Out on the Ocean
LINER NOTES
1. She Moved Through the Fair - The lyrics of this song, first published in Hughes's Irish Country Songs in 1909, have been found both in Ireland and Scotland. Some have speculated that because of its strange (perhaps even Eastern) sounding melody, it could be an air of some antiquity.
2. Out on the Ocean / The Kesh Jig - It seems no one really knows the origins of Out on the Ocean, but some think it comes from a very old family of tunes. It has been played by many with lots of variations, and its classic combination with The Kesh Jig remains prized. For those interested in the origins of tune names, the word ‘kesh’ is found here and there in Ireland and refers to a passageway across wet ground or bog, a sort of wicker bridge matting used in olden days to facilitate crossing without getting wet feet.
3. When the Leaves Turn Brown Again / Louie’s First Tune - This first tune was popularized by fiddler and composer Tommy Jackson (1926 - 1979), a prolific Nashville session fiddler who recorded many of the square dance LP's in the 1950's & 60's. The second tune hails from a popular 70’s LP from Louis Riendeau of the Riendeau family of New Hampshire. The music from this wonderful album opened up great interest among traditionalists in Franco-American/French Canadian music from over the border, especially for the crooked tunes of this genre.
4. Polly Put the Kettle On - I learned this unusual tune from the talented young fiddler Brian (Hawk) Hubbard in Oakland in the early 1970’s. I was lucky enough to record and save a whole bunch of his mountain-style tunes as he was passing through town. This tune’s popularity apparently originated with a fiddler named Byard Ray (1910-1988) from Sodom Laurel, Madison County, NC. Hawk’s musical influence on me was powerful at that time when I, too, had first arrived in town and was slowly transitioning from classical to traditional styles. Over a period of several years, and as this particular tune percolated throughout my subconscious, I noticed I had unwittingly adapted its rhythm and also turned it crooked by randomly holding on to the end of some phrases. After introducing it to brilliant and whimsical fiddling friend, Hank Bradley, Polly… was to continue on her own increasingly mischievous journey.
5. Paddy Fahey’s Reel in G /The Kerfunken Jig - Paddy Fahey, who sadly passed away at the age of 102 in May of 2019, was one of the finest composers of tunes created in the style of traditional Irish music. Fahey’s tunes have a distinctive magical and yearning quality sometimes referred to as ‘Draiocht’, Gaelic for soul or spiritual power. It’s known that Fahey, a farmer from East Galway, was not a man for the spotlight and even considered a bit of an enigma in the traditional Irish music world because he never made a commercial recording, nor ever had a book published of his many compositions, none of which ever received names. The second tune, a charming jig attributed to flutist, Hammy Hamilton (who seems to have named it after a place in Brittany in a suburb of Quimper called Kerfuten and inspired by the Church of the Fountain), combines beautifully with this, one of Fahey’s many distinctive (and in this case, slow) reels.
6. Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies - It is said that this British love song had almost completely disappeared from the UK by the 1900s with only two traditional variants found in Scotland around 1908. According to Cecil Sharp’s English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, this classic love song was very popular in Appalachia at that time, having been brought over in the 1700’s and early 1800’s to the Virginia Colony and spread westward into the Southern Mountains from Virginia by the early English, Irish and Scottish settlers.
7. Martin’s Waltz - A staple of contest fiddlers, particularly in the Midwest, this tune was named after (and composed by) bluegrass fiddler, Benny Martin (1928-2001) from Sparta, Tennessee who was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and had his own program, the Benny Martin Show. He performed and recorded with Roy Acuff, Flatt and Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers among many others. A popular entertainer for five decades, Martin made numerous appearances throughout the U.S. and Europe, and typified ‘country stompin’ music with his enthusiastic fiddling while dancing around on the stage.
8. Blind Mary -This slow air is attributed to legendary blind Celtic harper, Turlough O’Carolan (Irish: Toirdhealbhach O Cearbhallain, 1670 - 1738), also a composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame derives from his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the classical sense, O’Carolan is considered by many to be Ireland’s national composer. His activities during the course of his life are historically insufficiently documented, and this has sometimes led to a lack of accurate information about him and his music, even among Irish musicians.
9. Down by the Sally Gardens - Set to a traditional Irish tune, Down by the Salley Gardens: (Irish: Gort na Sailean) is a poem by William Butler Yeats published in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems in 1889. It has been suggested that the location of the Salley Gardens was on the banks of the river at Ballysadare near Sligo where the residents cultivated trees to provide roof thatching materials. ‘Salley’ or ‘Sally’ is a form of the English word sallow and is close in sound to the Irish word saileach meaning ‘willow’.
