|
Barb’ra Buck/Georgia Buck
Traditional Old-Time, Breakdown- Southeast: Piedmont and Appalachian region, relatively rare banjo song;
ARTIST: From the singing of Mrs. Laura V. Donald, Dewey Va., June 8, 1918. Found in Sharp’s EFSSA, No. 196.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: Early 1900’s;
RECORDING INFO: Global Village C217, (Black fiddle and banjo players) Joe and Odel Thompson - "Old Time Music From the North Carolina Piedmont." Rounder CD 0382, Marvin Gaster - "Uncle Henry's Favorites."
OTHER NAMES: Georgie Buck; Barbara Buck; Old Georgie Buck;
SOURCES: "The tune was also in the repertoire of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, guitarist and banjo player Elizabeth Cotten, and was played by African-American fiddler Joe Thompson in GDGD tuning." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc). American Banjo Echoes in Appalachia by Cecelia Conway. 1995); Recordings by Dick Roberts and Joe Thompson & Odell Thompson (Smithsonian Folkways SF CD 40079) and Odell Thompson (Rounder CD 0439) clearly belong to Conway's banjo song genre, although a 1927 recording by The Hill Billies (reissued on Document DOCD-8041) treats it more like a regular song. A rather odd-sounding field holler version by Leonard Emanuel (Rounder CD 0071) is indicative of another way in which this song was used. Doc Watson also does a banjo version.
NOTES: "Heard in many parts of the South, but relatively rare" (Kerry Blech). The tune is known as a black Southern banjo song.
Georgia Buck belongs to what Cecilia Conway calls 'the banjo song genre'. Such songs are usually characterized by the following five musical features: 1) rhythmic and syncopated playing throughout the performance, especially when singing; 2) elaborated instrumental interludes; 3) compressed vocal lines of two or more syllables per beat; 4) occasional but irregular interruptions by instrumental interludes within the stanza; and 5) varied repetition of instrumental elements. (American Banjo Echoes in Appalachia by Cecelia Conway. 1995).
A single verse, Barbara Buck, collected by Cecil Sharp from Laura V Donald of Dewey, VA, EFSSA No. 196. It is doubtful that this is a version of Georgia Buck, only the name is similar.
Here are the lyrics from Mrs. Laura V. Donald:
O Barb’ra Buck is my sweetheart’s name,
He’s off to the war and gone,
He’s fighting for his Nanny dear,
His sword is buckled on.
|