|
Say Old Man, Can You Play The Fiddle?
Traditional Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; Texas, North Carolina.
ARTIST: from Kuntz
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: Early 1900’s; First recorded as Crippled Turkey by Bob Wills in 1936 (Meade)
OTHER NAMES: "Say Old Man" "Oh, Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle?" "Crippled Turkey" "Ladies Fancy"
RELATED TO: Snowbird in the Ash Bank; Glory in the Meeting House; Old Blue Sow
RECORDING INFO: Say Old Man(,Can You Play the/a Fiddle) [Me IV-A25]
Brody, David (ed.) / Guitar Picker's Fakebook, Oak, Sof (1984), p130
Best, Carroll; Band with Tommy Hunter. Carroll Best Band with Tommy Hunter, Ivy Creek ICR 250, Cas (1993), trk# 6
Best, Carroll. Masters of the Banjo, Arhoolie CD 421, CD (1994), trk# 18 [1993/11/14]
Bulla Family. Bullas, Live, Family Vision Ministries, Cas (1993), trk# A.01
Carwile, Daniel & John. Family Old Time Fiddling, Dande SLP 1002, Cas (198?), trk# 11
Deseret String Band. Land of Milk and Honey, Okehdokee 74002, LP (1974), trk# 9b
Dornfield, Bernstein, and Murphy. Ways of the World, Foxglove FG 9801, CD (1998), trk# 9
Durham, Mel. Silberberg, Gene (ed.) / Complete Fiddle Tunes I Either Did or Did Not., Silberberg, Fol (2005), p174
Forrester, Howdy. Fancy Fiddlin' Country Style, MGM E-4035, LP (197?), trk# B.03
Goforth, Gene. Emminence Breakdown, Rounder 0388, CD (1997), trk# 16
Henry, the Fiddler. Henry the Fiddler & Friends; The First Album, Fiddlededoo HTF 7701, LP (1977), trk# B.04
Howling Gael. Second Wind, Grassroots GR 008, LP (1979), trk# A.05c
Hunter, Tommy. Deep in Tradition, June Appal JA 007, LP (1976), trk# 18
Hunter, Tommy. Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle, Ivy Creek ICR 201, Cas (1992), trk# 13
Jackson, Carl. Carl Jackson / Banjo Player, Capitol ST-11166, LP (1973), trk# B.04
Jacoby, J'Anna. J'Anna Blossoms, Paradise Arts, LP (1978), trk# B.06
Johnson, Herman. Herman Johnson - National Champion, Gillian, LP (1978), trk# B.05
Leftwich, Brad. Say Old Man, County CD 2714, CD (1996), trk# 3
Lowe, Aaron. National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest & Folk Music Festival. 1971, NOTFC, CD (1971), trk# 21
Ludiker, Tony. Washington Traditional Fiddlers Project. Vol. 2. "Generations", NW Folklife, Cas (1996), trk# A.15
O'Connor, Mark. National Junior Fiddle Champion, Rounder 0046, LP (1975), trk# 12
O'Connor, Mark. Tenino Old Time Music Festival. 1973-74, Voyager VRLP 313-S, LP (1974), trk# 10
Pollard, Randy. I'm Just a Country Boy, JRS LSP 2240, LP (1982), trk# A.04
Robertson, Eck. Eck Robertson, County 202, LP (1989), trk# 13 [1963/06-09]
Robertson, Eck. Fiddler Magazine, Fiddler Mag., Ser, 4/3, p34(1997)
Rutland, Georgia Slim (Robert Hughes). Raw Fiddle, Kanawha 325, LP (1976), trk# 10
Smith, Glen (West Va). Say Old Man, Marimac AHS 3, Cas (1990), trk# B.01
Smith, Glen; & the Mountain State Pickers. Glen Smith and the Mountain State Pickers, Kanawha 322, LP (197?), trk# B.01
Ungar, Jay; and Lynn Hardy. Songs, Ballads and Fiddle Tunes, Philo 1023, LP (1975), trk# 15
Ungar, Jay. Brody, David (ed.) / Fiddler's Fakebook, Oak, Sof (1983), p251
Williams, Red. Christeson, R. P. (ed.) / Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol 1, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1973), #111 [1950s] (Oh, Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle)
Howard Forrester [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 123. Black Rose Productions, The Mando Mafia – “Get Up in the Cool.” County 202, "Eck Robertson (Tx): Famous Cowboy Fiddler." June Appal 007, Tommy Hunter ‑ "Deep in Tradition" (1976. Learned from his grandfather, fiddler James W. Hunter, Madison County, N.C.). Marimac AHS #3, Glen Smith – “Say Old Man” (1990. Learned from Howdy Forrester). Philo 1023, Jay Ungar & Lyn Hardy ‑ "Songs, Ballads & Fiddle Tunes" (1975. Learned from a tape of Eck Robertson). Rounder CD-0388, Gene Goforth – “Emminence Breakdown” (1997). Voyager CD 345, Benny Thomasson – “Say Old Man, Can You Play the Fiddle?”
