I've chosen to submit Going Up Town (or Goin' Uptown) for this weeks tune. It's a D tune, and as you will easily hear that it has some similarities to Ragtime Annie, Avalon Quickstop, and maybe even Liberty.
The Fiddler's Companion has the following entry:
GOING UP TOWN. Old‑Time, Breakdown. D Major. Standard. AA' (Devil's Box): AB (Kuntz): AAB (Phillips). John Hartford's note given along with his transcription of the tune reads: "Oscar Stone added this part to 'Ragtime Annie' (which it sounds like in the 'A' part) so, according to Howdy (Forrester, Nashville fiddler), he could claim it." See also "Avalon Quickstep" which is melodically similar in parts. Sources for notated versions: Tennessee fiddler Oscar Stone via Howdy Forester via John Hartford [The Devil's Box], Liz Slade (Yorktown, New York) [Kuntz], Pete Sutherland with the Arm and Hammer String Band (Vt.) [Phillips]. The Devils Box, Vol. 22, No. 4, Winter 1988, pg. 51. Kuntz, Private Collection. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 57. Brunswick 232 (78 RPM), 1928, Dr. Humphrey Bate and His Possum Hunters (Nashville, Tenn.). Kicking Mule KM216, Arm and Hammer String Band ‑ "New England Contra Dance Music" (1977). Marimac 9111, Dr. Humphrey Bate and His Possum Hunters (1928) ‑ "Goin' Up Town: Old Time String Bands, Vol. 2."
Oscar Stone, mentioned above, was the fiddler for the group called "Dr. Humphrey Bate and His Possum Hunters" who seem to be the first recorded version of the tune. So, Oscar Stone may have developed this tune from Ragtime Annie. Humphrey Bate was indeed a physician in the Nashville area, but he was a skilled and enthusiastic musician also. His band was one of first stars of the Grand Old Opry, beginning in 1925 when the show was still called the Barn Dance. You cand find out more about Humphrey Bate on Wikipedia and elsewhere.
The Possum Hunters were a fairly large band, often consisting of 2 fiddles, 2 guitars, banjo, cello, bowed bass, tiple, ukulele, and Dr. Bate who conducted and played harmonica. They recorded Goin Uptown, in 1928. It has been reissued a number of times on collections of the band, and more general collections. I've attached an excerpt of that recording here. I don't know the make up of the band, and I assume that the man giving the calls is Dr. Bate himself.
I learned the tune from this album, New England Contra Dance Music, published by Kicking Mule Records in 1977. I think I probably got it in 1980. It's a great album and I listened to it a great deal for a couple of years. But, I really only learned two tunes from it, and it was the medley of Going Up Town and Avalon Quickstep by the Arm and Hammer Stringband. I was REALLY pleased when doing the research for this posting to find that an mp3 version of this out-of-print LP is available for download from: http://grapewrath.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/new-england-contra-dance-music/, but I've also included an excerpt from the album in this post in case the link goes down. I learned the tunes by setting my turntable to 16rpm which greatly slowed down the sound and kept it in the same key. But it sure made it terrible to listen to!
Over the years I continued to play the tune, but never found anyone who knew it and I even forgot the title and where I learned it. In 2006 I posted a version on the Hangout asking what it was. John_D identified it for me, although he thought that I had done something to the B (high) part. Finally last weekend in Gilman (IL) I brought it up at a jam and Steve from Ann Arbor knew the tune; I finally got to play it with someone else! But sure enough, his B (high) part was rather different from what I was playing. I wish I had had my recorder out.
The Fiddler's companion has two versions in ABC notation, and I think that my version matches the second one there, and Steve's version matches the first version. But it's hard to tell because neither one plays quite right for me.
Anyway, I hope some other folks learn the tune so I can find someone to play with. It's a rollicking little tune. I've included a short video in which I play it twice at tempo, and twice slower.
Edit: Oh, and I'm a terrible tablature writer, but I decided to do an image that describes that repeating phrase in the tune. It's one of my few melodic drop-thumb bits.