Annotation:Feather Bed

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FEATHER BED. AKA - "Featherbed." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Magoffin County, Ky. A Mixolydian ('A' part) & A Major ('B' part). ADae or AEae tuning (fiddle). AAB (Titon): AABB (Milliner & Koken). In the repertoire of John Salyer (1882-1952), Magoffin County, Ky., whose sons, Grover and Glen, made a home recording of him in the early 1940's. Gene Winnans mentions that a black banjo player, Gus Cannon, who worked medicine shows between 1914 and 1929, learned a tune called "Feather Bed" in "strumming style" from "Old Man Saul" Russell, who played for his own amusement around his house. Jeff Titon (2001) remarks that, as far as he knows, Salyer is the sole source for the Kentucky fiddle tune.

Source for notated version: John Salyer (Salyersville, Magoffin County, Ky., 1941) [Milliner & Koken, Titon].

Printed sources: Milliner & Koken (Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), 2011; p. 192. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 38, p. 70.

Recorded sources: Berea College Appalachian Center AC003, John M. Salyer - "Home Recordings 1941-42, vol. 1" (1993). County CD 2728, Rafe Stefanini - "Hell and Scissors" (1999).

See also listing at:
Hear John Salyer's 1940-41 recording at Slippery Hill [1], and at Berea Digital Content [2]

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