SOURCES: Howard Forrester [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 123. Black Rose Productions, The Mando Mafia – “Get Up in the Cool.” County 202, "Eck Robertson (Tx): Famous Cowboy Fiddler." June Appal 007, Tommy Hunter ‑ "Deep in Tradition" (1976. Learned from his grandfather, fiddler James W. Hunter, Madison County, N.C.). Marimac AHS #3, Glen Smith – “Say Old Man” (1990. Learned from Howdy Forrester). Philo 1023, Jay Ungar & Lyn Hardy ‑ "Songs, Ballads & Fiddle Tunes" (1975. Learned from a tape of Eck Robertson). Rounder CD-0388, Gene Goforth – “Emminence Breakdown” (1997). Voyager CD 345, Benny Thomasson – “Say Old Man, Can You Play the Fiddle?” (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
NOTES: "G SAY OLD MAN CAN YOU PLAY THE FIDDLE? [1] See "Oh, Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle?" "Ladies Fancy [1]." E Minor ('A', 'B', 'E' and 'F' parts) & E Major ('C' and 'D' parts). Standard or EDae tunings. AABBCCDDEEFF. Often played in the very rare EDae tuning (may be the only tune traditionally in that tuning). Known as a Texas tune. Joe Burke tells the story that Slim Rutland went looking for interesting musicians in the Dallas area and was pointed to Luke Thomasson, Benny Thomasson’s father. He passes on that Gary Lee Moore remembers that “Say Old Man, Can You Play the Fiddle” is the phrase Rutland introduced himself to Thomasson with, and the two spent the weekend working out the tune. Benny Thomasson referred to the tune as “Lady’s Fancy.” There are other versions of the story around. Another (from Mark O'Connor via Stacy Phillips) version has Slim knocking on Benny Thomasson’s door and saying, "I heard you're the greatest fiddler in the world. Will you play for me?" According to the latter version, Benny taught him a lot of tunes, including “Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle” and credited Rutland with being "a great fiddler.” An interesting version from the playing of West Texan Peter Tumlinson Bell, made by Bill Owens in 1941 is in the Owens archive at Texas A&M. Bell’s ancestor and namesake, Peter Tumlinson, was the first captain of the Texas Rangers. Paul Wells notes a relationship between the ‘A’ part of “Say Old Man” and one of the strains of Kentucky fiddler Luther Strong’s version of “Glory at/in the Meetinghouse” (recorded for the Library of Congress in 1937). Sometimes the following is sung as a verse:
***
Say old man can you play the fiddle?
I don't know, I might play a little. (Gene Goforth)
Say old man can you play the fiddle?
Yes by God, I can play a little.
These are two lines from the basic dialogue in the Arkansas Traveler and possibly come from that famous dialogue from the mid-1800s.
***
SAY OLD MAN, CAN YOU PLAY THE FIDDLE? [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. E Major/Mixolydian. Standard tuning. ABC (Siberberg): ABB'CC'DD (Phillips). Sources for notated versions: Joey McKenzie [Phillips]; Mel Durham [Silberberg]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 124. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; pg. 141.
|