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Winkin' Eye
Old-Time Breakdown and Song
ARTIST: From Frailing Banjo by Eric Muller and Barbara Koehler
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7DETN9jX1E James Leva & Purgatory Mountain
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
EARLIEST DATE: 1900s
RECORDING INFO: Winkin' Eye
Cohen, Andy; and Joe LaRose. Tuxedo Blues, Green Linnet SIF 1033, LP (1981), trk# 3b
Muller, Eric. Muller, Eric & Barbara Koehler / Frailing the 5-String Banjo, Mel Bay, Sof (1973), p70
Ward, Fields and Wade. Country Music - Fields and Wade Ward, Biograph RC 6002, LP (1968), trk# 2
James Leva & Prgatory Mountain Youtube
Eric Muller and Barbara Koehler; Frailing Banjo 1973; p. 71.
SOURCES: Folk Index; Kuntz
NOTES: Not a well know banjo and fiddle tune that was played by Ward family and recorded in 1968. The lyrics to Winkin' Eye are found in Frailing Banjo by Eric Muller and Barbara Koehler p. 71. James Leva & Purgatory Mountain play a version on Youtube. The lyrics are:
CHORUS: Oh me, oh my, you'd better watch my winkin' eye
You'd better watch my winkin' eye
*If you don't want no blackie eye.
VERSE: I went to town the other night
I got so drunk I had to fight
Still on my feet so I had to run,
Wished I brought my gattlin gun.
CHORUS: Oh me, oh my, you'd better watch my winkin' eye
You'd better watch my winkin' eye
If you don't want no blackie eye.
I go a gal in another town,
Weighs two hundred and forty pounds,
She's another gal with a winkin' eye,
*When she turned around could hear her sigh.
CHORUS: Oh me, oh my, you'd better watch my winkin' eye
You'd better watch my winkin' eye
*If you don't want no blackie eye.
*not sure lyrics here
It's possible but not documented that the song and tune are derived from the title and lyrics of the 1890 song by W.T. Lytton, "Wink the other Eye." Here's some information from Andrew Kuntz:
WINK THE OTHER EYE. Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB (Beisswenger & McCann, Christeson): AA'BB' (Phillips). The tune is meant to be played at a tempo slower than that for a standard breakdown. Charles Wolfe says it is a "fine old Sequatchie Valley (Tenn.) fiddle band tune known to area fiddlers as diverse as Tom Douglas and Curly Fox" (Charles Wolfe, The Devil's Box, vol. 15, No. 4, Dec. 1981, pg. 56). Early recordings (Meade, 2002) are by Theron Hale & His Daughters (1928), Jess Young’s Tennessee Band (1929) and Hack’s String Band (1930). It appears to be well‑known in those states just west of the Mississippi River, as it is in Tennessee and Kentucky. Guthrie Meade (1980) associates the title with songwriter W.T. Lytton, who penned “When You Wink the Other Eye” in 1890 (popularised by Marie Lloyd), a slightly risqué variety piece which begins:
***
Say boys, what do you really mean when you wink the other eye?
Why, when you tell us where you’ve been do you wink the other eye?
You tell your wives such stories, you can give them just a few,
“Just met an old acquaintance” or “The train was over-due.”
And when the simple wife believes that every word it true,
Then you wink the other eye.
***
CHO:
Say, boys, now is it quite the thing?
Say, should we let you have your fling?
Oh! When you’ve got us on a string
Then you wink the other eye.
***
Sources for notated versions: Lonnie Robertson (Ozark County, Missouri) [Christeson]; William Garett with Hack's String Band [Phillips]; Art Galbraith (1909-1993, near Springfield Missouri), who learned it from Lonnie Robertson [Beisswenger & McCann]. Beisswenger & McCann (Ozark Fiddle Tunes), 2008; pg. 42. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 2), 1984; pg. 82. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 172. Recorded by Jess Young (Chattanooga, Tenn.) for Columbia in 1929, but never issued. Heritage 060, Art Galbraith ‑ "Music of the Ozarks" (Brandywine, 1984). Morning Star 45003, Hack's String Band (Muhlenberg County, Ky.) ‑ "Wink the Other Eye: Old‑Time Fiddle Band Music from Kentucky" (1980. Originally recorded in 1930).
Winkin' Eye: Frailing Banjo by Eric Muller and Barbara Koehler
Went to town the other night
Raised some cane and had to fight
Throwed three rocks and had to run,
Wished I brought my gattlin gun.
CHORUS: Oh me, oh my, you'd better watch my winkin' eye
You'd better watch my winkin' eye
If you don't want no blackie eye.
Lazy gal in yonder town,
Weighs two hundred and forty pounds,
Looked at me and winked her eye,
When she turned around could hear her sigh.
CHORUS: Oh me, oh my, you'd better watch my winkin' eye
You's better watch my winkin' eye
If you don't want no blackie eye.
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