Annotation:Wednesday Night Waltz

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X:1 T:Wednesday Night Waltz N:From the playing of the Leake County Revelers (Mississippi), with N:fiddler Wil Gilmer. M:3/4 L:1/8 R:Waltz D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/wednesday-night-waltz-1 D:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffDkhRzKJm0 D:Columbia 15189-D (78 RPM), Leake County Revelers (1928. Recorded D:04/1927 in New Orleans, La.). D:Document DOCD 8029, "Leake County Revelers, vol. 1" (1998) Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:D F-GA2|[f6a6]|[f6a6]-|[d3f3]d de|dA FG A2|[B6d6]| [A4=c4][G2B2]|[F6A6]-|[F4A4]A2|[f6a6]|[e4g4][d2f2]-|[f2a2][d2f2]B-d| A2 [F2A2]-[A2A2]|[c6e6]|[c3e3]B [ce]d-|e6-|ed cd e2| [f6a6]|[e4g4][d2f2]-|[f2a2][d2f2]B-d| A2 [F2A2]-[A2A2]|[B6d6]| [A4=c4][G2B2]|[F6A6]-|[F2A2]F-GA2|[B6d6]|[B4d4]-[G2B2]| [F2A2]Ad ef|a5A2|+slide+[f2a2][f4a4]|[fa]-[eg]- [e2g2] [e2g2]-|[d6f6]-|1,2[d2f2]:|3 [d6f6]|| [M:C|]|:D2FA d2F2|G2 Bd g2B2|A2 ce agfg|abag fed2| D2 FA d2F2|G2 Bd g2B2|A2 ce agfe|dcBA AGFE:|


WEDNESDAY NIGHT WALTZ. American, Waltz (3/4 time). USA; Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, West Virginia, Kentucky. D Major: G Major (Devil's Box). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Brody, Devil's Box, Phillips, Thede): ABB (Christeson). R.P. Christeson (1973) suggests this tune was founded on the once popular song "Wednesday Night Waltz," however, Charles Wolfe (1997) states that it originated with a Mississippi fiddle band, the Leake County Revelers, and the group’s fiddler, Wil Gilmer. Gilmer himself admitted that he had picked up the tune “out in Texas somewhere.” The Revelers’ version was second best-selling country music record of 1927 (backed by "Goodnight Waltz") and the biggest old-time seller of 1928 (recorded for Columbia records). In the middle of the piece the Revelers would break into a faster, duple-time strain[1] (Lonnie Robertson’s “Hazy Hills Waltz” has a similar ‘waltz-and-two-step’ combination). Later that same year Kanawha County, West Virginia, fiddler Clark Kessinger (1896-1975) was asked by Brunswick records’ session manager, James O’Keefe, to do a cover version of “Wednesday Night Waltz” for his label, and provided Kessinger with a copy of the Leake County Revelers’ recording from which to learn. It too proved to be a hit, and was Kessinger’s first and most popular recording (Brunswick 220). “We’d have mad a fortune if they’d paid us royalties,” said Kessinger, and although there was little money derived for the artists, the Kessinger brothers (actually Kessinger, accompanied by his nephew, Luke Kessinger), they were assured of a continued recording career (Mountains of Music, John Lilly ed., 1999, p. 28). Curiously, Kessinger’s Brunswick recording was released in Québec for the French-speaking market with the completely different title “Valse de Musicien (La).” The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, from the playing of Ozarks Mountains fiddlers in the early 1940's, and there is a 1948 recording in the Library of Congress (AFS 09337 B02) of "Wednesday Night Waltz" being played on fiddle by Miss Pugs Scott of Benson, Arizona, at an Old Time Fiddlers' Contest in Armory Park, Tucson. It was also recorded by northwest Missouri fiddler Cyril Stinnett (1912-1986).


Additional notes



Printed sources : - Brody (Fiddler’s Fake Book), 1983; pg. 287. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; pp. 199-202. Stephen F. Davis (Devil's Box), vol. 33, No. 4, Dec. 2000; p. 41. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2), 1995; p. 322. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 48, pp. 17-18. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 166. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; p. 145.

Recorded sources : - American Heritage 14, Bill Long "Mountain Fiddlin' Music From Montana." Bluebird BB 5607 (78 RPM), Riley Puckett (with Clayton McMichen?). Brunswick 220 (78 RPM), The Kessinger Brothers. Caney Mountain Records CEP 211 (privately issued extended play LP), Lonnie Roberston (Mo.), c. 1965 66. Columbia 15189-D (78 RPM), The Leake County Revelers (1927). Conqueror 8136 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts (Ky.). County 744, Kenny Baker "Dry and dusty." County 733, Clark Kessinger (W.Va.) "The Legend of Clark Kessinger" (reissue). Davis Unlimited 33015, Doc Roberts (Ky.) "Classic Fiddle Tunes." Decca 5018 (78 RPM), Stripling Brothers (Alabama) {1934}. Document DOCD 8029, "Leake County Revelers, vol. 1" (1998).Folkways FA 2336, Clark Kessinger "Fiddler." Melotone 12390 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts. Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Cyril Stinnett (1912-1986) - "Plain Old Time Fiddling." In the repertoire of Leake County, Mississippi, twin fiddle band Freeny's Barn Dance Band, c. 1930.

See also listing at :
Hear the Leake County Reveler's 1927 recording at Slippery Hill [1]

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  1. ↑ 
    X:1
T:Unknown break in Wed. Night Waltz
M:C|
L:1/8
K:D
D2FA d2A2|G2 Bd g2B2|A2 ce agfg|abag fedd|
D2FA d2A2|G2 Bd g2B2|1A2 ce agfe|dcBA BAFE:|2A2 ce ^g-a2=g|f2d2d2||
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