Annotation:Where's that Nigger with the White Man's Wife?: Difference between revisions
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|f_tune_annotation_title=https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Nigger_Ran_Off_with_the_White_Man's_Wife > | |f_tune_annotation_title=https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Nigger_Ran_Off_with_the_White_Man's_Wife > | ||
|f_annotation='''NIGGER<ref>Some of items in the Traditional Tune Archive may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials should be seen in the context of the time period and as a reflection of the attitudes of the time. The items are part of the historical record, and do not represent the views of the administrators of this site.</ref> | |f_annotation='''WHERE'S THAT NIGGER WITH THE WHITE MAN'S WIFE<ref>Some of items in the Traditional Tune Archive may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials should be seen in the context of the time period and as a reflection of the attitudes of the time. The items are part of the historical record, and do not represent the views of the administrators of this site.</ref> AKA - "N_____ ran off with the White Man's Wife," "Miscegenation." American, Reel (2/4 time). USA. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The source for the tune (which begins on the subdominant chord, 'C' major) and title was Ethel "Red" Abbott, of Mattoon, Coles County, southern Illinois, born in 1895 in Old Lebanon, Missouri, and brother to another musical informant, Jess Abbott. It was collected in 1979 by musician and regional collector Gary Harrison. "Miscegenation" is an alternate title proposed for the tune, in an attempt to distance its racist origins. Rayna Gellert's solution was to call it "Where's that Preacher with the Rabbi's Wife?" on her "Ways of the World" recording. | ||
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Folklorist Stephen Greene mentions the tune<ref>Stephen Greene, "Title, Test, and Tune Interrelations in American Fiddle Music" </ref> in his analysis of the interrelated titles of American fiddle tunes: | |||
<blockquote> | |||
''The source field recording for the above tune provides only a brief (perhaps fragmentary) rendition, and again,'' | |||
''though we have no lyrics other than the title spoken by Mr. Abbott, there are clear melodic links to other tunes'' | |||
''in our study complex. The fine strain of "Where’s that Nigger with the White Man’s Wife" is nearly identical to the'' | |||
''fine strain of Clyde Davenport's "Cornstalk Fiddle and a Shoestring Bow". The coarse strain of Abbott’s piece appears'' | |||
''to be melodically truncated with only the final four (of an implied eight) measures being played. Even so, those measures'' | |||
''closely match the final four coarse strain measures of Christeson's "Sugar in the Coffee" and Ford’s "Cotton Eyed Joe."'' | |||
</blockquote> | |||
Greene also points out the similarity of Abbott's name for the tune with a trope in old-time music. The phrase "...be my wife" crops up in a number of songs, ditties, and fiddle tunes, as in "I asked that pretty girl to be my wife." These word tropes are binary in nature, so that parts of the phrase are often altered or substituted, or words otherwise substituted, while still scanning to the same musical beat. For example, he points out the musician and field recorder Bruce Greene once heard a Kentucky fiddler he recorded in the 1970's sing: | |||
<blockquote> | |||
''Rich man killed a poor man's wife'' | |||
''Cut her in two with a barlow knife.'' | |||
</blockquote> | |||
Similarly, Estill Bingham, of Bell County, Kentucky, and elderly fiddler recorded by Bob Butler in the 1980s, played a piece he called "Rich Man Stole the Poor Man's Wife." In this context, Abbott's title "Where's that Nigger with the White Man's Wife" is another variant of the metrical trope phrase. | |||
|f_source_for_notated_version= | |f_source_for_notated_version= | ||
|f_printed_sources= | |f_printed_sources= | ||
Revision as of 05:42, 5 July 2021
X:1 T:Where's that N____ with he White Man's Wife? T:Miscegenation M:2/4 L:1/8 Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:G D/(E/G/)A/ (B/A/)B/(B/|A/)(D/G) (G/[GB])(A|B)/A/B/(B/ d/A/)B/(B/| A/)[GB][G/B/] [G/B/][G/A/][G/B/]G/|D/(E/G/)A/ (B/A/)B/(B/|A/)(D/G) (G/[GB])(A| B/)A/B/B/ d/A/B/B/|A/[GB][G/B/] [GB]d||(e/e)(e/ e)(e|e/)(e/g) d>(A| B/)A/B/B/ d/A/B/B/|A/[GB][G/B/] [GB]d|( e/e)(e/ e)(e| e/)(e/g) d>(A|B/)A/B/B/ e/A/B/B/|A/[GB][G/B/] [G/B/]A/[G/B/]G/||
WHERE'S THAT NIGGER WITH THE WHITE MAN'S WIFE[1] AKA - "N_____ ran off with the White Man's Wife," "Miscegenation." American, Reel (2/4 time). USA. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The source for the tune (which begins on the subdominant chord, 'C' major) and title was Ethel "Red" Abbott, of Mattoon, Coles County, southern Illinois, born in 1895 in Old Lebanon, Missouri, and brother to another musical informant, Jess Abbott. It was collected in 1979 by musician and regional collector Gary Harrison. "Miscegenation" is an alternate title proposed for the tune, in an attempt to distance its racist origins. Rayna Gellert's solution was to call it "Where's that Preacher with the Rabbi's Wife?" on her "Ways of the World" recording.
Folklorist Stephen Greene mentions the tune[2] in his analysis of the interrelated titles of American fiddle tunes:
The source field recording for the above tune provides only a brief (perhaps fragmentary) rendition, and again, though we have no lyrics other than the title spoken by Mr. Abbott, there are clear melodic links to other tunes in our study complex. The fine strain of "Where’s that Nigger with the White Man’s Wife" is nearly identical to the fine strain of Clyde Davenport's "Cornstalk Fiddle and a Shoestring Bow". The coarse strain of Abbott’s piece appears to be melodically truncated with only the final four (of an implied eight) measures being played. Even so, those measures closely match the final four coarse strain measures of Christeson's "Sugar in the Coffee" and Ford’s "Cotton Eyed Joe."
Greene also points out the similarity of Abbott's name for the tune with a trope in old-time music. The phrase "...be my wife" crops up in a number of songs, ditties, and fiddle tunes, as in "I asked that pretty girl to be my wife." These word tropes are binary in nature, so that parts of the phrase are often altered or substituted, or words otherwise substituted, while still scanning to the same musical beat. For example, he points out the musician and field recorder Bruce Greene once heard a Kentucky fiddler he recorded in the 1970's sing:
Rich man killed a poor man's wife Cut her in two with a barlow knife.
Similarly, Estill Bingham, of Bell County, Kentucky, and elderly fiddler recorded by Bob Butler in the 1980s, played a piece he called "Rich Man Stole the Poor Man's Wife." In this context, Abbott's title "Where's that Nigger with the White Man's Wife" is another variant of the metrical trope phrase.
- ↑ Some of items in the Traditional Tune Archive may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials should be seen in the context of the time period and as a reflection of the attitudes of the time. The items are part of the historical record, and do not represent the views of the administrators of this site.
- ↑ Stephen Greene, "Title, Test, and Tune Interrelations in American Fiddle Music"