Annotation:Sail away Ladies (6)
X:1 T:Sail away Ladies [6] S:Tommy Jarrell M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel D:County 756, Tommy Jarrell - Sail away Ladies (1976) Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:Edor e4+slide+g4|e3d Bd (e2|e)d ed B2G2|AGAG E2[E2A2]-| [EA]G AG [E4A4]|e4+slide+g4|e3d Bd (e2|e)d ed B2G2|ABAG E2[E2A2]-|| |:[EA]G AG [EA][DA][EA][DA]|EGAG [EA][DA][EA][DA]|EGAG E2[E2A2]-|[EA]G[GA]E D2[G,2D2]:|
SAIL AWAY LADIES [6]. AKA and see "Chinquapin (1)." American, Reel (cut time). USA; Round Peak, North Carolina. E Minor/G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'B. This melody, almost entirely played over an E minor chord (with a G major cadence in the 'B' part) is unrelated to the "Sally Ann (1)"/"Great Big Taters in Sandy Land" tune family, unlike so many other tunes with the title "Sail Away Ladies." The source for Sail away Ladies (6)," Mt. Airy, North Carolina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell [1] (1901-1985), learned this single tune from Round Peak fiddler Preston 'Pet'/'Pat' McKinney, whom he chanced to meet in the road when Jarrell was age sixteen and on his way to a dance with his fiddle. McKinney, on his way to get some whiskey, hailed him and. noting the instrument, said "They say you fiddle, son." Jarrell handed him the fiddle which was in ADae tuning (the 'normal' tuning for Jarrell) and McKinney re-tuned it to standard tuning and played "Sail Away Ladies." Jarrell asked him the title and to play it again, and by the end had it fixed in his mind (see Peter Anick, "An Afternoon with Tommy Jarrell, 1982," Fiddler Magazine, Spring 1995, and notes on the tune appearing with Jarrell's recording on County 756).
Coal Creek, Va., fiddler Rosoe Parish recorded "Chinquapin" in the mid-1970's, which is a version of the tune Jarrell plays as "Sail away Ladies [6]." Although it is a distanced version it is still recognizable as the same tune.