Annotation:Greasy String (1)
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GREASY STRING [1]. AKA and see "Bring Back My Old Coon Dog." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia. A Major: G Major. AEae or Standard tunings (fiddle). AABBCC (Kuntz): AAAABB (Phillips). The title "Greasy String" probably refers to a slippery fiddle string. Tommy Jarrell sang a verse with "mash down harder on that greasy string." The high part of the tune is related to "Shoot that Turkey Buzzard," while the low part closely resembles "Cripple Creek." The tune was frequently found in the 1970's among older fiddlers in Ashe, Alleghany, Patrick (see Patrcik County natives Taylor and Stella Kimble's privately released record "How Sweet the Sound") and Grayson counties in Virginia. Mt. Airy, North Carolina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell learned the tune from his Uncle Charlie Jarrell, though he was the only one Tommy remembers playing it (Tommy's version is very similar to Taylor Kimble's). There is some degree of variation in the melody: some see two related, but distinct tune lines.
Source for notated version: Lotus Dickey (Indiana) [Phillips].
Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 103. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 90.
Recorded sources: Rounder XCD 1504/05, Burl Hammons - "The Hammons Family" (1998. Originally recorded in 1972). Victor (78 RPM), the West Virginia Coon Hunters (1927).
See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Burl Hammons recording at Slippery Hill [2]