Up for discussion this week is another tune that everyone knows - Arkansas Traveler. It seems crazy that it hasn't been done yet. This is one of the first tunes that most people learn, including myself. I think it was the 1st tune I ever really could play all the way through and sound somewhat like a banjo player. It's one that has always still been fun to play.
To get us started, here are some "fun facts" and history behind the tune. There is probably a ton you could add to this list.
Fun Facts
-Fiddler's Companion says, it's "One of, if not the most famous of American fiddle tunes"
-It was the state song of Arkansas from 1949-1963
-It has been the state's historical song since 1987
-It has become a popular children's song "I'm Bringing Home A Baby Bumblebee"
-Sandy Faulkner, the Arkansas Traveler, and Mose Case, an albino African American guitarist and singer, arranged the music for themselves but probably did not compose the tune. (source )
-The first known publication of the sheet music in 1847 was "arranged by” William Cumming. In Connecticut by around 1860, the Traveler was a barn dance, featuring a number of calls representing the travels of a peddler from Arkansas. (source )
-"The Arkansas Traveler” appeared in early recordings, both cylinder and disk, in the form of a humorous dialog. In 1902 the Len Spencer dialog version became the first song to sell one million records, according to one source. Then the tune itself became the first (or at least one of the first) "country music” songs ever to be recorded, by Eck Robertson and Henry Gilliland in June, 1922. This was among the first fifty recordings selected for the National Recording Registry, founded to preserve significant sound recordings in the United States. The Traveler has been recorded hundreds of times, in traditional, jazz and even symphonic arrangement, proving to be one of the most popular tunes in American history.
-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 (in minstrel shows) not long after (source - from Fiddler's Companion)
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There are no shortage of versions of this tune floating around on the inter-webs.
http://www.arkansas-traveler.org/tune/ - great site with a lot of information about arkansas and the arkansas traveler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goEl5ItH10Q - very authentic version from Annie and Mac.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urB_EuOb2rY - my favorite youtube video of the song by Tommy Jarrell
Frailblazer's mp3 version on the hangout - link - this is a beautiful take on the song.
I have also posted a quick take that I recorded last night. I recorded another version about a year ago, and it's interesting to see how I've made some slight (unintentional) changes here and there.
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Take some time to record your own version of this classic and share with us. I'm looking forward to hearing some!
More info to come!!