Annotation:Sugar Tree Stomp

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SUGAR TREE STOMP. American, Reel (cut time). USA, Tenn. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'B. Named for the tiny community of Sugar Tree, Tenn., southwest of Dickson City, Dickson County, "Sugar Tree Stomp" was composed by Arthur Smith and recorded by the Arthur Smith Trio in 1936. Bluegrass fiddler Kenny Baker says (on notes to County 736): "Sugar Tree Stomp, that's from Arthur Smith. Now I'll tell you what, you know, Arthur was one of the world's greatest fiddlers, in my mind, but I didn't play it like Arthur played it. I heard a little different way of going about playing it, not that I thought I could rearrange it and make the tune better; it's just what I heard and I wanted to record it that way.”

A 'stomp' was a general term for an up-tempo dance tune with a prominent (usually duple) beat, and did not denote anything in particular. There are a number of tunes with the name 'stomp' in them, but the evocative term is rather vaguely applied.

Northeastern Kentucky fiddler Joe Stamper (1887-1981), past his fiddling prime when recorded in the field by Barbara Kunkle, played a one-strain fragment that he called "Sugar Tree Stomp," but it bears no musical relation to Arthur Smith's tune:

X:1
T:Sugar Tree Stomp
N:From the playing of Joe Stamper (1887-1981, Lewis County, 
N:northeastern Ky.), recorded  by Barbara Kunkle. Stamper was 
N:one of the older fiddlers in the region who was an influence on Buddy Thomas. 
L:1/8
R:Reel
D:https://soundarchives.berea.edu/items/show/666
Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz 
K:D
[DD][DD]|[D2D2][DD][DD]F2A2|ffdd d2 dc|B2[GB]G [GB]G[GB]G|[G3B3][GB][G2B2][A2A2]-|
[A2A2]AA c2e2|f2e2 cAcc|BAAc BAFE|D3D D2:|

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Kenny Baker [Phillips].

Printed sources : - Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2), 1995; p. 138.

Recorded sources: -Bluebird B-6927, Arthur Smith Trio (1937). County 547, "Fiddlin Arthur Smith and His Dixieliners" (1978). County 773, John Ashby (1915-1979, northern Virginia) and the Free State Ramblers - “Fiddling by the Hearth.” County 2705, Kenny Baker - "Master Fiddler." Field Recorders Collective FRC 404, “Cecil Plum” (2005). Field Recorders Collective FRC 502, “Marcus Martin” (2004. Martin learned the tune from Arthur Smith's recording). OMS Records, Kenny Baker – “Spider Bit the Baby” (2002).

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