THE TUNES

The Tunes

Nashville Skyline Rag.

I haven't heard the this by Bob Dylan on an album by the same name for maybe twenty years, so I do hope this is still recognisable. I believe that Flatt & Scruggs first recorded it and maybe wrote it. It came back to me like a bolt out of the blue and as often as not an old tune resurrected has more vigour and freshness than any in the current bag earning itself first track position.

Whiskey Before Breakfast

A great tune that is often flogged to death at sessions. At first sight not an easy one for the piano due to the rapid chord changes but surprisingly it rolls under the fingers sweetly.

White Dove

I'm in gratitude to Casper Cronk at the London sessions for this one from the Stanley Brothers and I dedicate it to my own parents now passed away.

Roll 'm Colm

An attempted disguise of the phenomenal classic Roll 'm Pete by Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner from the legendary Story of the Blues album by Paul Oliver. Pete's playing was so inspirational that I had made my version the corner stone of my boogie playing life. I'm told that my left hand on this is quite unique and so I christen it the Roll'm Colm Roll.

Fifteen Cents

This traditional Southern song I've taken from a version of the Music of the Ozarks compilation where the guitar accompaniment seemed almost at odds with the tune and which I find fascinating. I've tried to incorporate that oddness into my playing too.

Margaret's Waltz

It's probably because of this tune that I've embarked on my own CD. I recorded at home merely as a demo for the Ripples Across the Pond CD by FAOTMAD and they only put it in as it was. The reviews and feedback were so positive that I endeavoured to have it recorded in a proper studio as was the original intention but ended up staying and recording a whole lot more. The tune is from the playing of J. P. Fraley whom I've had the pleasure to see and hear at Clifftop.

Jole Blon

This is called the Cajun national anthem and was one of the first difficult tunes I learnt on the fiddle. This version is distinctly from the Balfa Brothers but I actually learnt it from the playing of Pete Cooper. Pete taught this at one of his workshops for he plays and teaches fiddle in all its guises from his base in London. As many of his students progressed to session playing he is responsible for much of the repertoire at the London old-time sessions.

Old Mother Flannigan

I found myself playing this without knowing what it was until I realised it was from the fiddling of a great friend Dave (Doc) Proctor from Derby. We had our own threesome string band called The Henhouse Allstars in which I played guitar and we also featured on the Ripples Across the Pond CD.

Belle of Lexington

This air pops up under a variety of names in Irish, English and American traditions as The Drogheda Races, Smith's Reel etc. As one of my earliest fiddle tunes I learnt it note for note from Fiona Cameron who in turn learnt it note for note from the tutoring of Pete Cooper. Here I take a few liberties with the pace and accompaniment.

Ook Pik Waltz

I believe that this is of North American Eskimo origin but I learnt it from a great friend and musician Robin Gillian.

Mason's Apron

An Irish air that I thought goes well on the piano. Again I learnt this from the fiddling of Robin Gillian.

Sallyann Johnson

This was a standard at the London sessions played always enthusiastically by Paul Stephens who like Pete Cooper had a massive influence. The version here though is truer to the Alan Jabbour version on the Sandy's Fancy album.

Askokan Farewell

This is now so famous that no compilation is complete without it. It featured in the American Civil War series on TV and unlike most old-time is a recent composition by Jay Ungar.

Fisher's Hornpipe

This version is in homage to the Hillbillies version, which I find mesmerising. The Irish version seems a million miles away but the similarities are still there.

St. Annes Reel

Again an Irish/English tune by origin that seems to never lie down. I fell in love with it listening to fiddler Laurie Harper play it at the London bluegrass sessions.

Bull at the Wagon

Earl Collins brought this tune to the attention of Dave (Doc) Proctor and we played it a lot in the Henhouse Allstars. The tune has a haunting feel almost uncharacteristic of most American tunes. I have no idea as to it's origins.

Ida Red

Robin Gillian awoke my attention to this version almost straight from Ed Haley's home recordings. I derive great fun from taking liberties with it for I never play it the same way twice preferring to improvise at will against the left hand rhythm.

Spotted Pony

I learned this from Dave Hornsey a local banjo player. For some reason the same tune simultaneously became a favourite at many different sessions yet I don't recall hearing any recorded versions and I have no idea from whence it came.

Weapon of Prayer

My good friends Mark Wallace and George Lawes sang this at a gig and it reminded me of those wonderful gospel songs I heard at Ray Greens sessions near Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Sandy River Belle

This is a favourite fiddle tune of mine in the key of G, which I've picked up from Kate Lissauer's fiddling. It seems to be a favourite of fiddlers but detested by banjoists.

Sally Goodin Shorten's Bread

Here I've compiled a medley of two tunes under the one title. Both Sally Goodin and Shortnen' Bread seemingly originate from Afro-American origins and are typical of that genre where the melody is almost subdued by it's own rhythm and at the same time countered by the accompaniment rhythm.

Citigo

I loved listening to this tune by Lowe Stokes before discovering who he was or the name of it. Subsequently I was knocked out by the Heartbeats version so I had to give it a go. I have slowed down the tempo and altered the accompaniment and a melancholy flavour seemed to emerge from it.

Soldier's Joy

It would be frivolous to say every old-time compilation has to have this standard included but I'm of the old school where even if it is flogged to death doesn't mean it don't have a kick or two left in it.

Little Billy Wilson

I have heard the A part played in many a different tune but this version I've taken from Pete Cooper's fiddle workshops. It's a great fiddle tune and it always raises eyebrows from those who haven't heard it before.

Canadian Medley

The first two tunes Cuffey/Growling Old Man Grumbling Old Woman are favourites of mine on the piano and come once again from Fiona Cameron/Pete Cooper's stable. La Bastringue comes from a French Canadian outfit called La Boittine Souriante who played it on the Aly Bain album Down Home vol 2 some years back. I was first introduced to playing oldtime at a pub session in London that had a really good piano and playing this tune was my admittance fee.