|
Alabama Gals (See also: Buffalo Gals) Give the Fiddler a Dram/ Dance All Night
Traditional Old-Time; Breakdown, Song. North Ga., central Ala.
LYRIC SOURCE: Andrew Kuntz
Listen: Alabama Gal by J. E. Mainer
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes.
DATE: Mid-1800’s. Used in the 1850’s at minstrel shows.
OTHER NAMES: (The “Buffalo” name can be changed to any city’s name, and was used as New York Gals etc.)"Round-Town Girls/Gals," “Buffalo Girls/Gals,” “Portsmouth Airs”; “Bear Creek Hop” has same melody.
RELATED TO: "Dance all Night;" "Give The Fiddler A Dram;" “Bear Creek Hop”
RECORDING INFO: Seeger, Pete;, Mike Seeger, and Larry Eisenberg. American Playparties/Play Parties, Folkways FC 7604, LP (1959), cut#A.04; Stoneking, Lee R.. Missouri Old Time Fiddling, Stoneking, LP (197?), cut#A.04 (Alabama Gals); Warren, Paul. Devil's Box, Devil's Box DB, Ser (196?), 12/1, p55 (Alabama Gals)
SOURCES: The Black-Faced Minstrel groups. Woodring and Neithammer (Pa.) [Kuntz]. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 323. Marimac Cassette, "Tuesday Nite Live." Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc.
NOTES: One frequent name for “Buffalo Gals” in the south is "Alabama Gals" when played as a fiddle tune for dances. The tune "Alabama Gal Give the Fiddler A Dram" has been used in connection with the tune "Dance all Night" and also "Give The Fiddler A Dram." Gid Tanner's version uses the "Buffalo Gals" melody and quotes a line form the lyrics (See: Alabama Gal Give the Fiddler A Dram) Listen To Tanner:
Clayton McMichen plays a great version titled, "Give The Fiddler a Dram" which uses the Buffalo Gals melody for the A strain. Listen Here
Listen to instrumental version: Give the Fiddler a Dram- Alan Lomax Collection - Black Appalachia track 10 featuring Murphy Gribble, John Lusk & Albert York. Leadbelly also does a fast guitar version with ad lib floating lyrics. See: "Fiddler's Dram" and "Gwine Dig A Hole."
"G Major. Standard. AABB. This popular melody was in the repertoire of Fiddlin John Carson (north Ga., 1922) under this title. It was predicted (in the Chilton County {Ala.} News of June 1st, 1922) to "vie with the latest jazz nerve wreckers for first place" at a Chilton County convention (Cauthen, 1990). African-American fiddler Joe Thompson played this tune in GDGD tuning." Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
Fiddler Henry Reed played "Alabama Girls" which is a different tune related to "Ebenezer." Reed probably couldn't remember the name.
ALABAMA GALS- Lyrics from Kuntz
I know a gal with a wart on her chin,
Her eyes turned out and her ears turned in;
She's a darned good gal for the shape she's in
And I told her just to come out tonight.
Alabama Gals won't you come out tonight,
Come out tonight, come out tonight,
Alabama Gals won't you come out tonight,
And dance by the light of the moon.
|