Annotation:Greasy String (1)

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GREASY STRING [1]. AKA and see "Bring Back My Old Coon Dog." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia. A Major: G Major. AEae or Standard tunings (fiddle). AABBCC (Kuntz): AAAABB (Phillips). The title "Greasy String" probably refers to a slippery fiddle string. Tommy Jarrell sang a verse with "mash down harder on that greasy string." The high part of the tune is related to "Shoot that Turkey Buzzard," while the low part closely resembles "Cripple Creek." The tune was frequently found in the 1970's among older fiddlers in Ashe, Alleghany, Patrick (see Patrcik County natives Taylor and Stella Kimble's privately released record "How Sweet the Sound") and Grayson counties in Virginia. Mt. Airy, North Carolina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell learned the tune from his Uncle Charlie Jarrell, though he was the only one Tommy remembers playing it (Tommy's version is very similar to Taylor Kimble's). Words are sometimes sung to the tune (by Jarrell, among others):

Run little feet, stop and sing,
Mash down harder on the greasy string

Jay bird whistles and the cat bird sings
Mash down harder on the greasy string.

My old lady is mad at me,
'Cause I won't drink ginger tea;
She is good, she is bad,
She gives me the devil when she gets mad.

There is some degree of variation in the melody: some see two related, but distinct tune lines (see "Greasy String (2)").

Source for notated version: Tommy Jarrell via Liz Slade (Yorktown, New York) [Kuntz]; Lotus Dickey (Indiana) [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 103. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 90.

Recorded sources: County 756, Tommy Jarrell - "Sail Away Ladies" (1976). Rounder XCD 1504/05, Burl Hammons - "The Hammons Family" (1998. Originally recorded in 1972). Victor (78 RPM), the West Virginia Coon Hunters (1927).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]

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