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Blackberry Blossom
Traditional Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown Tennessee, Kentucky, Nebraska, Western New York - Widely known; There are two well-known versions- The oldest, in dorian mode, key of Gm, is the old-time version now called Garfield's Blackberry Blossom. The other version and best known version is in G major with the B section in Em. It is a popular bluegrass tune and was first championed by Fiddlin' Arthur Smith as his own tune although he probably did not write it.
ARTIST: Lyrics by Richard L. Matteson Jr. C 2009. Demo of the song by Richard L. Matteson with vocal by his niece Kara in Dec. 2009: Blackberry Blossom MP3 Bluegrass Messengers version on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS4RxlcpJQ4
Richard's TAB: Here's Richard Matteson's TAB for his YouTube instructional video of Blackberry Blossom
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: Early Irish Origin; Found in US before Civil War.
OTHER NAMES: Old Blackberry Blossom; Blackberry Winter; Garfield's Blackberry Blossom
RECORDING INFO: Columbia 15567 (78 RPM), Burnett and Ruttledge (1930). County 705, Sonny Miller & the Southern Mountain Boys- "Virginia Breakdown." Green Linnet SIF 1075, John Whelan & Eileen Ivers - "Fresh Takes" (1987. Learned from Eamonn O'Loughlin and played as a hornpipe). Marimac AHS #3, Glen Smith - "Say Old Man" (1990. Learned from legendary Galax, Va., fiddler Uncle Charley Higgins). Rounder 0092, Tony Rice - "Manzanita." Rounder 0090, Mark O'Connor - "Markology." Rounder 0073, "The White Brothers in Sweden." Rounder 0241, The Chicken Chokers - "Shoot Your Radio" (1987. Learned from Mike Seegar, Judy Hyman & Bert Levy). Rounder 1004, "Ramblin' Rickless Hobo: The Songs of Dick Burnett and Leonard Rutherford." Sugar Hill Records, Byron Berline & John Hickman - "Double Trouble." Vanguard VSD 45/46, "The Essential Doc Watson." Omac 1, Mark O'Connor - "A Texas Jam Session." Columbia 15567-D (78 RPM), Burnett and Ruttledge, 1930. Baker, Billy. Hills and Home; Thirty Years of Bluegrass, New1 World1 NW 225, LP (1976), cut# 10; Baker, Billy. Dobro and Fiddle, Zap ML 103, LP (197?), cut#A.02; Blake, Norman. Blackberry Blossom, Flying Fish FF-047, LP (1977), cut#B.03; Blake, Norman; and Tony Rice. Norman Blake & Tony Rice. Vol 2, Rounder 0266C, Cas (1990), cut#A.06; Blisard, John. Banjo Legacy, Augusta Heritage AHR 006, LP (1989), cut#A.09; Bowers, Bryan. View from Home, Flying Fish FF-037, LP (1977), cut# 1; Buck Mountain Band. Galax Virginia; Old Fiddler's Convention, Folkways FA 2435, LP (1964), cut#A.11; Bulla Family. Family Fiddlin', Family Vision Ministries, Cas (1989), cut#B.02; Burnett and Rutherford. Ramblin' Reckless Hobo, Rounder 1004, LP, cut# 6; Richard Matteson. American Fiddle Tunes for Acoustic Guitar CD Mel Bay Pub. (1995); Chicken Chokers. Shoot Your Radio, Rounder 0241, LP (1987), cut# 5; Country Ham. Where the Mountain Laurel Blooms, Vetco LP 515, LP (1979), cut# 12; Fink, Cathy; and Duck Donald. Kissing Is a Crime, Likable 01, LP (198?), cut#B.06; Flower, Robin. More Than Friends, Spaniel 1916114, LP (1979), cut#A.04; Herdman, Curley. Old Time Fiddle Tunes, Arcade CRLP-1002, LP (196?), cut#A.04; Higgins, Uncle Charlie. 37th Old-Annual Old-Time Fiddlers Convention, Folkways FA 2434, LP (1962), cut# 1; Hinshelwood, Jack. 51st Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, Heritage (Galax) 703, LP (1987), cut# 9; Jones, Clark. 