Annotation:Red Steer

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RED STEER. AKA and see "Brown's Dream (1),” “John Brown's Dream." Old-Time, Breakdown. A Major. GDgd or AEaetuning (fiddle). The "Red Steer" version of the tune is sourced to the playing of fiddler John Dykes, of the Kingsport, Tennessee, area, leader of the Dykes Magic City trio, which also included Myrtie Vermillion on autoharp and Hub Mahaffey on guitar (with vocals sometimes later supplied by Dykes' brother-in-law, Dock Boggs). The trio recorded it in New York in March, 1927, for Brunswick records, although the 78 was not released until January of the following year ("Red Steer" was backed with "Callahan's Reel"). The reel is a member of the “John Brown’s Dream” family of tunes. Richard Blaustein sees similarities in the first strain with Dykes's “Callahan Reel” and a tune called “Boatman”; and in the second strain with “Paddy Won't You Drink Some Good Old Cider.”

Dykes' Magic City Trio

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Old Homestead OHCS 191, "Dykes Magic City Trio" (Eastern Tenn.) {originally recorded on a Vocalion (Brunswick) 78, 1928}. Vocalion 5181 (78 RPM), Dykes Magic City Trio (1928).

See also listing at:
Hear the Dykes' Magic City Trio's 1927 recording on youtube.com [1] and at Slippery Hill [2]

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