Annotation:Flannery's Dream
X:1 T:Flannery's Dream N:From the playing of Spaw's Creek, near West Liberty Morgan County, east N:Kentucky, fiddler and banjo player Santford Kelly (1898-1973), N:recorded in the field by John Harrod. M:C| L:1/8 Q:"Quick" R:Reel D:https://soundarchives.berea.edu/items/show/3817 Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:Ador V:1 clef=treble name="1." [V:1] +slide+[A2A2][A2A2]||SAGED CEDC|A,G,A,C A,2[A,E][A,E]|([EA]G)E-D CEDC|A,G,[A,E][A,E] [A,2E2][A,E][A,E]| ([EA]G)E-D CEDC|A,G,[A,E]-[CE] [A,2E2][A,E][A,E]|([EA]G)E-D CEDG|E+slide+[A2A2][AA] [A2A2][AA]A| AGED CEDC|A,G,A,C [A,3E3][A,E] [A,2E2]||[A2A2]-|[AA]A[A=c]-[A^c][A2A2][A2^c2]|[M:5/4]A([A2^c2]d) [d2e2]-[e4e4]| +slide+[e4e4] +slide+[e4e4] ([de][^ce]) A2 GB|[M:3/2]A-^c2-d[e2e2]([ee]d) =c-AG-A|[M:C|] [A2A2][AA][AA] [A2A2][GA]-| [A3A3][A=c]-[A2d2]+slide+[e2e2]-|[M:5/4][ee]d e2 a3a- ab |[M:C|]a2g2e2d2|=cAGc A2 ABS||
FLANNERY'S DREAM. AKA - "Son of Hober." American, Reel (cut time). A Minor/Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). The reel, according to John Hartford, was very popular in the Big Sandy River valley (the Big Sandy is a tributary of the Ohio river and, for its entire length, marks the border between West Virginia and northern Kentucky. It is an archaic-sounding modal tune and was in the repertories of older regional east Kentucky fiddlers. There are several variants of "Flannery's Dream, variously more or less distanced from one another, played sometimes under the title "Flander's Dream" (although there are also different tunes by that name, one in the key of 'C') or as "Flandery's Dream." It was in the repertoire of regionally influential fiddler Ed Haley (1885-1951) according to northeast Kentucky fiddler J.P. Fraley[1] (1923-2011). Warner Walton tells the (rather apocryphal) story that Flannery was a Revolutionary War fiddler who was under a sentence of death. The commanding officer, knowing he could play, agreed to set him free if Flannery could play him a tune he hadn't heard. Flannery dreamt this tune the night before his scheduled execution. John Hartford pointed out that Flannery may have been a Civil War figure rather than a Revolutionary War soldier, and, in any case, the story is quite similar to one told about West Virginia's Solly Carpenter (see note for "annotation:Camp Chase (2)"). Hartford notes the Flannery family is a large and old one from Elliott County, Kentucky. Another common story attached to the tune (and told by Alva Greene, for one) is that a man named Flannery dreamed this tune and won a contest with it (Hartford, 1996). Folklorist Steve Green related another apocryphal story he had from collector Bruce Greene about a contest between Kentucky fiddlers J.W. Day and Jim Flannery to see who would run out of tunes first. Evening wore into night without a clear winner, and, too exhausted to play any more the pair went to sleep. While dozing, Flannery had a dream about being chased by a bear playing a tune. Flannery, upon waking, recalled the tune and called it "Flannery's Dream," promptly played it and was declared the victor in the competition. Kentucky fiddler Alva Greene had a similar story with different fiddling protagonists: Wade Flannery[2] and Alva's uncle Jimmie Greene were the contestants, with Wade dreaming the tune and playing it the next morning to best his rival[3].
Bluegrass multi-instumentalist Ricky Skaggs (who learned the tune from Santford Kelly) recorded a version of the reel calling it "Son of Hober," in honor of his father, however, the tune has currency among bluegrass musicians as "Flannery's Dream," apparently popularized by Skaggs. Alva Greene's version is recognizable as a precursor to the bluegrass version.
Spaw's Creek, Morgan County, east Kentucky, fiddler Santford Kelly (1898-1973) was recorded by Peter Hoover playing the tune when the fiddler was in his 60's, but still playing strongly. His version, albeit rather 'crooked' (irregularly metered), has become the most influential of the many versions of the tune, and was Kelly's signature tune. Reclusive Fleming/Bath County, northeast Kentucky, fiddler Warner Walton also had an excellent version that came serendipitously to light. Collector John Harrod heard of Walton from northeast Kentucky fiddlers who were more accessible, and with whom he had formed a relationship. He sought out Walton, hoping to get his permission to make some field recordings, and finally found him; but the man was reticent and denied to Harrod that he had ever been able to play the fiddle. Harrod could only make the best of it and went away empty handed A few years later, however, another local fiddler, Alfred Bailey, whom Harrod had recorded and kept in touch with, passed along three reels of tape, saying that Warner consented to let Harrod have them. He was never recorded in person by field collectors, but the three tapes he sent to Harrod reveal a fiddler of exceptional talent.
