X:1
T:Lonesome Polly Ann
N:From the playing of Lonnie Robertson (Missouri)
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
Q:"Quick"
N:Play AA'BB'AA'BB'CBB'
N:"+" = plucked or pizzicato notes
N:AEac# tuning (fiddle)
N:As usual with AEac# tunes, drones are frequent
D:Rounder 0375, Lonnie Robertson - Lonnie's Breakdown (1996)
D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/lonesome-polly-ann
Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz
K:A
|:B-c2e c3A-|BA-ce c3B|cBAc BAFE|1AEFA E4:|2 AEFA E3||
C|:A,CEF- [A2A2][A2A2]|AEFG ABAF|ECEF A3B-|AEFA E2(CB,|
A,)CEF- [A2A2]AB|AEFG ABAF|ECEF A2A-B|1AEFA E2CB,:|2 AEFA E4||
|:"+"c2"+"A2"+"E2"+"A2|"+"c2"+"A2[A,4E4]|"+"c2"+"A2"+"E2FE|AEFA E4:|
LONESOME POLLY ANN. AKA and see "Pretty Polly Ann (2)." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Missouri. A Major. AEac# tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'CC'. Gordon McCann remembers that Robertson originally called this tune "Pretty Polly" (see also Biography:Pete McMahan's version of "Pretty Polly" on the album "Now That's a Good Tune"), but changed the name so as to avoid remarks that he copied McMahan's tune [Beisswenger & McCann, 2008]. There are several other tunes and folksong ballads with that have the name "Polly Ann" in them, most unrelated to each other, and apparently not Robertson's tune. The melody was recorded as "Lonesome Betty Ann" in the late 1940's by fiddler Jesse Ashlock, a Western Swing version. The tune was in Missouri fiddler Bob Holt's repertoire under the "Lonesome Polly Ann" title, probably learned from Robertson. Bill Graves' "Old Stillhouse is Burning Down (3) (The)" is a closely related tune.
