Annotation:Sam and Elzie's

Back to Sam and Elzie's

SAM AND ELZIE. AKA – “Sam and Elsie.” AKA and see “Crooked Road (2).” Old-Time, Breakdown. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The tune appears to have Mid-West origins, although popularized on the West Coast by the Canote Brothers and fiddler Vivian Williams. Vivian obtained the tune from the relative of a playing partner, banjoist Harley Bray, his older brother Wilson whose father, Monte Monroe Bray, used to hear it at dances around Oscaloosa, south-central Illinois, in the late 1920's. Sam and Elzie were a father and son fiddle/guitar duo who played for square dances in the region, and there were song words to go with the melody. A version called "Crooked Road" can be found in the volume Dear Old Illinois (No. 51), played by Stelle Elam (Brownstown, Illinois, about 30 miles northwest of Oscaloosa.)

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Vivian Williams, via Greg Canote (Seattle) [Silberberg].

Printed sources : - Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 139.

Recorded sources: - Voyager Records VRCD 359, Phil & Vivian Williams - "Bluegrass Hoedown: Williams & Bray" (2003). Velocipede - "Hunt the Squirrel" (2015). The Canote Brothers - "Fiddletune Favorites" (2005).

See also listing at:
See another standard notation version by John Lamancusa [1]
Hear Phil & Vivian Williams recording on youtube.com [2]
See banjo tab at Taterjoes.com [3]

Back to Sam and Elzie's