Annotation:Wake Up Susan (1)

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WAKE UP SUSAN [1]. AKA "Wake Susan." AKA and see "Belcher's Reel," "Breakdown (The)," "Hell on the Potomac (1)" (Pa.), "Hell on the Wabash (1)," "Hell on the Rappahanock" (Pa.), "Hop Up Susan," "Up Jumped Susie." Old Time, Breakdown. USA; Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri, Texas, northern N.Y. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Bayard, Silberberg): AABB (Christeson, White): AABBCC (Brody): AABBAAB'B" (Phillips). "Wake Up Susan" is a popular and widely dissmeninated dance tune through much of the East and Midwest. R.P. Christeson (1973) states that "Wake Up Susan" is in most of the older American collections in two-part settings, and Tommy Thompson (1974) states it is a "fairly common American fiddle tune." Samuel Bayard (1981) thinks "Wake Up Susan" to be of American black face minstrel origin using strains from the British Isles, but he is unable to find it in any old country sources. This is curious and perhaps a rare lapse for Bayard, for Alan Jabbour (1971) has associated this family of tunes (there are several related airs in American fiddle tradition) with the very popular Irish reel "Mason's Apron," while Hans Nathan thinks the Irish reel "Night We Made the Match (The)" has contributed melodic material to the tune family.

In addition to melody appearing under the alternate titles listed above, melodic themes from "Wake Up Susan" appear in other American fiddle tunes. For example, Howe (1864) published "Mountain Dew" (also in the key of A but having four parts), and Christeson says he heard mixtures of the two over the years. Similarly, the first part of "Picnic Romp" in Ira Ford's Traditional Music in America (1940) matches the first part of "Wake Up Susan." Guthrie Meade and Mark Wilson contrast two versions of the tune, calling Tommy Jackson's rendition typical of Southern versions which emphasize the chordal basis of the melody, while Ed Hayley'sversion has modal qualities which characterize West Virginia traditional fiddle music. In fact, the tune has been called an Ed Hayley ‘showpiece’. Some fiddlers play the tune featuring pizzicato notes. Under the title “The Breakdown” it is a favorite in Scottish Country Dancing, according to Nigel Gatherer. See also related tunes "Carton's Reel," "Fiagai an Mhada Rua," "Gallagher's," "Lady Carbury," "Mason's Apron," "Mason's Cap (The)," "Mason Laddie (The)," and "Jack of Diamonds."

Source for notated version: Red Clay Ramblers (North Carolina) [Brody]; Lee Vatty (Callaway County, Missouri) [Christeson]; Bradley Grimshaw (northern N.Y., 1958) [Bayard]; Bud Snow (Putnam County, New York) [Kuntz]; Elmer Barton and Pete Sutherland [Phillips]; Glenn Berry [Silberberg].

Printed sources: Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 353, pp. 349 350. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; p. 283. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; p. 5. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 21. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 4), c. 1880’s; p. 29. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 250. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 45. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 163. White’s Unique Collection, 1896; No. 52, p. 10.

Recorded sources: County 762, Lyman Enloe "Fiddle Tunes I Recall." Folkways FTS 31039, "Red Clay Ramblers with Fiddlin' Al McCanless" (1974. learned from West Virginia fiddler Frank George). June Appal 014, John McCutcheon "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (1977. Learned from Richard Blaustein). Rebel 1552, Buck Ryan "Draggin' the Bow." Rounder 1010, Ed Haley (northeastern Ky.) "Parkersburg Landing" (1976). Rounder CD 0371, Mac Bendord and the Woodshed All-Stars - “Willow” (1996). Rounder 0437, Jess Silvey – “Traditional Fiddle Music of the Ozarks, Vol. 3: Down in the Border Counties.” Rounder Select 82161-0476-2, “The Wind That Shakes the Barley: Hammered Dulcimer Music” (reissues, orig. released 1977).

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