As you may know, "Wake Up Susan" is kind of an American reworking of "Mason's Apron." It often includes a pizzicato part which isn't in "Brilliancy," but not everyone includes that either.

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I do need to investigate all those tunes further.  So many tunes (and so many styles!), so little time.  I am familiar with Doc Roberts' Rocky Mountain Goat, a part of which I recognized in Brilliancy Medley.

I hear three distinct strains at the beginning of Brilliancy Medley, followed by Billy Wilson and Bill Cheatum.  The medley ends with a reprise of the three strains from the beginning.  To me, it sounds as if the three strains are parts of Billy Wilson (albeit a different version from what shows up later in the medley), Drunken Billy/Rocky Mounatin Goat, and Wake Up Susan.  For convenience's sake, I am calling these three strains Brilliancy, effectively a medley-within-a-medley.  I may be wrong on this, and will change my approach if I find evidence to the contrary.

I don't suppose it matters all that much what they're called.  I just wanted to know how to organize and name them on DrFiddle.com, as I want to be as accurate as possible.  I don't really care what any fiddler calls them, so long as they are played well and with feeling!

Paul Gifford - Posted - 06/18/2013:  07:53:18

Note that "Billy Wilson" is only one name of many (or none) for a pretty widespread tune.  This was the name used by Jimmy Thompson on a Columbia recording from the 1920s.  Benny Thomason recorded as "Ace of Spades."  I learned it 40 years ago from a Michigan fiddler, without a name.  Later, I heard the Thomason recording.  The Thompson recording wasn't yet reissued, so that name wasn't very well known.  Chances are that Eck Robertson didn't call it "Billy WIlson," the name of which probably was attached to it because Thompson associated the tune with someone he knew named Billy Wilson.

Fiddler - Posted - 06/18/2013:  08:06:20

Doug -- Also, sorry, about the repost - I have slept since you posted.

I don't have a sound file, but if my memory hasn't failed, Lonnie Robertson recorded a tune called "Brilliancy." It is only two parts. It is also in Christenson's transcriptions, but I don't fully recall how many parts he included. I've heard other Missouri/Ozark fiddlers play this tune with two parts.  (I'll check my Christenson book  this evening, unless someone beats me to it.)

Yes, I am familiar with the various variations of Rocky Mtn Goat and Wake Up Susan and play some of them. I do have my favorite sources, though, e.g. Doc Roberts (for RMG) and the Stonekings (for WUS). I've not heard the pizzicato part of WUS played very frequently.  

DougD - Posted - 06/18/2013:  08:57:31

Fiddler - I'd certainly be curious to hear what you find in Christenson or from Lonnie Robertson. I thought it was interesting that the earlier Victor recording was just titled "Brilliancy and cheatum." I guess there's no way to know what titles Eck Robertson had for these tunes, but maybe he called that first part "Brilliancy." In the early days of recording, and especially of Irish tunes, medleys were sometimes identified on the label only by the title of the first tune (especially on cylinders, where there's not much room on the rim of the cylinder). Sometimes the medleys became codified and played in that form (as this one has), and referred to by that title, which sometimes caused confusion.

Paul - As I said, I don't guess we can know what name Eck had for "Billy Wilson," but Uncle Jimmy Thompson is an interesting case. If the Wikipedia article is correct, he was born in Smith county, TN, moved to Texas when he was about 12, stayed about 20 years, then moved back to Tennessee. Then after about another 20 years he returned to Texas, where he won a marathon fiddle contest in Dallas in 1907, and then returned to Tennessee a few years later. Still, he traveled back to Dallas to compete in another contest a few years before he recorded "Billy Wilson." Its hard to say what tunes he might have brought back and forth, and in which direction.

DougD - Posted - 06/18/2013:  10:10:51

In case anyone wants to hear this tune played by "modern," (but non-Texas) fiddlers, I've temporarily uploaded a recording of my old band playing "Brilliancy Medley." In the 1970's when this recording was made not many "revival" bands were tackling this number. (The sound quality doesn't seem to be much better than the Eck Robertson recording! Those guys at Victor were pros.)

Highwoods Stringband:  Walt Koken and Bob Potts, fiddles; Mac Benford, banjo; Jenny Cleland, bass; Doug Dorschug, guitar.

Brilliancy Medley

Reilly-Byrne - Posted - 06/19/2013:  05:40:45

The first tune on the soundclip is know to me (and many others) as Brilliancy.