Annotation:Going Up to Hamburg

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GOING UP TO HAMBURG. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Mississippi. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). Tom Rankin (1985) reports that the tune is local to the northern Mississippi area. The title refers to a locale on the Tennessee River, just across the state line from Mississippi in Hardin County, Tennessee. Rankin thinks the melody may have begun as a holler and evolved into a fiddle tune, citing the tune's almost unison following of the vocal line.

Well Shane
Going up to Hamburg, pretty little lady,
Going up to Hamburg, yes I am;
Going up to Hamburg, pretty little lady,
Going up to Hamburg to get me a dram.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, John Hatcher (Tishomingo County, Miss.) - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985. Originally recorded for the Library of Congress in 1939).

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