Annotation:Echoes from the Ozarks (1)
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ECHOES OF/FROM THE OZARKS [1]. AKA and see "Echoes of the Hills." Old-Time, Country Rag. USA, Missouri. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Christeson, Ford, Silberberg): AABB (Phillips). The tune is melodically similar to the popular song "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane", written in 1871 (and popularised by Fiddlin' John Carson's 1923 recording), and appears to be, in fact, a song tune. See also the related "Georgia Boys." Missouri fiddler Sam Long (1876–1931), originally from Scranton, Kansas, but who also lived in Missouri and Oklahoma, recorded the tune (via acoustic, not electronic methods) in 1926, and despite the rather poor quality of the sound it sold well in the Mid-west and West. Gus Meade and W.L. McNeil researched Long and discovered he had been born in 1876 and died sometime in March 1931 (in Burns, Kansas). He was the first Ozark region fiddler to have been recorded, although Beisswenger & McCann (2008) point out that Long lived in several Midwest states in his lifetime, and only perifferily in the Ozarks. Nevertheless, they maintain that his frequent and successful playing in Ozark region fiddle contests, and his recordings made him quite influential among Ozark fiddlers. Ira Ford (1940) and R.P. Christeson both mention that their versions have similarities with "The Yellow Rose of Texas."
Source for notated version: African-American fiddler Bill Driver (Cole County, Missouri) [Christeson]; Clyde Davenport (Indiana) [Phillips]; Barry Schultz [Silberberg]; Sam Long [Beisswenger & McCann].
Printed sources:
Beisswenger & McCann (Ozarks Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 90.
R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddler's Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; p. 178.
Ford (Traditional Music of America), 1940; p. 123.
Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 80.
Silberberg (Fiddle Tunes I Learned at the Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 41.
Recorded sources:
Gennett 3284 {78 RP}, Sam Long (1926).
County 520, Sam Long (Ozark Mtns.) – "Echoes of the Ozarks, vol. 3" (reissue recordings).
Marimac 9038, Dan Gellert & Brad Leftwich – "A Moment in Time" (1993. Learned by Leftwich from Lee Stoneking, Lowry City, Mo.).
Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Lyman Enloe (b. 1906).
Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Pete McMahan – "Kansas City Rag."
See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
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