Been to the East Been to the West

<abc float="left"> X:1 T:Been to the East, Been to the West L:1/8 M:2/4 S:Liz Slade Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion N:Sung to 'A' part "I been to the east and I been to the west, N:and I been to Alabama, N:Prettiest girl I ever did see, and her name was Susianna." K:G B/c/|dd/A/ B/A/B/c/|dd B/A/B/c/|d/B/d/A/ B/A/B/B/|A/ G G/ GB/c/| d/B/d/A/ B/A/B/B/|d/B/d/A/ B(g|g/)B/d B/A/B/B/|A/ G G/ G:| |:B|g>e gg/(b/|b)(a a)(a|a)a/a/ a/b/a/g/|f/ d d/ dd|(e/ e) (e/ e)e/f/| g/f/g/f/ f/e/e/f/|g/f/e/A/ B/A/B|A/ G G/ G:||

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BEEN TO THE EAST, BEEN TO THE WEST. AKA and see "Great Big Yam Potatoes." Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. Standard tuning. AB (Phillips): AABB (Kuntz, Songer). A similar tune is "Goin' to Chattanooga," in the 'A' part. The original is from the Leake County Revellers, recorded on a 78 RPM in 1928.

Well, I've been to the east and I've been to the west,
And I've been to Alabama;
Prettiest girl I ever did see,
And her name was Susianna.


Hawk said, "I'll find me something for to eat,
Gonna 'light on the yellowhammer."

Printed sources: Kuntz, Private Collection. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; p. 29. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 26.

Sources for notated versions in print: Liz Slade (Yorktown, New York) [Kuntz]; Mary Lea [Phillips].

Recorded sources: Columbia 15318 (78 RPM), Leake County Revelers (1928). Varrick VR -038, Yankee Ingenuity - "Heatin' Up the Hall" (1989).

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