Annotation:Levantine's Barrel
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LEVANTINE'S BARREL. AKA - "Leavatine's Barrel," "Leventine's Barrel." AKA and see "Bummer's Reel (1)," "Lancaster Reel," "Tullymore Piper (The)." Canadian, American; Reel. Canada, Prince Edward Island. D Major (Coles, Messer, Perlman, Silberberg, Songer): G Major (Miller & Perron). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (most versions). The melody was named after an 1870's variety theatre entertainer named F.F. Levantine [1], whose most famous act involved a spinning barrel, and who billed himself as an "Equilibrist". His real name was Frederick Freeman Proctor, and he was the son of a Maine physician, who made an early career of juggling and balancing acts alone and with a partner ('The Levantine Brothers'), performing with traveling circus organizations and on the stage in both Europe and America. He returned to America, and, having saved his money, he bought the Green Street Theater on Green Street, Albany, later renaming it the Levantine’s Theater and later the Gayety. It was to be the first of many of Proctor's theaters, located across New England and New York, and into New York City. By 1888 Proctor was managing thirteen theaters, and at the height of his career he controlled 54 theaters around the country. When moving pictures began Proctor was one of the first to incorporate them into his venues, albeit as secondary attractions to vaudeville acts he booked.
The melody is similar to "Peaches and Cream" and "Bob Walter's Breakdown in G." See Bayard's (1944) note for "Bummer's Reel (1)."
Sources for notated versions: Sterling Baker (b. Mid-1940's, Morell, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]; Laurie Andres (Seattle) [Silberberg].
Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 21. Howe, c. 1860 (appears as "Bummer's Reel"). Messer (Way Down East), 1948; No. 21. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 41, p. 30. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler's Repertoire), 1983; No. 144. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 71. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 46. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 90. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 124.
Recorded sources:
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