Annotation:Blind Man's Reel (1)

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X:1 T:Reel de l'aveugle T:Blind Man's Reel R:Reel Maisonneuve [2] S:Joseph Allard (1873-1947, Montreal, Que.) M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel D:Victor 263723b (78 RPM), Joseph Allard (1930) D:http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/12854.mp3 Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:D A3G|:(F/G/F) D2 E-DB,D|A,DFA {c}BAFD|CEGB {d}cBAG|FAde fdAG| (F/G/F) D2 E-DB,D|A,DFA {c}BAFD|CEGB {c}BAGE|1DdAF D2AG:|2DdAF dcde|| |:fdAF dAFA|{c}BAGB edcB|Acde fdgf|ecdf fdef| fdAF dAFA|{c}BAGB edcB|Afed cA/A/Bc|1d2 dc dcde:|2d2 dc d2||

BLIND MAN'S REEL [1] (Reel de l'Aveugle). AKA and see "Reel of the Blindmen." French-Canadian, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Welling's version features irregular measure at ends of 'A' and 'B' parts as well as double-tonic tonality. The tune was recorded in 1930 on a 78 RPM disc by Québecois fiddler Joseph Allard [1] on the Victor label, and re-released in 1936 on the Bluebird label (B-4929-B), albeit under the pseudonym 'Maxime Toupin'. It was one of his more popular recordings.

The reel was also recorded by Allard's younger contemporary, fiddler J.O. LaMadeleine [2] (1880-1973) in 1938, for Montreal-based Starr label.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Gretchen Koehler [Phillips]; Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford]; fiddler Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ottawa Valley, Ontario) [Bégin].

Printed sources : - Bégin (Fiddle Music in the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 51, p. 60. Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 133, p. 54. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, Vol. 1), 1994; p. 29. Welling (Welling's Hartford Tunebook), 1976; p. 1.

Recorded sources: -Philo 2001, "Jean Carignan." Starr 16144-A (78 RPM), J.O. LaMadeleine (1938). TRCD 9504/5, Gabriel Labbé - "100 ans de musique traditionnelle québécoise" (reissue recordings). Victor 263723-B (78 RPM), Joseph Allard (1930).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [3]
Hear Joseph Allard's 1930 recording on youtube.com [4], and at the Virtual Gramophone [5]
Hear J.O. LaMadeleine's 1938 recording on youtube.com [6] and at the Virtual Gramophone [7]
Hear Jean Carignan's recording on youtube.com [8]
Read Glenn Patterson's analysis of Allard and Gaspé fiddler Erskine Morris's versions of the reel [9]

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