Annotation:Roundtown Girls

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X:1 T:Round Town Girls S:Alonzo Elvis "Tony" Alderman (1900-1983, western Virginia, with the Hill Billies) M:C| L:1/8 Q:Quick D:Vocalion 5023 (78 RPM), The Hill Billies (1926) F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/round-town-girls-0 Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:G g2-|g2bg agge|dBdB G4|dcdc AABc|ed3- d2g2-| ggbg agge|dBdB G2B2- |dBdB AAF2|G6:|| |:(DE/F/|G2) A2B2c2|dBdB G2(B2|d)cdc ABcd|ed3-d2(DE/F/| G2)A2B2c2|dBdB G2B2- |dBdB AAF2|G6:||

ROUNDTOWN GIRLS. AKA and see "Buffalo Gals (1)," "Alabama Gals won't You come out Tonight?," "Lubly Fan," "Midnight Serenade (2)." American, Reel (cut time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Round Town Girls", a re-titling of the American standard "Buffalo Gals," is the name of the tune/song as played by western Virginia and North Carolina musicians. The tune was recored in New York City in October, 1926, by the North Carolina/Virginia band The Hill Billies, whose line-up for this number was Elvis "Tony" Alderman and Fred Roe (fiddles), Charlie Bowman (Banjo), Henry Roe and Joe Hopkins (guitar), Al Hopkins (piano), and John Hopkins (Ukulele). The band's name on recordings released on the Vocalion label was The Hill Billies, but on the parent Brunswick label the group was called Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters. They sang one stanza on the recording:

Roundtown girls, won't you come out tonight,
Won't you come out tonight,
Wont' you come out tonight?
Roundtown girls, won't you come out tonight,
And dance by the light of the moon?

The tune was recorded in the field by Herbert Halpert for the Library of Congress from the playing of the Houston Bald Knob String Band (Franklin County, Va.) in 1939 {as "Round Town Girl Won't You Come Out Tonight"}. See note for "Annotation:Buffalo Gals (1)" for more.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - "Frank George (W.Va) and Kahle Brewer have influenced this version most directly" [Krassen].

Printed sources : - Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; p. 54. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; p. 65.

Recorded sources: - Brunswick 103 (78 RPM), Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters (1926. AKA The Hill Billies). County 405, "The Hill Billies." Document 8039, “The Hill Billies/Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters: Compoete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 1” (1999, reissue recordings). Gennett 6065 (78 RPM), Ernest Stoneman, c. 1928. OKeh Records 45094 (78 RPM), Ernest V. Stoneman's Trio (1927). Vocalion 5023 (78 RPM), The Hill Billies (1926).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear the Hill Billies 1926 recording at Slippery Hill [2]
Hear Emmett Lundy's field recording at Slippery Hill [3]