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/53998
Page: 1 2
Johnbow - Posted - 09/03/2020: 11:01:12
Cool thread. Here’s one that jumped to mind the instant I read the thread title. The recording is a bit off - it drags - but you’ll get the idea. For some reason, I can imagine Shawn Craver recording a version of it. Of course, he may think I’ve lost my mind. Great tune.
slippery-hill.com/recording/kidd-and-bacon
DougD - Posted - 09/03/2020: 11:04:03
I think "The Golden Chain Tree" is a version of "The Golden Vanity" aka "The Golden Willow Tree" and I think sometimes "The Merry Golden Tree." Its a Child ballad (#286).
Edited by - DougD on 09/03/2020 11:07:42
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/03/2020: 11:14:16
I've played a simpler version of Scott's Return for years but now want to learn this 'quirky' version.. As for Golden Chain tree, I have ten minute Clifftop recording of a young woman playing it and I've played along with it for a long time now... None of my friends play it.. Maybe I can change that..
Johnbow - Posted - 09/03/2020: 12:17:57
With regard to DougD’s aka’s...
Here’s the version of the Golden Willow Tree with which I’m familiar. Lovely fiddle playing. This is one song in a really good album of songs - a few real gems in the album. Please pardon the rather titillating image used on the video - it doesn’t offend me but I realize some are easily taken aback.
P. youtube.com/watch?v=OiBnrGHeBO...6&index=7
DougD - Posted - 09/03/2020: 12:44:30
Here's the version I'm most familiar with (of many): youtu.be/uQLLRQNaVxg
They leave out the verse where the captain goes back on his promise.
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/03/2020: 13:30:08
Doug, you've been around almost as long a me..!!
Have you come across any particularly 'quirky' tunes ?
Lonesome Fiddler - Posted - 09/03/2020: 13:38:01
Bragger taught a zillion of them. A few -- Hell and Scissors, Hell Broke Loose in Georgia, Joke on the Puppy, Rose in the Mountain (a particularly lovely Salyer tune), Sales Tax Toddle, Big Hoedown, Callahan.
DougD - Posted - 09/03/2020: 13:53:03
Lee, I don't think so. Do you mean like "crooked" tunes, or is "quirky" something different? Lately I've been learning "New Money" as played by JP Fraley on YouTube. I don't know if its "quirky," but its fun to play. "Rattletrap" from the Hilltoppers is kind of quirky, but I don't play it.
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/03/2020: 14:10:32
OK.. I've listened to those videos (audios) and regrettably, Don't see much similarity with the 'quirky' Slippery Hill tunes that I posted.... and the videos.. Maybe it is just me..
Are there other tunes...Quirky??
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/03/2020: 14:34:11
Not to mention, "Jenny, Get Around".. a local jam favorite.
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/03/2020: 14:58:54
There is NO definition to the word Quirky.. You decide.. As for "new money"..Yep, I 'd say it is quirky, but can't say why.. It was made popular locally here by a fiddler named Strawberry McCloud.. RIP... We play New Money often..(when we Finally get to play in C) I'll check out Rattletrap.
I suppose that Quirky could be any tune that seems ODD to the listener..I'm just thinking about what I'd call Strange tunes..and yes, I guess that most are crooked..
PLUS.. I"m just enjoying getting a topic going... !!
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 09/03/2020 15:00:21
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/03/2020: 15:13:08
So every topic should include a 'definition of terms".. I failed to define quirky... I'll let you do that..!!
"New Money" Is square but yes there is Something about it..that I'd call quirky..
I'm asking all member to throw out the name of a tune that 'to them' has that 'something' about it that they'd call quirky....This is Not meant to be an academic exercise.. just fun..
tonyelder - Posted - 09/03/2020: 15:44:07
quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaver
Not to mention, "Jenny, Get Around".. a local jam favorite.
...fun to play.
DougD - Posted - 09/03/2020: 15:44:31
Lee, when you play "New Money" do you play JP's version or the more common (I think) Doc Roberts one?
