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ARKANSAS TRAVELER
Old-Time, Bluegrass, American; Reel, Country Dance- almost universally known.
ARTIST: Unknown Source on-line
LISTEN: Don Richardson's 1916 recording Instrumental
LISTEN: Eck Roberston's 1922 recording Instrumental
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: The music itself was in print in 1847, Rosenberg states, and both the tune and the accompanying skit are presumed by him to have been in oral circulation at the time.
The first known vocal recording of the song was made by Dan Hornsby and Clayton McMichen on 4/12/1928 and commercially released as Columbia 15000D Series #W146039 15253 Part 1 & #W146038 15253D part 2. An instrumental version of the song was recorded as early as 1916 by Don Richardson then in 1922 by fiddlers Eck Robertson and Henry C. Gilliland.
RECORDING INFO: American Heritage 516, Jana Greif- "I Love Fiddlin.'" Atlantic Records LP1350, Hobart Smith - "American Folk Songs for Children." Brunswick 225 (78 RPM), The Tennessee Ramblers. CCF2, Cape Cod Fiddlers - "Concert Collection II" (1999). Columbia 15019-D (78 RPM), Gid Tanner & Riley Pucket. County 514, Earl Johnson and His Clodhoppers- "Hell Broke Loose in Georgia" (orig. rec. 1927). County 517, Eck Robertson and Henry Gilliland- "Texas Farewell." County 723, Cockerham, Jarrell, and Jenkins- "Back Home in the Blue Ridge." County 775, Kenny Baker- "Farmyard Swing." Edison 51381 (78 RPM), Jasper Bisbee {appears as 1st tune of "Girl I Left Behind Me" medley}. Flying Fish 102, New Lost City Ramblers - "20 Years/Concert Performances" (1978). Folkways FA2337, Clark Kessinger- "Live at Union Grove." Folkways FA2371, Roger Sprung- "Ragtime Bluegrass 2." Folkways FTS 31089. Heritage 060, Art Galbraith - "Music of the Ozarks" (Brandywine 1984). Kicking Mule 203, Art Rosenbaum- "The Art of the Mountain Banjo." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Cyril Stinnett - "Plain Old Time Fiddling." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Kelly Jones (b. 1947) - "Authentic Old-Time Fiddle Tunes." Old Homestead OHCS-145, the Skillet Lickers --"A Day at the Country Fair" ("The Original Arkansas Traveller"). Paramount 3015 (78 RPM) {the same as Brunswick 8052}, 1927, and Edison 52294 (78 RPM), 1928, John Baltzell (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) {Baltzell was taught to play fiddle in part by minstrel Dan Emmett, d. 1904, who was born in and returned to [1888] the same town}. Rebel 1552, Buck Ryan- "Draggin' the Bow." Rebel 1515, Curly Ray Cline- "My Little Home in West Virginia." Rounder 0100, Byron Berline- "Dad's Favorites." Rounder 0117, "Blaine Sprouse". Sonyatone 201, Eck Robertson (Texas) and Henry Gilliland (Ok.) - "Master Fiddler." Supertone 9172 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts. Tennvale 003, Pete Parish- "Clawhammer Banjo." Victor 18956 (78 RPM), Eck Robertson (Texas) {1922}. Victor 21635 (78 RPM), Jilson Setters (AKA Blind Bill Day, from Rowan Cty. Ky.), 1928. Voyager 301, Byron Berline- "Fiddle Jam Session." Voyager 304, Bill Long and Bill Mitchell- "More Fiddle Jam Sessions." Recorded by Franklin County, Va. fiddler J.W. "Peg" Thatcher in 1939 for Library of Congress, and by Clayton McMichen (Ga.) and Dan Hornsby in 1928. In repertoire of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (Texas/Tenn.) {1848-1931}, Uncle Bunt Stevens (Tenn.), Fiddlin' Cowan Powers (Russell County, S.W. Va.) {1877-1952 Austen, Seth. ppalachian Fiddle Tunes for Finger Style Guitar, Kicking Mule KM 174, LP (1982), cut# 6; Baker, Kenny. Farmyard Swing, County 775, LP (1979), cut# 8; Berline, Byron. Fiddle Jam Sessions, Voyager VLRP 301, LP (196?), cut# 14; Berline, Byron. Dad's Favorites, Rounder 0100, LP (1977), cut#B.04; Bird, Elmer. Home Sweet Home, Windy Ridge WR-10002, LP (1982), cut#A.05; Blakeman, Guy. Snow on the Roof, Fire in the Furnace., Ohio Arts Council, LP (1979), cut#A.0; Blake, Norman. Whiskey