Annotation:Kitty Puss (1)
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KITTY PUSS. AKA and see "Hop Up Kitty Puss (1)," "Black Eyed Susie (1)," "Possum Up a Simmon Tree (1)," "Puncheon Camp," "Puncheon Camps," "Tucker's Old Barn (1)," "Old Time Mockingbird." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; northeast Kentucky, Tennessee. G Major (OTH/Thomas): D Major (Phillips). Standard tuning (fiddle). ABB'. A somewhat archaic sounding American fiddle tune, widely known throughout the Appalachians and Southern states.
Hop up, Kitty Puss, hop up higher,
Hop up, Kitty Puss, your tail's in the fire.
Poor little Kitty Puss, poor little feller,
Poor little Kitty Puss, died in the celler.
Source for notated version: learned by Buddy Thomas (Ky.) from his grandfather, via the whistling of his mother [Old-Time Herald]; Charlie Acuff (Tenn.) [Phillips].
Printed sources: Old-Time Herald, Fall 1992, p. 31. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; p. 133.
Recorded sources: CA-01, Charlie Acuff - "Left Handed Fiddler" (1990. This privately issued cassette was recorded by 70 year old fiddler Acuff, from Alcoa, Tennessee). County 788, Clyde Davenport (Monticello, Ky.) - "Clydeoscope: Rare and Beautiful Tunes from the Cumberland Plateau" (1986. Learned from an old time fiddler from Rock Creek, Tennessee, by the name of Will Phipps, who was buried with his fiddle in his coffin). Rounder 0032, Buddy Thomas (Northeast Ky.) - "Kitty Puss: Old-Time Fiddle Music From Ky." (1976). Rounder 0320, Bob Carlin & John Hartford - "The Fun of Open Discussion" (learned from fiddler Charlie Acuff).
See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Kentucky fiddler Clyde Davenport's 1984 recording at Berea Digital Content [2]
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