Annotation:Emminence Breakdown

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EMMINENCE BREAKDOWN. AKA and see "Boys of the Lake (2)," "Collin's Reel (1)," "Corkonian," "Ike Forrester's Reel (1)," "Merry Blacksmith (The)," "Paddy on the Railroad," "Peeler's Jacket (1)," "Police Jacket (The)," "Railroad (2) (The)," "Shepherd in the Gap (1) (The)," "Shepherdon the Gap (1) (The)." Old Time, Breakdown. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. The title honors Emminence, Shannon County, Missouri, birthplace of fiddler Gene Goforth (1921-2002), who popularised the melody. It was played under this title by Missouri fiddlers Gene and Cecil Goforth, "as far back as I can remember," says John Hartford, who identifies it as a variant of the (mostly) Irish "Merry Blacksmith" family of tunes. Beisswenger & McCann remark that the 'A' part has similarities to Alton Jones's "Sadie" and with an untitled reel in R.P. Christeson's Old Time Fiddler's Repertory, vol. 2 (1984, p. 59), collected from African-American fiddler Bill Katon.

Source for notated version: Gene Goforth [Beisswenger & McCann].

Printed sources: Beisswenger & McCann (Ozarks Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 46.

Recorded sources: Rounder CD-0388, Gene Goforth - "Emminence Breakdown" (1997). Rounder 0442, John Hartford - "Hamilton Ironworks" (2001).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]

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