Before Breakfast, Rounder 0063, LP (1987), cut# 9; Brown, Sullivan & Company. Magnum Banjos, Sequatchie --, LP (197?), cut# 2; Burris, Otis; and Fortune. Otis Burris and Fortune, Heritage (Galax) 073C, Cas (1989), cut# 8; Cadwell, Paul. Paul Cadwell, Shirley Keller, Charlie Wright, Twilight PSC 165, LP (1983), cut#A.08c; Campbell, Blind James; and his Nashville Street.... Blind James Campbell and his Nashville Street Band, Arhoolie F 1015, LP (196?), cut#B.06 (Beauford's Breakdown); Cheeseman, Bob. Learning the Fiddler's Ways, Penn State, Sof (1980), p 51; Clemens, Alice. Fiddlin' Fever, UCA, LP (197?), cut# 20; Cline, Curly Ray. My Little Home in West Virginia, Rebel SLP 1515, LP (1972), cut# 10; Cockerham, Jarrell and Jenkins. Back Home in the Blue Ridge, County 723, LP, cut# 11; Collins, Mitzie. Sampler of Folk Music, Sampler aafm 7601, LP (1976), cut#A.01a; Daugherty, Junior. Texas Music, Heritage (Galax) 066, LP (1986), cut#A.08c; Derring, Boyd. 51st Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, Heritage (Galax) 703, LP (1987), cut# 6 ; Dickens, H. N.. Stoneman Family Old Time Songs, Folkways FA 2315, Cas (1957), cut# 19; Dobbs Brothers and Mary Faith Rhoads. Dobbs Brothers amd Mary Faith Rhoads, Fret'n Fiddle JRC 860, LP (1978), cut#A.03; Driftwood, Jimmy. Wilderness Road and Jimmy Driftwood, RCA (Victor) LPM-1994, LP (1959), cut#B.05; Fall Creek Ramblers. 28th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention. Galax, Virginia 1963, Kanawha 302, LP (1963), cut# 14; Feldmann, Peter. How to Play Clawhammer Banjo, Sonyatone STI-104, LP (1975), cut# 12; Feldmann, Peter. Barnyard Dance, Hen Cackle HC 501, LP (1980), cut#B.05; Fiddle Fever. Fiddling Celebration, Soaring Hawk SH 002, LP (1980), cut#A.01f; Ganam, King. Best of the Country Fiddlers, RCA Camden CL-50027, LP (196?), cut# 9 ; George, Franklin/Frank. Swope's Knobs, Anachronistic 001, LP (1977), cut#1.01; George, Franklin/Frank. Traditional Music for Banjo, Fiddle & Bagpipes, County C-2703, Cas (1992), cut#B.05e; George, Franklin/Frank. Traditional Music for Banjo, Fiddle and Bagpipes, Kanawha 307, LP (1967), cut#B.04e; Haley, Ed. Grey Eagle (Vol. 2), Rounder 1133/1134, CD (1997), 1.17; Hammons, Edden. Edden Hammons Collection, Sound Archives 001, LP (1984), cut# 3 ; Hash, Albert; and the Whitetop Mountain Band. Albert Hash and the Whitetop Mountain Band, Heritage (Galax) 025, LP (1979), cut# 8; High Strung. High Strung, Loose Noose ASM-489, LP (1981), cut#A.01c; Hinton, Sam. Good Time Music. National Folk Festival, Philo 1028, LP (1975), cut#A.08; Homer and the Barnstormers. Blue Grass Banjos - Flaming Banjos, Alshire 2-120-1/2, LP (197?), cut#1A.04; Johnson, Earl; and his Clodhoppers. Hell Broke Loose in Georgia, County 514, LP (197?), cut# 4; Johnson, Earl; and his Clodhoppers. Red Hot Breakdown, County 543, LP (1976), cut#B.02; Jones, Kelly. Authentic Old Time Fiddle Tunes, MSOTFA 005, Cas (1990), cut# 4; Kessinger, Clark. Live at Union Grove, Folkways FA 2337, Cas (1976), cut# 8; Kilby, Steve. Steve Kilby, 11/26/54, Heritage (Galax) 074, Cas (198?), cut#A.04b; Knopf, Bill. Bill Knopf on Banjo, American Heritage AH-401-524, LP (197?), cut#A.06; Lancaster, Buddy. Music of the Ozarks, National Geographic Soc. 0703, LP (1972), cut# 17; Long, Bill; and Bill Mitchell. More Fiddle Jam Sessions, Voyager VRLP 304, LP (197?), cut# 1; Mainer's Mountaineers (J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers). Border Radio, County 550, LP (1990), cut# 9; Miller, John. Let's Go Riding, Rounder 3002, LP (1974), cut#B.07; Miller, Walter. West Virginia Hills, Augusta Heritage AHR 011, Cas (1992), cut#2.02; Molsky, Bruce. Lost Boy, Rounder 0361, CD (1996), cut#19; Morris, John. 2nd Annual Brandywine Mountain Music Festival, "75 Tradition..., Heritage (Galax) 012, LP (1976), cut# 15; Osborne, Uncle Charlie (Charlie N.). 