Annotation:Dora Dean
Tune properties and standard notation
DORA DEAN. Old-Time, Country Rag. F Major ('A' part) & D Minor ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). ABB'. This 'raggy' melody was composed by the great African-American entertainer and comedian Bert Williams (1874-1922) and published in 1896 ("Dora Dean: The Hottest Thing You Ever Seen"). Mark Wilson remarks that it was a popular piano piece around the turn of the 20th century. It is, however, a version of "I Don't Love Nobody." Fiddle versions are usually sourced to the playing of regionally influential Eastern Kentucky/W.Va. itinerant fiddler Ed Hayley (1883-1951). There was a vaudeville entertainer named Dora (Babbage) Dean, an African-American woman who possessed great style, poise and personality. Along with her partner, Charles Johnson, she is credited with helping to popularize the Cakewalk dance.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources:
Recorded sources: Tom, Brad & Alice.