10. The Mineola Rag - Composed and named by the East Texas Serenaders for the town of Mineola, Texas where the group’s cello player worked for the postal service. The Serenaders were a popular string band in the 1920’s that featured a rare cello among the usual lineup of guitar and fiddles. This tune, recorded in Dallas in 1930, shows the ragtime influence on old-time music and contains segments borrowed from other popular ragtime pieces.
11. Midnight on the Water / Bonaparte's Retreat - Using DDAD fiddle tuning in this set. This first tune was originally credited to Texas fiddler, Luke Thomasson. However, his famous son, Benny, swears he heard both his father and uncle composing this tune on the family porch c. 1900. (And some have noted the tune’s resemblance to an Oklahoma tune called Old Paint). The second tune is based on a famous 1937 Library of Congress recording by William H. Stepp. That recording (or Ruth C. Seeger’s transcription of it) was adapted by Aaron Copland for a main theme in his orchestral suite, Hoedown.
12. Da Auld Resting Chair - According to acclaimed traditional Shetland fiddler and composer Tom Anderson’s liner notes from The Silver Bow CD, this tune is a tribute to his grandfather—and how he found, in the ruins of his grandfather’s cottage, the remains of the ‘resting chair’ his grandfather used to sit on while teaching Tom to play the fiddle.
13. Remembering Tom Anderson - I wrote the lyrics to this song to the melody of Tom Anderson’s Da Auld Resting Chair in order to send to friend and celebrated accompanist (piano and accordion), Violet Tulloch of Lerwick, Shetland for Tom’s Centennial birthday celebration in 2010. At that time, not having decent recording equipment at home, I simply sang into an old tape recorder, copied it, and sent it off to Violet. Eight years later, having found the lyrics by chance amongst heaps of notated songs, I took it to Ray and sang it for him at his home. I realized at this time how these words set to Tom’s haunting tune had more significance than I had thought. And, even though I sang it only once that day with Ray’s accompaniment, I decided to give it a try six months later while recording other songs at the studio. I knew Tom’s spirit was with us that day, and we were pleased to keep this very first take.
14. My Own House Waltz / West Fork Girls - This first tune, of Scottish origin and traditionally played on bagpipes, has been adapted using a sharp 7th in the last phrase of each part instead of a flat 7th, thereby changing its character and, also it’s rhythm into a waltz format. I have included this version in our album because it reminds me of my first days learning to fiddle after moving to Berkeley, CA. I’ve included My Own House as a tribute to the late Sue Draheim, an amazing fiddler who literally changed my life by appearing in the UC Davis coffeehouse with her group of musicians called Dr. Humbead’s New Tranquility String Band just a few weeks before I was to graduate with definite plans to continue there for my master’s degree in anthropology. Upon seeing and hearing Sue and her band, I decided on the spot to get myself to Berkeley as soon as humanly possible—with my plans for an advanced degree cast asunder. West Fork Girls is a common tune from West Virginia that became quite popular and loved amongst Bay Area musicians.
15. Geordie - The earliest known publication of a variant of this ballad is a London black-letter broadside The Life and Death of George Oxford dating from between 1672 and 1696. Robert Burns also contributed a version of the Scottish variant published in 1792. From the 14th century onward, the Ballad became a song form with narration as its core defining feature. The English variant of this song was published by many broadside publishers in the 19th century. One of the earliest recorded versions was by Joan Baez who included it on her first album in 1962.
16. Billy in the Low Ground / Salt River - This first tune may refer to King William of Orange, the low ground being the Low Countries, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. It became a popular fiddle tune among Kentucky musicians and was recorded in 1937 for the Library of Congress by the Lomax’s from the playing of Luther Strong in Hazard, Kentucky. The second tune tends towards the style of bluegrass rather than old-timey in this version. Salt River probably refers to the river of that name in Kentucky. Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys recorded this fiddle tune in 1964 under the title, Salt Creek, modifying the original name in honor of the creek in Indiana near where Monroe held his annual Bean Blossom Festival.
17. Little Thatchty Cabin - I had the great honor and pleasure of learning this song over a period of several years listening to Kevin Keegan (leader of the Grainneog Celli Band of which I was fortunate to be a part) singing his heart out on those extraordinary occasions bordering on holy—particularly in S.F. pubs on St. Patrick’s Day. At those unique moments, there were few dry eyes in the house if any, and one could surely hear a pin drop in the crowded room.
18. Dry and Dusty / Little Liza Jane - The first tune was recorded for the Library of Congress from Ozarks Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940’s by musicologist and folklorist Vance Randolph, from the playing of Arkansas fiddler, Lon Jordan. The version of the second tune comes from J.P. Fraley (1923 - 2011) of Kentucky and has become a standard in old-time circles.