As far as the Slippery Hill tunes you posted, Taylor Kimble is playing "The Golden Vanity." You can even tell from the title.
Of course there's a definition of the word "quirky." Just look in the dictionary.
Edited by - DougD on 09/03/2020 15:47:10
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/03/2020: 16:12:01
THe Big Milliner book lists Taylor Kimble's tune as Golden Chain Tree.. I'm not going to be picky about names.. Many tunes are know by multiple names.. I think I hear my mother calling me..
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 09/03/2020 16:13:30
DougD - Posted - 09/03/2020: 16:25:46
But you are being "picky about names" Lee. Don't you see the similarity between "Golden Chain Tree" and "Golden Vanity," "Golden Willow Tree," and "Merry Golden Tree?" As you said, tunes (in this case a ballad) are known by various names. Taylor Kimble kind of garbled this one, who knows why, but that's what he's playing.
BTW its "The big Milliner- Koken book." Its impressive, but produced by humans. Walt even consulted me on the background of some of the tunes, as well as a few other issues. Of course they called it "Golden Chain Tree" - that's what Taylor Kimble called it.
Edited by - DougD on 09/03/2020 16:34:36
bandsmcnamar - Posted - 09/03/2020: 16:56:03
One of my favorite recent crooked tunes, that normally isn't, is the Horsenecks version of Flowers of Edinburgh. Done so smoothly it almost sounds square, but it isn't. That makes it quirky in my book. lol Flowers starts around 3:45.
youtu.be/EJrk3-wRBA0
bandsmcnamar - Posted - 09/03/2020: 17:40:13
Here's a quick run at it, just fiddle, it's almost easier to hear the quirkiness this way, or maybe that's just my playing, lol
Edited by - bandsmcnamar on 09/03/2020 17:41:44
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 09/03/2020: 18:13:32
I think chicken tunes are quirky. There's a few of them. It's pretty quirky when your fiddle starts doing chicken calls...especially if you weren't trying to do that. I guess you could add Listen to the Mockingbird in with that bunch/ flock...lol.
Edited by - groundhogpeggy on 09/03/2020 18:15:33
ChickenMan - Posted - 09/03/2020: 19:18:05
Well, here's a recording my buddy Paul and I made via email. It turns out the rhythm track has a 'time warp' for a few measures but whatever, we came out together on the other side. A great tune that isn't crooked, but has a funny phrasing that makes the A part seem crooked. Henry Reed's "Billy in the Lowland."
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 09/04/2020: 04:37:06
The Henry Reed tunes are all pretty cool.
I guess one tune I think sounds just flatout weird would be Dillion's (do I have that name right?) High D. I've tried to play it at times and just think it's too wacky, musically, to just run up to that D outta nowhere...I can't ever make that one sound right...lol, I mean, just me.
alaskafiddler - Posted - 09/04/2020: 06:07:23
quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaver
There is NO definition to the word Quirky.. You decide..
Quirky is a quirky word.
carlb - Posted - 09/04/2020: 07:04:07
quote:
Originally posted by alaskafiddler
quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaver
There is NO definition to the word Quirky.. You decide..
Quirky is a quirky word.
A Google search yielded
quirk·y /?kw?rk?/
adjective
adjective: quirky; comparative adjective: quirkier; superlative adjective: quirkiest
characterized by peculiar or unexpected traits.
Fiddler - Posted - 09/04/2020: 07:06:50
quote:
Originally posted by DougD
But you are being "picky about names" Lee. Don't you see the similarity between "Golden Chain Tree" and "Golden Vanity," "Golden Willow Tree," and "Merry Golden Tree?" As you said, tunes (in this case a ballad) are known by various names. Taylor Kimble kind of garbled this one, who knows why, but that's what he's playing.
BTW its "The big Milliner- Koken book." Its impressive, but produced by humans. Walt even consulted me on the background of some of the tunes, as well as a few other issues. Of course they called it "Golden Chain Tree" - that's what Taylor Kimble called it.
