Annotation:Cattle in the Cane (1): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:38, 23 November 2010

CATTLE IN THE CANE [1]. AKA- "Cattle in the Corn." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA, Texas. A Mixolydian ('A' part) & A Aeolian ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Brody): AA'BB (Phillips). The melody was recorded by Texas fiddler Captain Moses "M.J." Bonner [1] (1847-1939) in the 1920's as "Yearlings in the Canebreak." At age 17, in 1864, he enlisted in Company E, 12th Texas Cavalry, and served fourteen months as a courier, although it is possible he may have seen action during the Red River campaign. In later life he was active in veteran's affairs and was a fixture at fiddler's contests (he was also renowned as a jig dancer). Bonner is also remembered as the premier old-time musician to play on the very first radio "barn dance" broadcast over station WBAP in Ft. Worth on January. 4, 1923. "Cattle in the Cane [1]" is often played with a pizzicato feature. See also related tunes "Yearlings in the Canebreak" and "Maggie Grey;" and "Old Grey Cat" for a possible Scottish cognate.

Sources for notated versions: Joe Green [Brody]; Sam Bush & Benny Thomasson (Texas) [Phillips].

Printed sources: Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 63. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddler Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; p. 45.

Recorded sources: American Heritage 24, Lonnie Peerce- "Golden Fiddle Tunes." County 722, Joe Green- "Joe Green's Fiddle Album" (appears as "Cattle in the Corn"). Marimac AHS #3, Glen Smith - "Say Old Man" (1990. Learned from Joe Green). Omac-2, Berline, Bush, and O'Conner- "In Concert." Shanachie Records 6040, Gerry Milnes & Lorriane Lee Hammond - "Hell Up Coal Holler" (1999. Learned from Wirt County, West Virginia, fiddler Glen Smith). Takoma D-1064, Norman Blake- "Directions." See also listings at Jane Keefer's Folk Music Sources [2].

Tune properties and standard notation

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-'''CATTLE IN THE CANE [1]'''. AKA- "Cattle in the Corn." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA, Texas. A Mixolydian ('A' part) & A Aeolian ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Brody): AA'BB (Phillips). The melody was recorded by Texan M.J. Bonner in the 1920's. It is often played with a pizzicato feature. See also related tunes "Yearlings in the Canebreak" and "Maggie Grey;" and "Old Grey Cat" for a possible Scottish cognate.
+'''CATTLE IN THE CANE [1]'''. AKA- "Cattle in the Corn." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA, Texas. A Mixolydian ('A' part) & A Aeolian ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Brody): AA'BB (Phillips). The melody was recorded by Texas fiddler Captain Moses "M.J." Bonner [http://traildriver.com/web_content/projects/texas/mj_bonner/mjbonner.html] (1847-1939) in the 1920's as "Yearlings in the Canebreak." At age 17, in 1864, he enlisted in Company E, 12th Texas Cavalry, and served fourteen months as a courier, although it is possible he may have seen action during the Red River campaign. In later life he was active in veteran's affairs and was a fixture at fiddler's contests (he was also renowned as a jig dancer). Bonner is also remembered as the premier old-time musician to play on the very first radio "barn dance" broadcast over station WBAP in Ft. Worth on January. 4, 1923. "Cattle in the Cane [1]" is often played with a pizzicato feature. See also related tunes "Yearlings in the Canebreak" and "Maggie Grey;" and "Old Grey Cat" for a possible Scottish cognate.
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