X:1
T:Ladies on the Steamboat
S:Leonard Rutherford (c. 1900-1954, Monticello, Ky.)
M:C|
L:1/8
Q:
D:Columbia 15209-D (78 RPM), Burnett and Rutherford (1928)
F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/ladies-steamboat-0
Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz
K:G
g2-|gage dega|b2 ba (b/a/g) ef|gage dged|BGAF G2ef|
gage dega|b2 ba (b/a/g) ef|gage dged|BGAF G2||
[F_B]-[G=B]-|[GB]dBA GBAG|BGAG EFGA|BcBA GAcA|BGAF G2[F_B]-[G=B]-|
[GB]dBA GBAG|BGAG EFGA|BcBA GAcA|BGAF G2||
LADIES ON THE/A STEAMBOAT. AKA and see "Tugboat." AKA - "Lady on a Steamboat." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA: AB (Rutherford): AABB (Beisswenger & McCann, Phillips, Titon). "Billy in the Low Ground" was a favorite tune of Blind Ed Haley, an influential fiddler from northeastern Kentucky. Dick Burnett of Monticello, Wayne County, Ky., who recorded the tune in 1927 (for Columbia Records) with fiddler Leonard Rutherford (c. 1900-1954), recollected he might have learned the tune from Haley. It is known that Burnett's playing partner, fiddler Leonard Rutherford (1900-1954), learned "Blackberry Blossom (4)" from Haley, says Mark Wilson, which suggests they were in contact with the famed fiddler. In any case, the Rutherford and Burnett version, recorded in November, 1927, in Atlanta but released in Feb., 1928, was very influential (through both their tours and their recording) and has become a standard, especially for Wayne County, Kentucky, old-time musicians-"the banjo head usually getting rapped in remembrance of Dick Burnett's wild performance of the piece" (Bobby Fuclher, 1986).
Additional notes Source for notated version : - Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) who had the tune from his father, according to Dwight Lamb [Christeson]; Leonard Rutherford (Ky.) [Phillips, Titon]; Lonnie Robertson (1908-1981, Springfield, Mo.) [Beisswenger & McCann].
Printed sources : - Beisswenger & McCann (Ozarks Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 119. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 2), 1984; p. 77. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 134. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 85, p. 112.
Recorded sources : - Columbia 15209-D (78 RPM), Burnett & Rutherford (1928. Recorded Nov., 1927). County 788, Clyde Davenport (Ky.) - "Clydeoscope: Rare and Beautiful Tunes from the Cumberland Plateau" (1986). Davis Unlimited Records, W.L. Gregory & Davenport - "Monticello: Tough Mountain Music from Southern Kentucky" (1974). Rounder 0172, Bob Carlin - "Where Did You Get That Hat?" (1982). Rounder CD 0375, Lonnie Robertson - "Lonnie's Breakdown" (1996. Originally recorded 1978). Rounder 1004, "Ramblin' Reckless Hobo: The Songs of Dick Burnett and Leonard Rutherford" (1970).
See also listing at : Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Burnett & Rutherford's 1928 recording at Slippery Hill [2] and youtube.com [3]
Hear Clyde Davenport (Wayne County, Ky.) playing the tune in 1981 at Berea Sound Archives [4]
Hear Clyde Davenport and W.L. Gregory's 1975 recording at Berea Sound Archives [5][6]
