Annotation:Rubber Dolly (1)

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X:1 % T:Rubber Dolly (1) M:4/4 L:1/8 R:Reel N:Drone 'a' and 'e' strings liberally K:A c/c/ c/B/A||c2 c2-cc/c/ c/B/A|F2 F2-Fc/c/ c/B/A/|E2 (E2 E)c/c/ c/B/A|[c2e2]B2- Bc/c/ c/B/A:|...

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RUBBER DOLLY (BREAKDOWN) [1]. AKA - "Rubber Dolly Rag." AKA and see "Back Up and Push (1)." Bluegrass, Old-Time; Breakdown. USA; Texas, Arkansas, North Carlolina, Virginia, New York State. C Major (Phillips): A Major (Bronner). Standard or AEae tuning (fiddle). AA (Bronner): AA'BB' (Phillips). The popular melody variously called "Rubber Dolly" or "Back Up and Push" by old=time and bluegrass musicians was the product of composer Jens Bodwalt Lampe [1] (1869–1929), a Danish-born violinist, composer, arranger, performer and band-leader of ragtime and syncopated dance music. He was a child prodigy, and by the age of sixteen had secured a position as first chair violinist for the Minneapolis Symphony. Lampe married and moved to Buffalo, N.Y., in the 1890's where he led a dance band. and continued to compose and publish. His most famous composition is a piece called "Creole Belles," published in 1900, a year after the success of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag". It is a rag or cakewalk (the sheet music says it is a "Ragtime march" or "March-two-step") that became the second major hit of ragtime that sold more than a million copies in sheet music, and was recorded by John Philip Sousa's band in 1902 and again four subsequent times in the decade 1902-1912). "Creole Belles" became a staple of brass and jazz bands and ragtime pianists, in part because the piece was versatile and could be employed as a march, two-step, and ragtime cakewalk.

"Creole Belles", particularly the lyrical second strain, was quickly absorbed into the repertoire of amateur musicians, including rural fiddlers in the first two decades of the 20th century. It came into the repertoire of a number of string bands in the early 78 RPM recording era, and was recorded often, including versions under various titles by The Skillet Lickers, Uncle Bud Landress with the Georgia Yellow Hammers, Perry Bechtel and His Boys, and others. It was recorded twice in 1929 (a few days apart) under the title "Back Up and Push," in Richmond, Indiana, by the Augusta Trio, and in Atlanta by the Georgia Organ Grinders.

This tune represents one of the most amazing of the many cultural cross-pollinations in our American musical history. After Western Swing bands and Texas Style fiddlers adopted and popularized the tune with its characteristic swing and ragtime rhythms, the great African American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald recorded it using the white string-band lyrics. Fitzgerald’s “Wubba Dolly” was recorded in 1939. Famed African American blues guitarist and singer Mississippi John Hurt, who often collaborated with Anglo American fiddler Willie Narmour in the early 1920s, brought the original title of this tune to the forefront again by adapting the lyrics of “My Creole Belle” to the new tune and rhythm. Hurt was known for playing square dance and ragtime music during the same period that he was recording early blues music for Okey Records. His interest in different styles of American music resulted in this tune being introduced to a much wider audience. The lyrics of “My Creole Belle” are often sung to the tune of “Rubber Dolly Rag.”

And the cross-pollination doesn’t end there! Whereas the original “Rubber Dolly” lyrics probably derive from Anglo American children’s games of the late 1800s, they made their way into a Top-10 record in 1965. In that year, African American soul singer Shirley Ellis recorded the Rubber Dolly lyrics used by the Light Crust Dough Boys and other Appalachian string bands as “The Clapping Song.” Folk music pioneer Woody Guthrie, as well as many others, recorded the Creole Belle version also adding to the popularity of the tune among the newer generations.

The appearance of alternate versions of lyrics in American songs, especially originating from different racial groups, is a long-standing American music tradition. However, in this case, having both versions of the lyrics covered by both black and white singers for over a century is particularly interesting. From its very beginning, fiddlers continued to play this tune from coast to coast and generation to generation, establishing it as one of the truly classic examples of the American Music System.

From Book III of the O'Connor Method. www.oconnormethod.com

The title appears in a list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. According to Bronner (1987), "Rubber Dolly" was first collected as a Anglo-American children's game with the following words or variants (which may have come from a music-hall song of the 1890's):

My Mommy told me, she's going to buy a rubber dolly,
If I was good, So don't you till her I kissed a feller/soldier
Or she won't buy me a rubber dolly.

Bronner also says the tune has a similarity to an older British Isles melody called "Lord Alexander's Reel/Hornpipe," though he must have consulted other versions of the melody for his sources' version is somewhat obscure. It has been a favorite Texas or western swing piece in the 1930's and 40's, and has also been collected in the northeast. It is one of a handful of American old-time tunes in the Northern Cree fiddling tradition.