Annotation:Calico (1): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:18, 31 March 2012

CALICO. AKA and see "Want to go to Meeting and Got No Shoes." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Mississippi, south-central Kentucky. A Mixolydian ('A' part) & A Major ('B' part). The 'Calico' fiddle tuning, or AEac#, was so-called because it is employed in this piece. ABB. Calico is an all-cotton fabric woven in plain, or tabby, weave and printed with simple designs in one or more colors. Calico originated in Calicut, India, by the 11th century, if not earlier, and in the 17th and 18th centuries calicoes were an important commodity traded between India and Europe.

A tune by this name was learned by south-central Kentucky fiddler Jim Bowles (1903-1993) from local musicians, although his cross-tuned version was supposedly not widely known outside his area. Jim Nelson maintains that Bowles learned the tune from Thomas Page (Titon, 2001). Titon says the melody is similar to Marcus Martin's "Citaco." The tune was recorded by Herbert Halpert for the Library of Congress from the playing of Lauderville County, Mississippi, fiddler Stephen B. Tucker in 1939. A rhyme sung to the tune goes:

Don't care where in the world I go,
Can't get around for the calico.

Source for notated version: Jim Bowles (Rock Bridge, Monroe County, Kentucky, 1959) [Titon].

Printed sources: Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 21, p. 56.

Recorded sources: Marimac 9060, Jim Bowles - "Railroading Through the Rocky Mountains" (1994).

Tune properties and standard notation