49th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, Heritage (Galax) 700, LP (1985), cut# 12 ; Kessinger, Clark. Clark Kessinger Memorial Album, Kanawha 327, LP (197?), cut# 7; Mason, Mary. McGee, Sam. Grand Dad of the Country Guitar Pickers, Arhoolie 5012, LP (197?), cut# 7; Miller, Sonny; & the Southern Mtn Boys. Virginia Breakdown, County 705, LP, cut# 5; Moss, Frazier. Fiddling with Frazier, Plateau NR-3508, LP (197?), cut#B.05; Munde, Alan. Banjo Sandwich, RidgeRunner RRR 0001, LP (1975), cut# 3; Perkins, J. T.. Fiddle Favorites Perkins Style, Davis Unlimited DU-33017, LP (1975), cut#B.06; Petteys, Mark. Country Blue, Roadrunner, LP (1976), cut#B.06; Randy Mountain Mountain. Fiddler's Grove. Old Time Fiddler's & Bluegrass ... 1975. Vol. 6, Galaxie, LP (1975), cut# 22; Ray, Byard. Fiddler's Grove. Old Time Fiddler's & Bluegrass ... 1975. Vol. 6, Galaxie, LP (1975), cut# 14; Rutland, Georgia Slim (Robert Hughes). Raw Fiddle, Kanawha 325, LP (1976), cut# 4; Schnaufer, David. Delcimore, Collecting Dust CD 0699001, CD (1999), cut#11a (Blackberry Winter); Simmons, Woody (West Va.). Old-Time Banjo Anthology, Vol. 1, Marimac AHS 4, Cas (1991), cut# 19; Smith, Fiddlin' Arthur; & his Dixieliners. Fiddlin' Arthur Smith and His Dixieliners, Vol 2., County 547, LP (1978), cut# 12; Smith, Glen (Virginia). Say Old Man, Marimac AHS 3, Cas (1990), cut# 18; Smith, Glen; & the Mountain State Pickers. Glen Smith and the Mountain State Pickers, Kanawha 322, LP (197?), cut#B.03; Smith, Glen; & the Mountain State Pickers. Fiddler, Bluetick BTR 101, LP (197?), cut#B.01; Sumner, Marion. Fiddle Fantastic, Old Homestead OHCS-90174, LP (1986), cut#B.01 (Black Berry Blossom) ; Swamp Root String Band. Union Grove 50. Old Time Fiddlers Convention, Union Grove SS-9, LP (1974), cut#B.07; Thomas, Buddy. Visits, Heritage (Galax) 033, LP (1981), cut# 18; Van Arsdale, Paul. Dulcimer Heritage: Traditional Hammered Dulcimer Music from N..., Folk Legacy FSA-087, LP (1983), cut# 2b; Wanzer, Loyd. Famous Country Fiddling, American Heritage AH-401-19C, LP (197?), cut#B.03; Watson, Doc. Essential Doc Watson, Vanguard VCD 45/46, CD (1986), cut#19. Lawson, Sherman. Close to Home, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40097, CD (1997), cut#29;Leftwich, Brad; and Linda Higginbotham. Tribute to the Appalachian String Band Music Festival, Chubby Dragon CS 1001, Cas (199?), cut#A.03
IRISH VERSION (Related to Miss McCleod's/McCloud's Reel ) Bergin, Mary. Feadoga Stain. Traditional Irish Music on the Tinwhistle, Shanachie 79006, LP (1979), cut#B.01a (Blath na Smeire Duibhe); Morrison, James. Pure Genius of James Morrison, Shanachie 33004, LP (1978), cut#B.07b
SOURCES: Bob Walters (Lincoln, Nebraska) [Christeson]; Charlie Higgins (Krassen says his version is loosely based on Higgin's playing); Benny Thomasson (Texas) [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1973; pg. 47. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; No. 142, pg. 101. Frets Magazine, February 1988, "Byron Berline: The Fiddle;" pg. 56. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 60. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; pg. 14. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 7. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pgs. 26 & 27 (two versions). Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1977; pg. 32. Dulcimer Player News, Dulcimer Player News DPN, Ser (1973-), 23/3, p23; Peters, David. Mandolin Magazine, Mandolin Magazine MM, Ser (1999-), 1/4, p14; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;
NOTES: (Verse in G- Chorus in Em) I play:
Verse in key G major: GD/CD/CG/AD/GD/CG/CG/DG//
Chorus in Em: Em/EmB7/Em/B7/Em/EmB7/CG/DG
My version and melody is similar to the Arthur Smith's version and the lyrics are based on this melody.
