For this week's tune, I've chosen Sweet Marie (not to be confused with the Bob Dylan song "Absolutely Sweet Marie"). I learned this tune this past spring from Jeff Titon, who I believe learned it from Bruce Green. Jeff called the tune "a real honey" and I have to agree. It's a tune that gets stuck in my head and when it does I'm happy it's there.
Interestingly, Sweet Marie apparently didn't start out as a traditional fiddle or banjo tune, though Fiddler's Companion does have a very brief listing for it. Instead, the tune seems to have started life as a slow, sentimental ballad in the late 1800s. There is an interesting discussion about the origin of the tune on this thread over in the Fiddle Hangout: http://www.fiddlehangout.com/topic/29596
I don't know how or when it came to work it's way into the old-time repertoire. Bruce Green recorded Kentucky fiddle player Walter Lile playing the tune in 1970. You can listen to that recording here: http://slippery-hill.com/M-K/AEAE/SweetMarie.mp3. North Carolina fiddler Benton Flippen recorded a mellow version on his album Fiddler's Dream when he was in his eighties.
Here is a video of Bruce and friends playing the tune at a Mt. Airy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpsNW2OjFHU
There are a few nice recordings on the hangout, including:
Jack (JackAK) Fontanella's version here: http://www.banjohangout.org/song/8095
Erich (vrteach) Schroeder's version here: http://www.banjohangout.org/song/20314
BHO's Don Borchelt has an excellent version in his trademark 3-finger style with a great harmonica accompaniment. Don's account is inexplicably locked at the moment (few give more back to BHO than he does) but you can listen here: http://www.banjohangout.org/myhangout/media-player/audio_player2.asp?musicid=22227
One of my very favorite versions is played by the Troublesome Creek String Band (featuring BHO member Steve Arkin on banjo) on their album Fast As Time Can Take Me. (The whole album is a winner.)
In the old-time world, it shows up most often in the key of G but also sometimes in A (the original seems to be in the not very banjo-friendly key of Eb). Here it is in G the way I played it a couple days ago. Slow and sweet or fast and bouncy, let's hear your version.