Annotation:Mother's Reel

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MOTHER'S REEL. AKA and see "Reel du Régiment." Canadian, New England; Reel. C Major ('A' and 'C' parts) & G Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABCC (Miller & Perron): ABBCC (Bohrer, Messer): AA'BB'CC (Phillips). The composition has been attributed to Maritime fiddler Don Messer [1] (1909-1973). However, a version of the reel was recorded by Jospeh Allard (1865-1947) who called it "Reel du Régiment."

The tune was picked up by influential mid-20th century Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson, and recorded by him in 1999, with the usual Texas-style guitar sock chord accompaniment.

Sources for notated versions: learned by Vic Kibler (Hamilton County, N.Y.) from a Don Messer (Canada) recording [Bohrer]; Paul Elliot [Phillips].

Printed sources: Bohrer (Vic Kibler), 1992; No. 20, p. 20. Messer (Way Down East), 1948; No. 27. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 51, p. 33. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler's Repertoire), 1983; No. 145. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 158.

Recorded sources: Apex 26287 (78rpm), Don Messer & His Islanders (1945). MCA Records MCAD 4037, "The Very Best of Don Messer" (1994). Voyager VRCD 345, Benny Thomasson - "Say Old Man can You Play the Fiddle?" (1999). Samantha Robichaud - "Just Being Me" (1999).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear Don Messer's 1945 recording on youtube.com [3]
Hear Nebraska fiddler Bob Walters' version of the tune at missourifiddling.com [4]