Annotation:Washington and Lee Swing (1)

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WASHINGTON AND LEE SWING [1]. American, March (cut time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. A chromatic swing tune, originally written in 1910 as a march (or football "Fight Song") for Washington and Lee University by a 1906 graduate named Mark W. Sheafe with Thornton W. Allen (who graduated in 1911). The tune quickly entered dixieland and early jazz repertoire, and, later, western swing and bluegrass. Accordong to Wikipedia [1], "Comparisons between "Washington and Lee Swing" and "Zacatecas March" have included allegations that "Washington and Lee Swing" was heavily influenced by (or even originally outright borrowed from) that earlier Mexican march, which had been written in 1891 by Genaro Codino."

Source for notated version: Cecil Brower and Cliff Bruner with Milton Brown’s Musical Brownies (Texas) [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2), 1995; p. 162.

Recorded sources: Marimac 9017, Vesta Johnson (Mo.) – “Down Home Rag.” Original Jazz Library OJL-1000, "Milton Brown - Western Swing Chronicles, Vol. 1 CD" (2001).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear the march and song performed by Rudy Vallee (1901-1986) on youtube.com [3]

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