This transcription is based on a performance by John D. Foster, recorded for the Gennett company on April 11, 1929. It was issued on the Gennett-affiliated label Challenge (#423), credited to ‘Crocker & Cannon.’ This performance is in waltz time. Modern performers often play this in 4/4. Though the lead sheet starts with the chorus,…
Sourwood Mountain
Sourwood Mountain is a widely recorded tune in pre-WW II country music. This transcription is based on a performance by Taylor’s Kentucky Boys, recorded on August 27th, 1927, in Richmond Indiana. The track was released on the Gennett-affiliated labels Silvertone and Supertone. The Supertone release was credited to Hills Virginia Ramblers.
Lauterbach Waltz
This transcription is based on a recording the Kessinger Brothers made in New York City in September, 1930. It was released as Brunswick 567. Any resemblance to ‘Where Oh Where has My Little Dog Gone’ is purely coincidental.
Jenny on the Railroad
This transcription is based on a performance by The Carter Brothers and Son in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 24, 1928. It was originally released as Vocalion 5297. This is a modal tune in G. The mode in question is Dorian.
Haste to the Wedding
Like a lot of folks, I first learned this tune from R.P. Christeson’s Old Time Fiddler’s Repertory. It was recorded in the 78rpm era by the Irish fiddler Ned O’Boyle. Christeson categorized Haste to the Wedding as a quadrille, but it’s more accurately described as a double jig.
Eighth of January, The
This transcription is based on a performance that Ted Gosset’s Band for recorded for Gennett in Richmond, Indiana, on September 16th, 1930. According to Tony Russell’s discography, the track was only released on Gennett-affiliated labels Champion, Superior, and Supertone. The Superior release was billed as Buddy Young’s Kentuckians, and the Supertone release bore the name…
Down Yonder
Down Yonder is based on a performance by the Willis Brothers, from the same RCA Victor 78 rpm record that yielded the Back Up and Push transcription.
Billy in the Low Ground
This transcription is based on a Buddy Griffin/ Red Allen recording from the Folkways CD Classic Old-Time Fiddle from Smithsonian Folkways (SFW40193). Tangleweed recorded this on their Please Punch Richard For Me CD, under the title ‘Billy in the Oh Ground.’
Back up and Push
This transcription of the old-time fiddle standard Back up and Push is based on a performance by the Willis Brothers that I got from an old 78rpm record. The Willis Brothers held down a spot on the Grand Ole Opry on and off after WW II, and appear on Hank Williams’ earliest recordings.
Alma Waltz
This transcription is based on a performance by the Mississippi Mud Steppers, OKEH 45504. The Mississippi Mud Steppers recording has some unusual harmonies in bars nine and ten that are not reflected in the above transcription. In the recording, the guitar accompaniment plays a chromatic ascending line from C to D, causing bar nine to…