This is what I dislike so much about "authoritative" tune collections. As they as collected and produced by humans, they can't be all-inclusive and they will not have all of the variations in the tunes themselves or the titles. The authors do their best to practice due diligence and strive for an academically sound publication.
Additionally, the transcriptions may only reflect their interpretation of a recording or their interpretation of how a fiddler played a tune on that particular day. Melodies and ornamentations and titles in fiddle tunes are not necessarily fixed and permanent. (A tune I played a week ago may be very different from how I play it today.) Many tunes recorded in the early 20th century were slightly altered and renamed to avoid copyright issues.
I find that many of the tunes in the Millner-Kochen book don't agree fully with the versions I learned from other sources that I feel are just as valid. However, I respect the immense amount of work that went into this collection and recognize it as a valuable resource.
For me what is frustrating is that the "Clifftop Crowd" and followers have become the "The Old Time Police" (at some of the jams I have been to recently) and insist that the version I am playing is incorrect. For example, I learned "When the Cat Came Back" from a Tommy Jackson recording at the suggestion of my mentor who lived in the Ozarks. (It works incredible well for a dance!) Recently, the "OT Police" have insisted that the Doc Roberts version is the only one and true version and all others are to be shunned. There are some significant differences between the two. Play it this way or don't play it all! I don't have patience for this attitude.
Another problematic tune is Hog Trough Reel. Again, a tune that I learned from Faye Green from northern Arkansas. It is quite a bit different from the Clayton McMichen version, but it does have some similarities. Again, play it this way or not at all!
Sorry to go off on a rant, but it is something that has been eating at me these past few weeks.
Johnbow - Posted - 09/04/2020: 07:40:45
Ok TuneWeaver, so you didn’t like my version of Golden Willow Tree :) - which, though perhaps not as quirky as yours, does bare a relationship to it. Here’s a tune by a fiddler who always seems to find the quirky side of a tune.
slippery-hill.com/recording/fo...nes-ferry
CarlB - your list will provide a solid half-hour of listening pleasure.
ChickenMan - I enjoyed your version of the Henry Reed tune (I always find HR difficult to play). To my ear, your playing exhibits a nice, light, kinda singing quality.
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/04/2020: 11:52:12
Guys, when I said there is no definition of the word 'quirky' I meant that I wasn't going to OFFER one.. Everyone has their own idea of what a quirky tune is and yes it is in the dictionary.... (I'd Hope)...
If the topic is to be restated it would be.. "Here are two tunes that I call quirky..hope you like them, and what are some tunes you would define as quirky.." The thread seems to have gotten a little off track for a while.. .. I'll blame it on Cabin Fever..
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 09/04/2020: 12:15:03
Well, then, what's your definition of Cabin Fever....lol...just kidding.
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/04/2020: 13:03:35
quote:
Originally posted by groundhogpeggy
Well, then, what's your definition of Cabin Fever....lol...just kidding.
OK Here is cabin fever defined... but please don't accuse me of thread drift because I've posted it..
Just to keep it on topic.. I'd say it is a QUIRKY DEFINITION.
Cabin fever refers to the distressing claustrophobic irritability or restlessness experienced when a person, or group, is stuck at an isolated location or in confined ...
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 09/04/2020: 14:25:35
I've heard that chickens often have cabin fever because.....
...they are always cooped up...lol...ok that's not funny and I admit I looked it up on the net...looked up a joke pertaining to cabin fever because I'm too hungry to think for myself right now.
That might explain some of that irritability and cabin-alism you often see among chickens...lol...stole that one too. Sorry...not really funny.
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/04/2020: 14:43:13
quote:
Originally posted by groundhogpeggy
I've heard that chickens often have cabin fever because.....
...they are always cooped up...lol...ok that's not funny and I admit I looked it up on the net...looked up a joke pertaining to cabin fever because I'm too hungry to think for myself right now.
That might explain some of that irritability and cabin-alism you often see among chickens...lol...stole that one too. Sorry...not really funny.
OK. Redeem yourself by giving the name of what you think is a quirky tune..
BTW.. While I'm on it.. a Quirky NAME of a tune is "Walk Chalk Chicken With a Necktie On''..