100 Years Farther On, June Appal JA 0064C, Cas (199?), cut# 12; Paley, Tom;, Oscar Brand and Harry West. Shivaree!, Esoteric ES-538, LP (1955), cut# 16; Parmley, Don; and Billy Strange. Don Parmley and Billy Strange, GNP Crescendo GNP-98, LP (196?), cut# 3; Price, Bill & Betty. Bill and Betty Price, Rural Rhythm RRBP-239, LP (197?), cut#A.03; Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. Down Home, Roan Mountain, CD (2000/1983), cut#26; Robertson, Eck. Master Fiddler, Sonyatone STR 201, LP (1976), cut# 1; Robertson, Eck; and Henry Gilliland. Texas Farewell, County 517, LP, cut# 4; Rosenbaum, Art (Arthur). Art of the Mountain Banjo, Kicking Mule KM 203, LP (1975), cut#1.07; Ryan, Buck. Draggin' the Bow, Rebel SLP 1552, LP (1976), cut# 4; Schwartz, Hank. Room at the Top, JHU, LP (197?), cut#B.04; Simmons Family. Stone County Dulcimer, Dancing Doll DLP 112, LP (197?), cut#1.01; Skillet Lickers. Skillet Lickers, Vol. 2, County 526, LP (197?), cut# 10b; Smith, Glen; & the Mountain State Pickers. Glen Smith and the Mountain State Pickers, Kanawha 322, LP (197?), cut#B.06; Smith, Hobart. Sounds of the South, Atlantic 7-82496-2, CD( (1993), cut#4.18; Smoke, Herbert. Mountain Fiddler, Skyline DD 105, LP (1973), cut# 13a; Spencer, Len; and Charles D'Almaine. Minstrels and Tunesmiths, JEMF 109, LP (1981), cut#A.03; Sprung, Roger. Ragtime Bluegrass, Vol. 2, Folkways FA 2371, LP (1964), cut# 10; Stinnett, Cyril. Salty River Reel, MSOTFA 104, Cas (1992), cut# 17; Stinnett, Cyril. Plain Old Time Fiddling, Stinnett SLP 1013, LP (197?), cut#A.03; Stoneking, Lee R.. Missouri Old Time Fiddling, Stoneking, LP (197?), cut#A.07; Thomas, Tony. Old Style Texas and Oklahoma Fiddling, Takoma A-1013, LP (195?), cut# 11; Van Eps, Fred. Minstrels and Tunesmiths, JEMF 109, LP (1981), cut#B.04c; Wakefield, Frank. Frank Wakefield with Country Cooking, Rounder 0007, LP (1972), cut#B.02; Wanzer, Loyd. Famous Country Fiddling, American Heritage AH-401-19C, LP (197?), cut#A.07; Ward, Wade. Roscoe Holcomb and Wade Ward, Folkways FA 2363, LP (1962), cut#B.11; Ward, Wade. Uncle Wade. A Memorial to Wade Ward, Old Time Virginia Banjo ..., Folkways FA 2380, LP (1973), cut# 8
OTHER NAMES: Original Arkansas Traveller ; Shuffle About
SOURCES: Frank George (W.Va.) [Krassen]; James Marr (Mo., 1948) [Bayard]; eleven Pa. sources [Bayard]; Gordon Tanner (Dacula, Gwinnett County, Ga.) [Rosenberg]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 20 (appendix), pg. 580; No. 74, pg. 49 (an odd variation); and No. 316, pgs. 267-271. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 25- 26 (3 versions- 1 Bluegrass). Burchenal (American Country Dances, Vol. 1), 1917; pg. 58. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 25. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 4. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 46. Jarman, Old-Time Fiddlin' Tunes. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician: Occasional Collection of Old-Timey Fiddle Tunes for Hammer Dulcimer, Fiddle, etc.), No. 2, 1988; pg. 1. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 5, pg. 22. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 44 (includes 'A' part variation). Linscott (Folk Songs from Old New England), 1939 - "The Country Dance," pg. 83. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 3. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 17. Rosenberg, 198-; pg. 106. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 30, pg. 12. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 390. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964; pg. 53. ?}. American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.267 Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p 46a; Blevins, Frank. Devil's Box, Devil's Box DB, Ser (196?), 32/2, p18d; Hathaway, Ira. Devil's Box, Devil's Box DB, Ser (196?), 21/2, p59. Krassen, Miles. Appalachian Fiddle, Oak, sof (1973), p44; Mason, Phil. Dulcimer Player News, Dulcimer Player News DPN, Ser (1973-), 1/6, p32; New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p215; O'Connor, Mark. Devil's Box, Devil's Box DB, Ser (196?), 25/3, p37; Tanner, Gordon and Phil. Folk Visions & Voices. Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc, Traditional Music & Song in North Georgia, University of Georgia, Bk (1983), p106; Randolph 346, FSCatskills 90, RJackson-19CPop, pp. 10-13, JHCox 179, Lomax-ABFS, pp. 267-271, Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 216-219, Silber-FSWB, p. 33, Fuld-WFM, pp. 107-108.
