Annotation:Ladies on the Steamboat

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X:1 T:Ladies on the Steamboat S:Leonard Rutherford (c. 1900-1954, Monticello, Ky.) M:C| L:1/8 Q: D:Columbia 15209-D (78 RPM), Burnett and Rutherford (1928) F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/ladies-steamboat-0 Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:G g2-|gage dega|b2 ba (b/a/g) ef|gage dged|BGAF G2ef| gage dega|b2 ba (b/a/g) ef|gage dged|BGAF G2|| [F_B]-[G=B]-|[GB]dBA GBAG|BGAG EFGA|BcBA GAcA|BGAF G2[F_B]-[G=B]-| [GB]dBA GBAG|BGAG EFGA|BcBA GAcA|BGAF G2||

LADIES ON THE/A STEAMBOAT. AKA and see "Tugboat." AKA - "Lady on a Steamboat." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA: AB (Lamancusa): AABB (Beisswenger & McCann, Phillips, Titon). A favorite tune of Blind Ed Haley, influential fiddler from northeastern Kentucky. Dick Burnett of Monticello, Wayne County, Ky., who recorded the tune in 1927 (for Columbia Records) with fiddler Leonard Rutherford, recollected he might have learned the tune from Haley. It is known that Rutherford learned "Blackberry Blossom (4)" from Haley, says Mark Wilson. In any case, the Rutherford and Burnett version was very influential (through both their tours and their recording) and has become a standard, especially for Wayne County, Kentucky, old-time musicians-"the banjo head usually getting rapped in remembrance of Dick Burnett's wild performance of the piece" (Bobby Fuclher, 1986).

Some similarities to "Steamboat 'Round the Bend" and close similarities to Nebraska fiddler Bob Walters' "Ladies Round the Bend" and "Po'/Poor Black Sheep." See also "Sandy River Belle (2)" and "Sally Johnson." Recorded by the West Virginia band The Kessinger Brothers in 1929 under the title "Tugboat."

Additional notes

Sources for notated versions: - Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) who had the tune from his father, according to Dwight Lamb [Christeson]; Leonard Rutherford (Ky.) [Phillips, Titon]; Lonnie Robertson (1908-1981, Springfield, Mo.) [Beisswenger & McCann].

Printed sources : - Beisswenger & McCann (Ozarks Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 119. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 2), 1984; p. 77. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 134. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 85, p. 112.

Recorded sources: -Columbia 15209-D (78 RPM), Burnett & Rutherford (1927). County 788, Clyde Davenport (Ky.) - "Clydeoscope: Rare and Beautiful Tunes from the Cumberland Plateau" (1986). Davis Unlimited Records, W.L. Gregory & Davenport - "Monticello: Tough Mountain Music from Southern Kentucky" (1974). Rounder 0172, Bob Carlin - "Where Did You Get That Hat?" (1982). Rounder CD 0375, Lonnie Robertson - "Lonnie's Breakdown" (1996. Originally recorded 1978). Rounder 1004, "Ramblin' Reckless Hobo: The Songs of Dick Burnett and Leonard Rutherford" (1970).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Clyde Davenport (Wayne County, Ky.) playing the tune in 1981 at Berea Sound Archives [2]
Hear Clyde Davenport and W.L. Gregory's 1975 recording at Berea Sound Archives [3] [4]

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