Annotation:Old Hen Cackled (1) (The)

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OLD HEN CACKLE(D) [1], THE. AKA and see "Barnyard Serenade," "Cacklin' Hen (1)," "Christmas Calico," "Cluck Old Hen (1)," "Hen Cackle(d)," "Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri. G Major (Gilmore/Christeson): A Major (Salyer/Titon). Standard or AEae (John Carson, John Salyer) tuning (fiddle). AABBCCDD. A popular and widespread reel among both black and white mid-South string bands, writes Charles Wolfe (1991), although it is "conspicuously absent from most standard collections of black folk songs." As evidence of the tune in black tradition, it was in the repertoire of African-American fiddler Cuje Bertram (of the Cumberland Plateau region, Kentucky), recorded by him on a 1970 home recording he made for his family. It also was recorded by African-American fiddlers Howard Armstrong and the string-band team of Joe Evans and Arthur McClain.

The tune was widely known in the South and Mid-West, with several regional and personal variants. It was one of the first country music recordings ever made, in 1923, by north Georgia musician and entertainer Fiddlin' John Carson (1868-1949), who called it "Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow." Later in the same era Chattanooga fiddler Jess Young added a part in the key of C in his recording. The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's. "Old Hen Cackle" is one of '100 essential Missouri tunes' listed by Missouri fiddler Charlie Walden. It was popular in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky, notes Jeff Titon (2001) in a number of related tune and title variants, such as "Cacklin' Hen," "Hen Cackle," "Cluck Old Hen," etc. Kentucky fiddler Bill Hatton called it "Christmas Calico." Apart from numerous recordings in the 78 RPM era, evidence for its popularity comes from contemporary newspapers. It is listed in the Northwest Alabamian (Fayette) of August 19, 1929, as one of the tunes likely to be played at an upcoming fiddlers' convention. The Chilton County News (Alabama) of June 1, 1922, predicted it would be one of the tunes that would "vie with the latest jazz nerve wreckers for first place" at a Chilton County fiddlers' convention. That a fiddler's rendition "Old Hen Cackles" was often a benchmark of his skill is illustrated by John Carson's recorded exchange (on Okeh 45448) with a fiddler named 'Bully' Brewer:

Bully: ... I'm the best fiddler that ever wobbled a bow.

John: ... I don't give a durn, I'm the best fiddler that ever jerked the hairs of a horse's tail across the belly of a cat.

Bully: ... Well, I'll play Old Hen Cackle

John: ... Turn your dog loose.

(Bully plays)

Bully: ... Well, what're you going to play, John?

John: ... I'm going to play the fiddle...that's a durn sight more than you've done.

One set of lyrics, collected by African-American collector Thomas Talley, go:

De ole hen she cackled,
An' stayed down in de bo'n.
She git fat an' sassy,
A-eatin' up de co'n.

De ole hen she cackled,
Git great long yaller laigs,
She swaller down de oats,
But I don't git no aigs.

De ole hen she cackled,
She cackled in de lot,
De nex' time she cackled,
She cackled in de pot.

Not unlike the ones Fiddlin' John Carson sang:

Old hen cackled everybody knows,
The old hen cackled and the rooster's going to crow.
Old hen cackled, cackled mighty loud,
Ain't laid an egg, walked mighty proud.
Old hen cackled, cackled in the lot,
Last time she cackled, cackled in the pot.

[It was not always easy to decipher Carson's words. Irene Spain, charged with transcribing the record for sheet music sales, said: Poor John couldn't make a record unless he was a little more than half drunk and he always had to have a 'jaw-breaker'-a candy ball about half as bit as a golf ball-in his mouth and he would roll that around while singing. His words were so muddled up at times that we had to almost guess at what he was saying to get them on paper.]

Sources for notated versions: Tony Gilmore (Jefferson City, Missouri) [Christeson]; John M. Salyer (Salyersville, Magoffin County, Ky., 1941) [Titon].

Printed sources: R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; p. 105. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 116, p. 144.

Recorded sources: Arhoolie LP1095, Howard Armstrong (1985). County CD2712, Art Stamper (Ky.) - "The Lost Fiddler" (c. 1982). Gennett 3021-A and SVT 4011 (78 RPM's), Jess Young Band (Chattanooga, Tenn.), 1924 {recorded as "Old Hen Cackled"}. Okeh 45448 (78 RPM), Fiddlin' John Carson. Oriole 8095 & Perfect 12751 (78 RPM), Joe Evans & Arthur McClain (1931). Rounder Records 1003, Fiddlin' John Carson (north Ga.) - "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow." In the repertoire of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1848-1931) {Texas, Tenn.}, Uncle Bunt Stevens (Tenn.), Kentucky African-American fiddler Cuje Bertram, and G.B. Grayson (from eastern Tennessee who recorded it under the title "Barnyard Serenade").

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