Annotation:I Get My Whiskey from Rockingham
X:1 T:I get My Whiskey from Rockingham S:Earl Johnson & His Clodhoppers M:C| L:1/8 F:http://stringband.mossyroof.com/IGetMyWhiskeyFromRockingham.mp3 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G (Bd)d2 d3d |edef g4-gf|g2g2 edBc |d3e d2d2| e2d2!slide!B3B|A2G4-G(A|B2)d2!slide!B2A2|G4G4:|| |:(BA)G(D EF)G(D|EF)G(D EF)GA|BAGD EFGD|EFGE D4| BAGD EFGD|EFGD EFGE|DEGA Bd A2|G4G4:||
I GET MY WHISKEY FROM ROCKINGHAM. See "Rockingham Cindy," "Rocky Road Cindy," "Way Down in Rockingham." American, Reel (cut time). G Major (Silberberg, Songer). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABC. "I get My Whiskey from Rockingham" was a breakdown/song originally recorded by Georgia fiddler Earl Johnson [1](1886-1965), born in Gwinnett County. He was a contemporary of fellow north Georgia fiddlers Gid Tanner and John Carson. Johnson's lyrics begin:
Where'd you get your whiskey, where'd you get your dram?
I got it from a little girl way down in Rockingham.
Refrain
Rocky Road Cindy, rocky road to town,
Rocky Road Cindy, way down in Rockingham.
I went down to Rockingham, I did not go to stay,
I fell in love with a pretty girl and I could not get away.
Lips as red as a red rose, her hair was huckleberry brown,
The sweetest girl I ever saw, way down in Rockingham.
The Ballad Index lists the tune among a loose family of tunes, often fragmentary, under the title "Jinny Go Round and Around," recognized by the "Where did you get your whiskey" stanza. Included in this family is "Rockingham Cindy," the most famous version of which was played and sung by Mt. Airy, North Carloina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell (1901-1985). Jarrell's version is musically different from Earl Johnson's "I get My Whiskey from Rockingham," but the words are clearly related. Variations of some of the verses also are to be found in the song "Cindy" AKA "Cindy Cindy."