Here's a Missouri tune called Little Whiskey. Not sure if it's a suggestive reference, like, "hey, how 'bout a little whiskey?" Or literally a diminutive whiskey, much like those small tacky containers you can get at liquor store checkouts.
What I do know is it's a fun tune with a nice twist to it. The A-part is relatively straightforward, sticking to the root in the key of A. The B-part lands hard on a G chord, then to a D chord, then flies up the neck for a high B note. I'm playing fiddle again here, but swear my next TOTW will be on banjo! Little Whiskey makes a good banjo tune as well - I've linked below to a great tutorial by Hilarie Burhans.
I picked this one up from the Phillips Collection of American Fiddle Tunes, on loan to me from a Missouri fiddler. Book says it's from the ILL-MO Boys (great name), who seem to have recorded it for an early 90's cassette. You can hear a sample of their version here. Original source was a Missouri fiddler named Nile Wilson (b.1912), who learned it from his great uncle. It's a tie-hacker tune -- made it out to the Mid-West with the railroad (see Traditional Tune Archive entry here, Fiddler's Companion entry here). Hear samples of Nile's playing here and here.
Some great examples of the tune:
The Volo Bogtrotters unleash it at about 5:30 in this video, the last call of a whiskey medley (there happens to be a tab specific to their version, see Ken Torke's work here.)
Outdone by a child - I hope this kid is over on FiddleHangout, posting some good tunes:
Speaking of FHO - here's an interesting mandolin version of the tune.
Great jam with Hilarie Burhans...
...and a little tutorial video where she slows her playing down:
Finally, here's my take on it:
Would love to hear y'all's renditions!