NOTES: This is one of the best known American folk songs and fiddle tunes. Some people contend that Don Richardson's 1916 recordings for Columbia which included the Arkansas Traveler [LISTEN: Don Richardson's 1916 recording] were the first country music recordings. Many historians, including me, use the 1922 date when Eck Roberstson recorded for Victor [LISTEN: Eck Roberston's 1922 recording].
"D Major (Rosenberg, Sweet): G Major (Shaw): A Major (Kerr). Standard or ADAE. One part (Burchenal): AB (Shaw): AABB (most versions): AABBA'A' (Phillips, 1994). One of, if not the most famous of American fiddle tunes. E. Southern (1983) calls "Arkansas Traveller" a "plantation fiddle tune" (pg. 186), while Cauthen (1990) writes that it "had been played and sung as (an) anonymous folk tune, claimed and popularized by minstrel performers, then passed into the realm of folk music once more" (pg. 15). It is true that at least some of the elements of the famous dialogue typically attached to the melody (i.e. the conversation between the 'hick' and the 'city-slicker') were in circulation in the 1820's-1830's, during the plantation era, and it has been found that the tune and sketch had been joined and were being performed not long after (Yates and Russell, O.T.M. # 31 Winter 78/79). {For more information see article by H.C. Mercer in JEMFQ VI:2 (18) Summer 1970.} Rosenberg (198-) records that "Arkansas Traveller" was first published by Oliver Ditson and Company of Boston in 1863 and attributed to an itinerant musician or stage comedian named Mose Case, although Cazden (et al, 1982) reports it had been previously published in Buffalo, N.Y., by Blodgett & Bradford in 1858." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
The music itself was in print in 1847, Rosenberg states, and both the tune and the accompanying skit are presumed by him to have been in oral circulation at the time. Bayard (1981) thinks the whole melody may be an "American amalgam," as he was unable to locate a recognizable version in British Isles traditions. The second strain became a "floater," according to him, and appears in otherwise unrelated tunes, and he speculates a portion of the first part may itself have been a 'floater' that became attached to the tune. In Francis O'Neill's Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922), No. 255, "Arkansas Traveller" is regarded as having a 'presumable' Irish history and three tunes are given which are proffered as in part ancestral to the American melody.(Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
In Maine the piece was used for the dance "Green Mountain Volunteers" by the Singing Smiths (South Parsonfield, Me.), though the traditional tune for that dance was "Green Mountain Boys." It was one of the 'tune catagories' for an 1899 fiddle contest at Gallatin, Tenn.; i.e. the fiddler who played the best rendition of "Arkansas Traveller" won a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). Arthur Tanner (Ga.) remembers his father (Gid Tanner of Sillet Lickers fame) and uncle (Arthur Hugh Tanner) playing it "from the stage (in the 1920's/30's) and setting around the house...It would tear the audience up" (Rosenberg). The piece was found in the repertory of most traditional fiddlers in Union and Snyder counties, Pa. (Guntharp), while Cazden (et al, 1982) found the melody and humerous text well known throughout the Catskill Mountain (New York) region (he recorded a version from that locale in 1949). Cauthen (1990) notes