Garfield's Blackberry Blossom from CC Morrison, who learned it on harmonica from James Garfield's whistling, and to his son, fiddler Ed Morrison is in the dorian mode (Gm) and a different version. Garfield's Blackberry Blossom was popularized largely by blind fiddler Ed Haley, whose version reportedly was learned by Dick Burnett (although it is different) and later by fiddler Snake Chapman.
According to Kuntz: G Major ('A' part) & E Minor ('B' part). Standard. ABB (Christeson): ABB' (Berline): AABB (Brody, Krassen, Lowinger, Phillips)." "The tune is well-known as a traditional Kentucky dance tune. Charles Wolfe and Barry Poss note that Kentucky fiddlers have played a tune by that name since before the Civil War and that Kentucky fiddler Dick Burnett recorded a version in 1930 which has been the model for many traditional southern Kentucky/northern Tennessee versions. This version however is not Arthur Smith's "Blackberry Blossom," which is different and may have been an original of his. Smith recorded his version with the Arthur Smith Trio in 1929. "A family story tells of Arthur's playing the tune over WSM and the station conducting a contest to name the tune; bushels of mail came in, and a woman in Arkansas won with the name 'Blackberry Blossom'" (Charles Wolfe & Barry Poss)./ Ky. fiddler Dick Burnett said he learned his version "from a blind fiddler in (Ashland,) Johnson County, (eastern) Ky., named Ed Hayley" (elsewhere Burnett said he actually learned the tune from northeastern fiddler Bob Johnson, who had it from Hayley {1883-1951}, who was a legendary fiddler in east Kentucky). The tune was in fact Haley's signature tune, though he never commercially recorded it (Mark Wilson & Guthrie Meade, 1976). Another story about the origin of the title comes from Jean Thomas's "Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky." It seems that a General Garfield named the tune during the Civil War after hearing a soldier playing it on the harmonica. He remarked to the musician that it was his favorite tune but said he couldn't remember the title, whereupon he expectorated a stream of tobacco juice onto a white blackberry bush blossom; this was noticed and the tune named. As improbable as that story sounds, the tradition of General Garfield's liking for the tune was corroborated by Ed Morrison on his Library of Congress recording (an influential version); he says Garfield used to whistle the tune frequently." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
Blackberry Blossom- Lyrics by Richard L. Matteson Jr. C 2009. Demo of the song by Richard L. Matteson with vocal by his niece Kara in Dec. 2009: Blackberry Blossom MP3
Bluegrass Messengers version on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS4RxlcpJQ4
[A Part]
Blackberry blossom floatin' on the breeze
Skippin' through a meadow lined with White oak trees.
Blackberry blossom tumbles to the ground
Lands in a bubblin' brook doesn't make a sound.
Blackberry blossom pickin' out a tune,
we only get to see you, in the month of June.
Of all the many berries, I think it's plain to see.
Blackberry blossom is the one for me.
[B Part]
Lookout now, see that bear a rumblin'
Headed on down, to the berry patch.
There he is, you can see him stumblin'
Blackberry blossom, the perfect catch. (Repeat)
[A Part]
Blackberry blossom grows on a vine,
You can pick the berry, make a little wine.
You can pick the song, 'cause it's not very long,
Turn around twice and it'll be gone.
Blackberry blossom, gettin' near the end,
It's be fun pickin', you my friend
Of all the many berries, I think it's plain to see.
Blackberry blossom is the one for me.
[B Part] 2X
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