'''SHOO FLY.'''American, Reel and Air (cut time). USA; widely known. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Phillips, Silberberg): AA’BB’ (Songer). The original “Shew Fly, Don’t Bother Me” was a “Comic Song and Dance, or Walk Round” (as the sheet music explained) hit for Billy Reeves (words) and Frank Campbell (music) who composed it in 1869. The two were blackface minstrels and claimed the tune, although it has been pointed out that the reference to ‘Company G’ in some song versions suggests Civil War origins. The tune was recorded on 78 RPM for Brunswick Records by Kanawha County, West Virginia, fiddler Clark Kessinger (1896-1975). The title appears in list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954.
'''SHOO FLY.'''American, Reel and Air (cut time). USA; widely known. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Phillips, Silberberg): AA’BB’ (Songer). The original “Shew Fly, Don’t Bother Me” was a “Comic Song and Dance, or Walk Round” (as the sheet music explained) hit for Billy Reeves (words) and Frank Campbell (music) who composed it in 1869. The two were blackface minstrels and claimed the tune, although it has been pointed out that the reference to ‘Company G’ in some song versions suggests Civil War origins. The tune was recorded on 78 RPM for Brunswick Records by Kanawha County, West Virginia, fiddler Clark Kessinger (1896-1975). The title appears in list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954.
X:1
T:Shoo Fly
M:2/4
L:1/8
R:Air
B:Mrs. Joe Person - A Collection of Popular Airs (1889, p. 9)
Z:AK/Fiddlers Companion
K:G
(d/B/|g3) (d/B/|g3) (d/B/|g)(e/d/) BG|[D3A3] (d/A/)|f3 (f/d/)|
a3 (a/g/)|fdef|[B3g3]:||:[GB]G2G/A/|Bd [DA]D/F/|[FA] [D2F2] [D/F/]G/|
[DA][DB] [B,G]G/A/|[GB]G2G/A/|dB [D2A2]|d>d d>c|BA [B,2G2]:|
X:1
T:Shoo Fly
N:From the playing of Clark Kessinger (1896-1975, Saint Albans, W.Va.)
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
Q:"Quick"
D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/shoo-fly
D:Brunswick 554 (78 RPM), The Kessinger Brothers (1930).
Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz
K:D
+slide+"*"d2d2 d3d |d2 d4 (3dcB|AA2F- FG F2|E6 A-B|
cc2c- c3B|"**"c2 e4 cB|A2A2 fd e2|1d6(3ABc:|2 d6||
|:f2-|fgfe d2 ef|g2 (f/g/f) e4|efec A2c2|efge fdeg|
f2d2[d2f2]ef|gefg e2 (3efg|a2 ab afe2|d6 :|
P:Substitutions
"*"[F2d2][F2d2][F3d3]d|[F2d2][F4D4] (B/c/B)||"**"ce3 efec||
SHOO FLY.American, Reel and Air (cut time). USA; widely known. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Phillips, Silberberg): AA’BB’ (Songer). The original “Shew Fly, Don’t Bother Me” was a “Comic Song and Dance, or Walk Round” (as the sheet music explained) hit for Billy Reeves (words) and Frank Campbell (music) who composed it in 1869. The two were blackface minstrels and claimed the tune, although it has been pointed out that the reference to ‘Company G’ in some song versions suggests Civil War origins. The tune was recorded on 78 RPM for Brunswick Records by Kanawha County, West Virginia, fiddler Clark Kessinger (1896-1975). The title appears in list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954.
I went down to Shoe-fly's house, Shoe-fly wasn't home; I ate up all the meat and bread, And fed that dog a bone.
Chorus: Shoe-fly, shoe-fly, don't you bother me, Stay away from here shoe-fly, I'm as drunk as I can be.
Apple-jack, mollasses, And lots of cornbread too; If anyone can handle that, It's more than I can do.
Beware, beware, That's what my mother said; White folk pour mollases, Upon that darkey's head.
or: Little cat pour molasses, Upon that big cat's head.
Additional notes
Sources for notated versions: - Clark Kessinger (West Virginia) [Phillips]; Vivian Willaims (Seattle) [Silberberg].
Printed sources : - Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 220. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 143. Silberberg (93 Fiddle Tunes I Didn’t Learn at the Tractor Tavern), 2004; p. 41. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 184.
Recorded sources: -Biograph RC6003, “The Original Bogtrotters” (1968). Brunswick 554 (78 RPM), The Kessinger Brothers (1930). 5 String Productions 5SP05002, The Hoover Uprights – “Known by their Reputation” (2005. Based on the playing of West Virginia fiddler Clark Kessinger).
See also listing at:
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [ ]
