Annotation:Greasy Coat: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:40, 6 September 2011

GREASY COAT. AKA and see "Old Greasy Coat." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, West Virginia. A Dorian. Standard or AEae (Edden Hammons) tunings (fiddle). ABCC. There are several meanings for the term 'greasy coat.' It is an old-time euphemism for a condom, but it has also been suggested the term refers to an unwashed fleece (i.e. still retaining the lanolin), and a Confederate soldiers coat, worn, greasy and dirty from overuse. A verse attached to the tune goes:

Well I don't drink and I don't smoke,
And I don't mess with the greasy coat... ('wear no' is sometimes substituted for 'mess with the')

The tune was recorded from the playing of Webster County, West Virginia, fiddler Edden Hammons (1876-1955) in 1947, collected by Louis Chappell.

Source for notated version: Ruthie Dornfeld [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 102.

Recorded sources: Folkways FTS 31062, "Ship in the Clouds: Old Time Instrumental Music" (1978. Learned from Burl Hammons, Pocahontas County, West Virginia). Rounder 0018, Burl Hammons - "Shaking Down the Acorns" (1973). Sound Archives SA 1, Edden Hammons Collection I (appears as "Old Greasy Coat").

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

Tune properties and standard notation

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 ''And I don't mess with the greasy coat... '' ('wear no' is sometimes substituted for 'mess with the')<br>
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-The tune was recorded from the playing of West Virginia fiddler Edden Hammons in 1947.
+The tune was recorded from the playing of Webster County, West Virginia, fiddler Edden Hammons (1876-1955) in 1947, collected by Louis Chappell.
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