in a very complete statewide survey that it was variously recorded as having been played throughout Alabama: in the northeast part of the state (in reports of the 1926-31 De Kalb County Annual Convention), the northwest (mentioned in a 1925 Univ. of Ala. master's thesis), southwest (recorded in a newspaper account of a contest in Grove Hill, May, 1929, and recalled by Alfred Benners in his 1923 book Slavery and Its Results as having been played by slave fiddler Jim Pritchett in Marengo County), southeast (listed by Robert Park in his book Sketch of the 12th Alabama Infantry as played by Ben Smith, a Georgian in the regiment in the Civil War; and recorded as having been played at a fiddlers' convention in July 1926 at the Pike County Fairgrounds), and finally the central part of the state (played at a contest in Verbena in 1921, as recorded by the Union Banner). In another Deep South state, Mississippi, it was recorded in the field from the playing of old-time fiddlers Stephen B. Tucker, John Hatcher and W.E. Claunch (Mississippi Department of Archives and History). The tune was listed for sale on cylanders in a 1901 Columbia catalogue, and in the same format the next year by Edison (Standard Cylander 8202, played by Len Spencer, Oct. 1902 {The tune was re-released as "Return of the Arkansas Traveller" in 1910 by the same company [Standard Cylander 10356]}). Edison also released a version played by Joseph Samuels in Nov. 1919 contained in the "Devil's Dream Medley" (1st tune). Texas fiddler Eck Robertson's (a duet with fiddler and Confederate veteran Henry Gilliland) recording of the piece (backed by "Turkey in the Straw") was the third best-selling record of 1923. The piece was "very popular" at Southwest dances around turn of the century, according to Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner. It was cited as having commonly been played for dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), and appears in Vance Randolph's list of traditional Ozark Mountain tunes he recorded for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's. Finally, it was recorded as having been in the repertory of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham, Henry Ford's national champion old-time fiddler, and regularly played by him in the 1920's. During the 78 RPM era an old recording of "Arkansas Traveller" was released in Québec under the title "Reel des Voyagers." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
"Randolph says "Both words and music are usually credited to Colonel Sandford C. Faulkner [d. 1875]"; I have seen no record of this in other sources. The sheet music in Jackson is credited to one Mose Case, but we know how reliable such claims are. Usually the fiddler only plays the "A" part of the tune; at the end of a few versions the traveller plays the "B" part, and the two become friends. This was a popular minstrel-show sketch in the 1900s, pitting the smart country man against the city slicker. The [Folksinger's Wordbook] text turns one of the classic jokes from the spoken skit into sung verses. Frustratingly, they give no sources, so the origins of this version are unknown. The chords given are not the usual chords played with the tune." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
A Part: I traveled out in Arkansas one day
On a freight that took my breath away
It went so slow the durn thing made me smile
Took a month and seven days to run about a mile
B Part: Oh it's fun to be a-ridin' trains
I mean a freight that's always late
In Arkansas there is no law against a freight that's late
If the train's on time it's ahead of time
That's why the freight is always late
No extra fare to get you there where you wanna go
A Part: I never want to take that trip again
Everything that crawled could beat that train
A snail that started with us in a race
Beat us by about three weeks and easily won first place
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