Annotation:Liza Jane (5)

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LIZA JANE [5]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Tennessee, Kentucky. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A variant of "Liza Jane (4)." Titon (2001) writes that Clyde Davenport's [1] "Liza Jane" demonstrates considerable African influences with its strong syncopation. He notes the title was a popular one in the lists of tunes played at the Berea, Kentucky, fiddle contests during the second decade of the 20th century. Davenport had some difficulty remembering the lyric associated with the tune, but finally recalled this stanza:

Liza is a prettly little girl,
Whoopee Lize Jane,"
Liza is a pretty little girl,
But she scandalized my name.

Source for notated version: Clyde Davenport (Monticello, Wayne County, Ky.), who learned the tune from his father Will Davenport, a Tennessee fiddler [Phillips]. Will Davenport is said to have learned it from a neighbor, Will Phipps, who was born in 1812.

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; p. 145. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 94, p. 123.

Recorded sources: Berea College Appalachian Center AC002, Clyde Davenport - "Puncheon Camps " (1992).

See also listing at:
Hear Clyde Davenport play the tune at Berea Digital Content [2], recorded by John Harrod.