Following the recent “Crooked Tunes” thread in the other old time forum I wanted to choose something in that vein for my Tune of the Week. I also wanted to choose something fairly standard that would get a lot of participation and that I knew and enjoyed and played with folks pretty regular. So I picked what may be the least standardized of old time standards, Lost Indian aka Cherokee Shuffle.
I’m looking forward to hearing about how people in all the various regions represented on BHO play and call this tune. Around here (NE Georgia), I think “Cherokee Shuffle” is the slightly more popular name but “Lost Indian” is common enough that if someone wants to play one of the completely different tunes called “Lost Indian” (like the Eck Robertson tune) they have to specify the source and key to avoid additional/complete confusion. The BHO music archive gives 45 results for “Cherokee Shuffle” in wide variety of keys and styles and 24 results for “Lost Indian,” though some of the latter are actually examples of different melodies that also bear that name. Ed Halley, Eck Robertson, and Noble Page are some old fiddlers who played different tunes with the name “Lost Indian.”
The D major setting is the only one I have encountered amongst old time musicians and the A setting is the only one I have encountered amongst bluegrassers. It’s popular with both crowds. It is always a two part tune here, though apparently a third part is played in some locales, and the A part is usually square with the B part having an extra 2 measure phrase tacked on. One local fiddler plays both the A and B part with the extra phrase, making for 40 total measures, and calls it “Lost Cherokee.”
The Fiddlers Companion sheds some light on the history of the tune and its variations, but the multiple entries get a bit unwieldy so I’ll try and distill their essence for the sake of clarity. The most identifiable source tune seems to have come from Tommy Magness who recorded it as “Lonesome Indian” in the 30’s. Sometime after that it was adopted in the North Carolina and Virginia fiddling circles as “Lost Indian” and is apparently “known as a local Surry County, North Carolina, regional melody…” according to the Companion. The Cherokee Shuffle vein was an adaptation by Tommy Jackson, usually played in A. A previous BHO thread with some great info is located at http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/138440 and some additional tidbits can be found at http://www.chriswig.com/cds/lost%20indian/notes/12_lostindian.html
I am not going to post BHO music archive renditions of the tune as there are SO many great ones and I don’t want to choose! Hopefully folks will join in on the thread and post their own versions but I will hit some highlights if they don’t show up. I didn’t have much luck locating any old recordings (maybe someone could hunt down the Magness original?), but here are some of my favorites via youtube:
A fine setting from Donald Zepp (imagine that!). I drew heavily from this for my own rendition: http://youtu.be/1h28lZFF3b8
An excellent fiddle and banjo version that is pretty much exactly how we play the tune around here: http://youtu.be/M3A8TglNpQc
And last but not least, an allstar jam featuring some of the modern old time greats: http://youtu.be/RnWGL7pWc98
On a more personal note, I live in the area that the Cherokee were forcibly and illegally removed from, and some of my own ancestors were Muscogee, the traditional enemy of the Cherokee. So whichever title is used for the tune I am always reminded of that sad history and of the current oppression and racism faced by so many modern American Indians.
So, Cherokee Shuffle/Lost Indian is likely not a very old tune, but it sure is a good one! When I first started playing old time banjo I found all the variation and alternate titles very confusing and challenging but now I can honestly say it is an aspect of the music that I find extremely appealing, though still very challenging!
Here is my own version of the tune to get the ball rolling: