Annotation:Jimmy Sutton

Tune properties and standard notation

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JIMMY SUTTON. AKA - "Old Buck Ram," "Old Jimmy Sutton." Old-Time, Breakdown. A Mixolydian. AEae tuning (fiddle). AB. In the repertoire of Ozark fiddler Vester Jones, but the song also has currency with Blue Ridge regional musicians such as Fred Cockerham. As "Old Jimmy Sutton" the song/tune was in the repertoire of Grayson & Whitter who recorded it in the early 20th century (played in the key of G). These verses have been collected (sometimes a bleat or 'Baaa' is voiced at the end of the line):

Get out a rock as big as a button
Kill Jimmy Sutton as dead as mutton.

I like Sal and she likes chicken.
I'll keep Sal, all the time pickin'.

Sheep met a billy-goat going to pasture.
Sheep said "Goat, can't you go a little faster?"

Sheep fell down and skinned his chin
And, great God almighty, how the billy-goat grinned.

I like Sal and she likes mutton
And I hate to lose to old Jimmy Sutton.

If you can't dance that, you can't dance nothin'
And I wouldn't give a chaw to the old Jimmie Sutton (sometimes used as a chorus)

Bill took the gun, Bill went a huntin
BAM! went the gun and down fell a mutton.

Some of the verses are floating. Stacy Phillips points out that the lines-

Sheep met a billy-goat going to pasture.
Sheep said "Goat, can't you go a little faster?

were sung by Tommy Duncan on Texas fiddler Bob Wills' version of "Sally Goodin'," and were followed by

Sheep fell down, goat rolled over,
Goat got up with a mouth full of clover.

Source for notated version: Judy Hyman (Ithica, N.Y.) [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; p. 125.

Recorded sources: Folkways FS-3811, Vester Jones. Vester Ward - "Traditional Music From Grayson & Carrol Counties."

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear the tune played by Thorton and Emily Spencer (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) at the Digital Library of Appalachia [2]

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Tune properties and standard notation