Annotation:Oh Yes Mammy Look at Sam

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OH YES, MAMMY, LOOK AT SAM. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Mississippi. A Major. AEae tuning (fiddle). The tune, a member of the "Fire on the Mountain (1)"/"Granny will Your Dog Bite? (1)"/Hog Eye Man" tune family, was recorded for the Library of Congress (AFS 02974 A4) in 1939 by Herbert Halpert from the playing of Tishomingo County, Mississippi, fiddler W.E. (Ernest) Claunch (accompanied by and Mrs. Christeen Haygood on guitar). The pair were recorded in Guntown, Mississippi. Clauch told Halpert he had learned the tune from his father, and remarked: "That's when they had them old-time parties, when the boy that found the red ear of corn got to hug and kiss any girl that he wished." Claunch sang this ditty of "floating" lines to the reel:

Oh yes, Mammy, look at Sam,
Eatin' up the biscuits and soppin' out the pan;
Never seen the like since I been born,
Old folks a-shuckin' and a-shellin' corn.

It is similar to lines collected from African-American sources, including this one, from ex-slave laborers:

Oh, Mammy, look at Sam,
Eating all the meat and sopping out the pan.

and the similar Union County, North Carolina, collected song "Holler Jimmy Hiley Ho" (a variant of "Johnny Come Down To Hilo"):

Never seen the like since I been born,
Holler Jimmy Riley Ho,
Sheeps in the meadow, cows in the corn.
Holler Jimmy Riley Ho,

Source for notated version: W.E. Ernest Clauch [Bolick].

Printed sources: Bolick & Austin (Mississippi Fiddle Tunes and Songs from the 1930's), 2015; p. 266.

Recorded sources:

See also listing at:
Hear Claunch's 1939 recording at SlipperyHill.com [1]

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