It is o ne of my favorite A tunes.. Basically, it is Farewell to Whiskey, with just ONE extra beat in the A and B parts. Problem is, that seems to throw people off enough that they don't want to learn it.. Well, from time to time I play it anyway.. That Quirk is just too much for some musicians, apparently.. but I never could figure out why One beat in each part could seem so difficult..
RichJ - Posted - 09/04/2020: 14:43:30
Ok, so it's Chicken tunes you want?
One not played often on this side of the pond. Ample opportunity to make a fiddle squawk and usually played with The Four Poster Bed also heard here with more opportunity for sound effects.
Hen's March (to the Midden)
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/04/2020: 14:52:16
quote:
Originally posted by RichJ
Ok, so it's Chicken tunes you want?
One not played often on this side of the pond. Ample opportunity to make a fiddle squawk and usually played with The Four Poster Bed also heard here with more opportunity for sound effects.
Hen's March (to the Midden)
Oh YEAH!!! Well THIS is 'Chicken In The Barnyard.'.. Clark Kessinger.. I've played it for 35 years and have yet to find ONE fiddler besides me who knows it.. Enjoy. (go to 75% for clarity..)..youtube.com/watch?v=ET1QegyEcHg
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 09/04/2020 14:53:03
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 09/04/2020: 15:52:05
How on earth did anybody ever figure out that fiddles could be so chickeny?
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 09/04/2020: 15:54:25
Lee I just can't think of anything quirky...every tune I ever heard of sounded perfectly normal...lol. I mentioned the Dillions high D...I'm thinking it's possible I've got that name wrong...somebody's high D...that one sounds weird to me.
I do love the chicken tunes, though.
Edited by - groundhogpeggy on 09/04/2020 15:55:07
ChickenMan - Posted - 09/04/2020: 15:56:00
I like that. Sounds like a take on "Cackling Hen"
isaacallen71 - Posted - 09/04/2020: 16:19:19
Can I add a 'quirky' (who's definition we goin' by?) tune?
Tipp's Tune! (sorry if you don't use Spotify, the same recording is on other music platforms. Another good recording of it is here -> on bandcamp)
A gosh darn weird, quirky B part
RichJ - Posted - 09/04/2020: 16:25:40
quote:
Originally posted by groundhogpeggy
How on earth did anybody ever figure out that fiddles could be so chickeny?
Probably after they finished making them sound like mockingbirds.
Listen to the Mockingbird
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/04/2020: 16:28:57
quote:
Originally posted by groundhogpeggy
Lee I just can't think of anything quirky...every tune I ever heard of sounded perfectly normal...lol. I mentioned the Dillions high D...I'm thinking it's possible I've got that name wrong...somebody's high D...that one sounds weird to me.
I do love the chicken tunes, though.
I'd say that Quince Dillon's High D qualifies.. as a quirky tune!! no doubt.. Remember.. Quirky is in the EAR of the beholder..
TuneWeaver - Posted - 09/04/2020: 16:33:10
quote:
Originally posted by isaacallen71
Can I add a 'quirky' (who's definition we goin' by?) tune?
Tipp's Tune! (sorry if you don't use Spotify, the same recording is on other music platforms. Another good recording of it is here -> on bandcamp)
A gosh darn weird, quirky B part
Sometimes you listen to a fiddler who you KNOW was not at Clifftop, or who wasn't influenced by trendy fiddlers.. but who was HIS OWN MAN/WOMAN.. and played from his/her heart.. I like this guy's style..
tonyelder - Posted - 09/04/2020: 17:56:11
A Tunes:
Fire On The Mountain
Double File
Chinquapin Hunting
Happy Hollow
Jeff Sturgeon
Mississippi Square Dance
Road To Malvern
Redbird
The Hog Went Through The Fence
Three Thin Dimes
D Tunes
Rusty Gun
Smith's Reel
Walk Old Shoe
West Fork Gals
G Tunes
All Young
Asked That Pretty Girl To Be My Wife
Fort Smith Breakdown
Old Sledge
Possum Up A Simmon Tree
DougD - Posted - 09/04/2020: 18:31:26
Dwight - She spells her name "Betse." I wouldn't bother to correct that for most people, but she's a special musician. I had the great pleasure of performing a couple productions of a musical play with her, one in Kansas City, and one in Lancaster PA. We did another production in NH with Alan Block as the fiddler and one weekend Alan was unavailable, so they flew in Betse. I had to make a little sign to put on the floor in front of us that said (modestly) "World's Greatest Old Time Band." I still have it in my banjo case.
