Annotation:Pat the Budgie

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PAT THE BUDGIE. AKA - "Pat the Budgie Breakdown." Canadian, Reel. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC (Phillips): AA’BB’CC’ (Songer). Composed by Barrie, Ontario, fiddler Graham Townsend [1] (1942-1998), around 1960. It was named for a real budgie (bird) who used to perch on his fiddle bow. The reel is occasionally mistakenly attributed to Canadian fiddler Don Messer, however, three members (Waldo Munro, Duke Neilsen & Warren MacRae) of Messers band the Islanders, accompanied Townsend on his first record for Banff Records in 1960.

Source for notated version: Becky Tracy [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 181. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 157.

Recorded sources: Banff Recors RBS 1083, Graham Townsend - "Famous Canadian Fiddlers vol. 1" (1960). Green Linnett, Seamus Connolly - "Here & There" (1989). Green Linnett 3085, Four Men and a Dog - “Barking Mad” (1991). RC2000, George Wilson – “Royal Circus” (2000). Gerry Conlon & Seamus O'Sullivan - "All Around the World" (2003). Pam Weeks - "Waiting for the Perseids."

See also listing at:
Hear Graham Townsend's recording at Slippery Hill [2]
Hear the reel performed on youtube.com by Blazing Fiddles [3]