Annotation:Diable Vert (Le)
X: 1 T: Diable Vert, Le S: Printed MS from Debby Knight Z: 2008 John Chambers <jc:trillian.mit.edu> M: C| L: 1/8 K: G DC \ | "G"B,G,B,D GDGB | ed ~d2 dBGB | "C"cBAG "D7"FDEF |1,3 "G"GBAG "D7"FE :|2,4 "G"GB"D"AF "G"G2 :| |: GA \ | "Em"[B3E3][BE] [B2E2] ef | "Em"gfeg "Bm"fB~B2 | "Em"eBBe B[eB]ef | "Em"gB{c}BA "D"BAGA | | "Em"BEBE B2 ef | "Em"gfeg "Bm"fB~B2 | "C"efg{f}e "G"dBGB | "D7"cBAF "G"G2 :|
DIABLE VERT, LE (The Green Devil). AKA and see "Running Water." Canadian, Reel (cut time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB. The tune has an interesting history, as relayed by Paul Fackler, and has proved a robust melody in several genres. It was originally composed by Ontario fiddler Graham Townsend (1942-1998) who called it "Running Water," recorded on his LP "North American Fiddle Champion," and then on one of Don Messer's later recordings, "The Everlasting Don Messer and His Islanders" (1970). Maine fiddler Simon St. Pierre and the Kennebec Valley Boys recorded it in 1975. Quebec fiddler Aimé Gagnon picked it up from hearing it played on a radio broadcast, and Quebec fiddler Claude Méthé learned it from Gagnon, although by then then original title had been lost. Méthé and recorded it in 1991 with his band Manigance as one of the tunes in a two-tune medley titled on the recording with the single name "Le Vert Diable". This is the name of the second tune Claude learned from Gagnon; first tune was referred to generically as "Galope de Lotbinière" (also recorded by Montreal fiddler Isidore Soucy as "Reel de Ti-Gus"). However, as often happens, the tune was circulated with title of the medley and became absorbed into living aural tradition as "Le Vert Diable." Finally, the reel was picked up by contra dance musicians in western Massachusetts and has since become a contra dance favorite, with the name "Le Vert Diable" securely attached to it.
