Annotation:Zeek Backus Reel
X:1 T:Zeek Backus Reel M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Reel S:Howe – 1000 Jigs and Reels (c. 1867) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Gdor c>F || B/G/F/E/ D/C/{D}C/B,/ | D/G/{A}G/F/ G/A/B/c/ | d/B/c/A/ B/G/A/F/ |1 D/G/{A}G/F/ G/B/d/B/ :|2 D/G/{A}G/F/ G || d/c/ |:Bd/f/ b/d/f/d/ | {d}c/B/d/f/ g/d/f/d/ | Bd/f/ b/d/f/d/ | c/B/d/c/ B/G/G/B/ | Bd/f/ b/d/f/d/ | c/B/d/f/ g/d/f/d/ | b/b/b/f/ f/f/f/d/ | c/B/d/c/ B/G/G/B/ :||
ZEEK BACKUS REEL. American, Reel. G Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA’BB. Zeek Backus, or Zeke Backus, was a contributor to several of the tunes in the Howe and Ryan publications from the mid-to-latter 19th century. Many of those Howe collected tunes from were New England and New York musicians, bandleaders and minstrel performers, and Backus was among them (he was both a bandleader and a minstrel performer). While little is known about him, apparently he spent some time in San Francisco as well. An article in the New York Clipper of 6 September, 1862, lists Ezekiel Backus, "violinist," as among those minstrel performers who had recently passed away, recording his place of death as "New York State."
