This transcription is based on an October 1929 performance a group called The Red Headed Fiddlers, recorded in Dallas, Texas for the Brunswick company. It was released as Brunswick 460. According to Tony Russell’s discography, theirs is the only recording of St. Jobe’s Waltz made by a country string band prior to WWII. Like many good fiddlers,…
Gate to Go Through
This transcription is based on a performance Jimmy Johnson’s String Band recorded for the Gennett company on August 22nd, 1932, in Richmond, Indiana. It was released on the Champion label as Champion #16541. It’s a simple tune in G with two four-bar strains. It’s made more interesting by the syncopation at the start of the…
Richmond Cotillion
This transcription is based on a May 1927 performance recorded by Da Costa Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters in Richmond Indiana. The source recording features a square dance call over the tune, making it difficult to hear the melody. Treat this transcription as a reasonable, if inexact, approximation.
Forked Deer
Forked Deer has long been a standard among old-time musicians, but I’ve always been partial to the performance Taylor’s Kentucky Boys recorded in April, 1927 for the Gennett company in Richmond, Indiana. An interesting quirk is a beat that’s borrowed from the end of second repeat of the ‘A’ strain that’s added back to the…
Jesse Polka
This transcription is based on a performance by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys from April 8th, 1946, recorded for what are commonly referred to as the Tiffany Transcriptions. There are a lot of different versions of Jesse Polka out there. This is a relatively simple interpretation, with just two sections. The marking D.C. al…
B-Flat Rag
This transcription is based on a performance by the Madisonville String Band, recorded at the Gennett studios in Richmond, Indiana, on October 3rd, 1930. It was released on the Gennett-affiliated labels Chamion (#16462 & 45005), Superior (#2756), and also appeared on Decca (#5437). In the recording, the group’s fiddle player takes first section (bars 1-16), and…
And the Cat Came Back
This transcription of And the Cat Came back is based on an August, 1927 performance that Doc Roberts recorded for the Gennett company in Richmond, Indiana. The tune is comprised of a four-bar ‘A’ strain and eight-bar ‘B’ and ‘C’ strains. On the recording, the form is irregular: AA BB CC AA BB CC BB…
Earl 'Joaquin' Murphey
Here’s a 2001 article I wrote on the legendary western swing steel guitarist Earl ‘Joaquin’ Murphey, who played with Spade Cooley, Tex Williams, the Plainsmen, and other West Coast acts in the 1940s and 1950s. To merely call him the best steel guitarist of his era is to do his work a disservice. He is…
Larry 'Pedro' DePaul
Here’s a 1999 article I wrote on legendary Western Swing musician and arranger Larry ‘Pedro’ DePaul for the Journal of Country Music back in 1999. He was the architect behind the sound of the great Spade Cooley and Tex Williams bands of the 1940s. By the way, knucklehead that I am, I mistranscribed DePaul’s wife’s…
Wink the Other Eye
This transcription comes from a performance Hack’s String Band recorded for the Gennett company in Richmond, Indiana, on September 29th, 1929. It was released on the Gennett-affiliated labels Champion and Superior. The Superior release is credited to ‘Cumberland String Band.’