In Lancaster we were a trio with Ed Snodderly on guitar. The play was supposed to be a live radio show, and the band would go out and play three numbers to warm up the audience before the "broadcast" began. The last one was always "Late Last Night When Willie Came Home" so the actors would get their cue, but the three of us would gather in the wings 15 minutes before show time and decide what to play for the other two. It was always different and lots of fun.
She's a great fiddle player.
Edited by - DougD on 09/04/2020 18:36:41
ChickenMan - Posted - 09/04/2020: 18:36:58
quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaver
quote:
Originally posted by isaacallen71
Can I add a 'quirky' (who's definition we goin' by?) tune?
Tipp's Tune! (sorry if you don't use Spotify, the same recording is on other music platforms. Another good recording of it is here -> on bandcamp)
A gosh darn weird, quirky B part
Sometimes you listen to a fiddler who you KNOW was not at Clifftop, or who wasn't influenced by trendy fiddlers.. but who was HIS OWN MAN/WOMAN.. and played from his/her heart.. I like this guy's style..
He's an old guy from Iowa and real treasure. Plays a mean squeeze box too.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 09/04/2020: 18:45:06
Rich, I tried playing Mockingbird on both the fiddle and the guitar, on youtubes, which I plan to delete at some point when I get around to it...lol...because they are both so badly done.
Not sure why I ever tried ... maybe because it interrupts my state of being whenever a tune suddenly speeds up like it's on its way to a fire after it was gliding along easily before...like Blue Moon of KY suddenly does that...Mockingbird does...I elected not to on both...but I think it was ok on BMoKY, but not on Mockingbird...probably because I took it way too slow in the first place and then just bombed on everything the fiddle did...then also...I guess just not my kinda tune...so yeah, makes it quirky for me. It's a beautiful and entertaining tune if somebody else plays it. I tried it on guitar at another point...thought I'd do better with it, but still sounds terrible. again...just doesn't work that slow, as slow as I seem to wanna take it...plus...I think it's just been recent I've started to learn not to overload my recordings so much...I mean...back then I was just putting track on after track...I'd have 25 tracks or more for a simple little tune or song. I just couldn't stop adding junk that just bogged the whole thing down. Finally learned to not use so much tracks, and lower the volume on the bass if I use it. Ugh...I've made some embarrassingly bad recordings...lol.
Maybe one day I should try again...naah...I'm not so sure it's in my own quirky "style," if I have one. I think it seems to cross some line with me. So...maybe the tunes aren't so quirky...maybe it's the people (trying to) playing them! Me for one, I'd say.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 09/04/2020: 18:47:51
What about the Bald Headed End of the Broom? Quirky or not quirky????
imapicker2 - Posted - 09/04/2020: 18:52:21
Hey Doug--Thanks for the correction. She is one of my favorites and --Where does she get all of that energy? I have worked on a few of her tunes,but can't do them like she does.
Thanks for your contribution to this site and for your contribution to old time music.
Earworm - Posted - 09/05/2020: 08:59:31
Jenny on the Railroad - nothing but quirks.
Johnbow - Posted - 09/05/2020: 10:05:25
quote:
Originally posted by imapicker2
I love Betsie's fiddling -----and to me this one is "quirky"
youtube.com/watch?v=ZzX3xwnjwx...c&index=4
Wow! A seriously quirky tune for sure. I'd never heard of her or The Wilders. They're really entertaining.
Edited by - Johnbow on 09/05/2020 10:05:57
Page: 1 2
'Boll Weevil' 9 hrs
