Annotation:Belcher's Reel

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BELCHER'S REEL. AKA and see "Wake Up Susan (1)." Old-Time, Reel. USA, Catskill Region, New York. A Major. AEae tuning (fiddle). AB. Alva Belcher (1819-1900) was a black fiddler and storekeeper from Delhi, New York, who had a regional reputation in the nineteenth century. The tune named for him (it is actually an unusual setting of "Mason's Apron"), and presumably written by him, was a common dance tune in the Greene County, N.Y. area in the early 20th century. Bronner (1987) says: "At a time when local musicians rarely gained wide renown, Belcher was a name called for in villages from the Catskills well into central New York. Belcher formed a string band that included white players, and his style incorporated the Anglo-Celtic influence on the area. Indeed...Belcher's tunes and phrasings passed into the oral tradition beyond the county's borders" (p. 16).

Source for notated version: Wordell Martin (Greene County, New York, 1948) [Bronner].

Printed sources: Bronner (Old-Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 2, p. 17.

Recorded sources:

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