Annotation:Maysville

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MAYSVILLE. AKA and see "Over the Road to Maysville (1)." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Kentucky. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Source J.P. Fraley shifted into the 3rd position to play some of the unison 'e' notes, and stayed in that position for some succeeding notes. The second strain is 'crooked', or irregular, with extra beats added to the unison 'e' notes, which Fraley said the 'old-timers' called "dwelling notes."

Maysville is a small town on the Ohio River, the county seat of Mason County. Titon (2001) records that this is where source J.P. Fraley's father, Richard, brought his tobacco crop to be sold. Fiddler John Hartford played the tune a bit up-tempo a few times, then down-tempo for later repeats; he says: "First you play the tune peppy (haulin' the tobacco) then you get paid off and get drunk and come home and you play the tune draggy." Hartford called the tune "Over the Road to Maysville," and finds a citation dating to 1915 that a tune by that name was played by G.R. McMahon from Sevierville, Tennessee. Hartford also notes that J.P. Fraley said that east Kentucky/West Virginia fiddler Ed Haley also played the tune.

Source for notated version: J.P. Fraley (1924-2011, Denton, Kentucky, learned from his father, Richard Fraley). [Titon].

Printed sources: The Devil's Box, vol. 29, No. 4, 1995; p. 19. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 102, p. 131.

Recorded sources: Rounder CD-0351, J.P. & Annadeene Fraley - "Maysville" (1995). Rounder 0351, J.P. Fraley (learned from his father). Rounder 0392, John Hartford - “Wild Hog in the Red Brush (and a Bunch of Others You Might Not Have Heard)” {1996. Learned from J.P. Fraley, who had it from his father who said Ed Haley played it}.

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
See/hear the tune played by Gerry Milnes on youtube.com [2]