Annotation:Oh My Little Darling
X:1 T:Oh My Little Darling M:C L:1/8 R:Reel S:Brad Leftwich N:From a transcription by John Lamancusa, by permission. See http://www.mne.psu.edu/lamancusa/tunes.htm Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A E2[A,2A2] [B(e][c2e2)]c|d2[e2(e2]e2) (e2|e)cef (=ge)c2|[d3f3] [d(=g][d3f3)] [A(e]| [A2f2)] (Af) [A3f3] =g|f2[(A2e2][A2)e2] (e2|e)fec B2G2|1 A3(B A2)(E2:|2 A3 (BA2)(a2|| |:a)ba(f e2) ef|(=ge)fg e2(a2|a)baf e2c2|[d3f3] ([d=g][d2f2)](a2|a)(ba)f e2 ef| (=ge)fg e2 (ce|e)fec B(G B2)|1 A3 ([A,A]A2)a2:|2 A3 [(A,A]A2 A2)||
OH MY LITTLE DARLING. AKA and see "My Little Dony." American, Reel. A Major/Mixoldyian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. "Oh My Little Darling" was recorded in the field by Herbert Halpert during his 1939 collecting trip for the Library of Congress (AAFS 3115 B1), from the playing and singing of Alabama farmer Thaddeus C. Willingham (Gulfport, Miss.). Willingham learned many of his pieces from former slaves who still worked on his father's farm. Willingham sang the following verses:
Oh my little darling, don’t you weep and cry,
Some sweet day a-coming, marry you and I.
Oh my little darling, don’t you weep and moan,
Some sweet day a-coming, take my baby home.
Up and down the railroad,‘cross the county line,
Pretty little girls a-plenty, but a wife is hard to find.
Nigger drives the wagon, nigger walks behind,
Kill yourself a-laughing to see them horses flyin’.
A version of the tune was played as an instrumental by fiddler Charles Long in 1929 under the title "My Little Dony"[1]
- ↑ Long's recording may be heard on the LP "Great Big Yam Potatoes" from the Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History.