Most everyone plays Fisher’s Hornpipe in D major nowadays, but The Hill Billies (aka Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters) recorded a very clever arrangement in G major.
The tune was recorded in New York on October 21st, 1926, and released as Vocalion # 5017.
The Hill Billies and Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters were the same group. Their releases on Vocalion were credited to the former, their Brunswick and Supertone releases credited to the latter. Given that Tony Russell’s Country Music Records lists a Vocalion release exclusively for this track, we’ll go ahead and credit it to The Hill Billies.
It’s well worth tracking down a copy of the original recording — there are some great dynamic and textural contrasts that make this a more sophisticated arrangement than your average country fiddle tune recording of the mid 1920s.
Fisher's Hornpipe