Annotation:Zeek Backus Reel
X:1 T:Zeek Backus Reel M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Reel S:Howe – 1000 Jigs and Reels (c. 1867) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Gdor c>F || B/G/F/E/ D/C/{D}C/B,/ | D/G/{A}G/F/ G/A/B/c/ | d/B/c/A/ B/G/A/F/ |1 D/G/{A}G/F/ G/B/d/B/ :|2 D/G/{A}G/F/ G || d/c/ |:Bd/f/ b/d/f/d/ | {d}c/B/d/f/ g/d/f/d/ | Bd/f/ b/d/f/d/ | c/B/d/c/ B/G/G/B/ | Bd/f/ b/d/f/d/ | c/B/d/f/ g/d/f/d/ | b/b/b/f/ f/f/f/d/ | c/B/d/c/ B/G/G/B/ :||
ZEEK BACKUS REEL. AKA - "Zeke Backus Reel." AKA and see "Spirvin's Fancy," "Thompson's Reel (1)." American, Reel. G Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA’BB. Zeek Backus, or Zeke Backus, was a contributor to several of the tunes in the Howe and Ryan publications from the mid-to-latter 19th century. Many of those Howe collected tunes from were New England and New York musicians, bandleaders and minstrel performers, and Backus was among them (he was both a bandleader and a minstrel performer). While little is known about him, apparently he spent some time in San Francisco as well. An article in the New York Clipper of 6 September, 1862, lists Ezekiel Backus, "violinist," as among those minstrel performers who had recently passed away, recording his place of death as "New York State."
"Zeek Backus Reel" is cognate with "Spirvin's Fancy" in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883), "Thompson's Hornpipe" in the third volume of Köhler's Violin Repository vol. 3 (1885) and with "Thompson's Reel (1)" in Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903). The first strain is also associated with that of the Irish reel "Girl that Broke My Heart (1) (The)."
