Annotation:Beer Barrel Polka

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BEER BARREL POLKA. Czeck, Polka. USA; N.Y., Pa. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'CD. The tune was composed by Jaromir Vegvoda with Vasek Zeman and first published in Prague in 1934 under the title "Skoda Lasky" (Lost Girl) or the "Modranska polka." As "The Beer Barrel Polka" it was published in New York in 1939, but as Fuld (1966) annecdotally reports, the National Broadcasting Company refused to air the complete title as it made reference to an alocholic drink, therefore, on NBC stations it was known as "The Barrel Polka." Apparently from the eastern European and German populations in the country, it entered the popular mainstream and was picked up by fiddlers such as Harry Daddario, from Union County, Pa.

Source for notated version: Florida bluegrass and session fiddler Robert "Chubby" Wise (1915-1996) [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; p. 333.

Recorded sources: F&W Records 1, "F&W String Band."

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