|
Betty Anne/Little Betty Ann/Shady Grove/ Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
Link to Sheet Music: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/english-folk-songs/southern-appalachians%20-%200359.htm
ARTIST: from Mrs. Ellie Johnson, NC from Eighty English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians.
Listen: "Little Betty Ann" Mike Seeger See: Little Betty Ann for Mike's lyrics.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: 1916
RECORDING INFO: Ashby, John; and the Free State Ramblers. Fiddling by the Hearth, County 773, LP (1979), cut# 12; Ashby, John. Devil's Box, Devil's Box DB, Ser (196?), 18/4, p49; Ashlock, Jesse. Texas Sand; Anthology of Western Swing, Rambler 101, LP (198?), cut# 13; Chapman, Owen "Snake". Fiddle Ditty, June Appal JA 0061C, Cas (1990), cut# 8;
OTHER NAMES: "Little Betty Ann" Related to "Shady Grove," "Fly Around my Pretty Little Miss," "Polly Ann"
SOURCES: From English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians, Sharp, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 78
NOTES: "Betty Anne" is one of the earliest collected Appalachian versions of "Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss." The 1916 date precedes Samantha Bumgarner's 1924 recording by eight years. There are many floater fiddle tune lyrics from "Shady Grove," "Fly Around my Pretty Little Miss," and "Polly Ann" in this fiddle tune family.
Betty Anne is also known as "Little Betty Ann." Bob Carlin (1985) notes the "Pretty Polly Ann" tune is possibly a variant of the song "Little Betty Ann," and that, as "Betty Ann," it was recorded in 1947 for Columbia Records by fiddler Jesse Ashlock (who credited the tune to the father of his former employer, Texas swing fiddler Bob Wills). The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's. The melody was also recorded by Texas fiddler Eck Robertson.
BETTY ANNE- from Mrs. Ellie Johnson, NC 1916
Listen: "Little Betty Ann" Mike Seeger
CHORUS: Lor', lor', my little Betty Anne,
Lor', lor', I say,
Lor', lor', my little Betty Anne,
I'm going away to stay.
Cheeks as red as a red, red rose,
Her eyes as a diamond brown,
I'm going to see my pretty little miss
Before the sun goes down.
It's rings on my true love's hands
Shines so bright like gold.
Go and see my pretty little Miss
Before it rains or snows.
When I was up at the field at work,
I sit down and cry,
Studying' bout my blue-eyed boy,
I thought to my God I'd die.
Fly around my pretty little Miss,
Fly around I say,
Fly around, my pretty little Miss,
You'll almost drive me crazy.
Fly around my pretty little Miss,
Fly around my dandy,
Fly around my pretty little Miss,
I don't want no more of your candy.
|