Annotation:Four Cent Cotton (1)

Tune properties and standard notation

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FOUR CENT COTTON. Old-Time, Song and Breakdown. USA; Georgia, Alabama. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABB (Brody): AABB (Phillips). Norm Cohen finds the tune reminiscent of "Sally Goodin'" and suggests the title may have to do with some kind of unspecified alcoholic beverage. The slang reference seems obscure, but could refer to moonshine or cheap spirits. The melody was one of those cited in the Fayette Northwest Alabamian of August 29th, 1929, as likely to be played at an upcoming fiddlers' convention. It was recorded twice (1928, 1932) by the north Georgia Band the Skillet Lickers [1], which included fiddler Lowe Stokes, and was also re-recorded in 1930 by Stokes with his band The Swamp Rooters (which also included Bert Layne on fiddle and Arthur Tanner on banjo among others). Words set to the tune go:

Goin' up the road, whoopin' and a-hollerin',
I got drunk on four cent cotton;
Woke up this morning, feeling kind of rotten,
I'd been drunk on four cent cotton.

Sources for notated versions: The Skillet Lickers (north Ga.) [Brody, Kaufman]; Lowe Stokes (Ga.) [Milliner & Koken, Phillips].

Printed sources: Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 112. Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; p. 67. Milliner & Koken (Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), 2011; p. 218. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; p. 92.

Recorded sources: Columbia 15746 D (78 RPM), The Skillet Lickers (1932). County 506, The Skillet Lickers- "Old Time Tunes." County 514, Lowe Stokes' Georgia Potlickers- "Hell Broke Loose in Georgia" (orig. rec. 1930). Document 8045, "Lowe Stokes, vol. 1: 1927-1930" (1999 reissue).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear Lowe Stokes' recording at Juneberry 78's [3]

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Tune properties and standard notation