EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/21/2015:  10:30:29

This week's volunteer was unable to post, so I am doing a quick emergency back-up tune. That tune is Johnny Walk Along With Your Paper Collar On, which comes to us from Texas fiddler Duck Wootan.  I came across the tune on Ken Torke's TaterJoe's website (taterjoes.com/index.html), a fine clawhammer and old-time music resource, one where I have found many wonderful fiddle and banjo tunes. Johnny Walk Along With Your Paper Collar On is the most recent addition to Ken's banjo tab archive, added just two days ago, so I figured I would "borrow" it for this emergency Tune of the Week.  And besides, it is a great tune.

DUCK WOOTAN

I haven't yet learned much about Duck Wootan, other than that he was from the central Texas town of Junction.  His grandson Tim Wooten is a member of the FiddleHangout, and in 2011 he posted this in a thread about his grandfather:

Thomas Jefferson (Duck) Wootan was born in 1882 and died in 1964. Some of my earliest memories are of him playing his fiddle (which I play now). My last name is spelled differently because the US army got my father's name wrong in WWII and it was too much trouble to change it back. My father had the foresight to record a few of his tunes and later gave the recording to me.

If I discover more about Duck I will add it to this post.

THE TUNE

It is in the key of G.  As far as I know, Duck Wootan is our only source for Johnny Walk Along With Your Paper Collar On, and it is thus considered a Texas tune.  According to various sources (the Traditional Tune Archive, etc.), it is a alternate title for, a version of, or related to the more well known Missouri tune Walk Along John.

The tune has various floating lyrics associated with it, such as:

What you gonna do when your works all done

Johnny walk along with your paper collar on

What you gonna do when you had your fun

Johnny walk along with your paper collar on

Walk along John in the setting sun

Johnny walk along with your paper collar on

PAPER COLLARS

In 1956, The Harvard Crimson ran an article about the last paper collar factory in the country: thecrimson.com/article/1956/11...ctory-in/

AUDIO AND VIDEO

Solo fiddle by FiddleHangout member Modon: fiddlehangout.com/myhangout/me...ived=true

Twin fiddle version from Howard Rains and friend: youtube.com/watch?v=Fwu9qxwnIAc

The tune is available on the recent album from Tricia Spencer & Howard Rains "The Old Texas Fiddle, Volume 2: Weird Tunes of Old Texas": http://amazon.com/Johnny-Walk-...B00TQTEIYK

Video of Tricia and Howard playing the tune: videos.carryonharry.com/video/...r-On.html

TABLATURE

Tab from Ken Torke: taterjoes.com/banjo/JohnnyWalk...larOn.pdf

Edited by - EggerRidgeBoy on 03/21/2015 16:53:09

Mtngoat - Posted - 03/21/2015:  11:49:02

Great tune.

RG - Posted - 03/21/2015:  13:02:20

Big "like"!

Kernel - Posted - 03/21/2015:  13:58:22

I took my banjo to a fiddle workshop in Berkeley, CA with Tricia Spencer and Howard Rains where they taught this tune. My fiddling friend, Mark Wardenburg, transcribed the fiddle part.  If you're inclined to talk a fiddler into learning the tune with you it can be found here. taterjoes.com/fiddle/JohnnyWal...larOn.pdf. My arrangement (linked above) should match pretty closely.

If you don't have Howard and Tricia's CDs you should consider picking them up. They've been in my CD player for weeks. Nice folks. Good stuff.

JanetB - Posted - 03/21/2015:  16:29:02

Good one, Bret -- you never let us down. I never knew about paper collars. The Texas fiddle tune CDs will now be more meaningful for me. And thanks for the good tab, Ken. It helped me learn the tune easily, and you all know I enjoy Saturdays with an interesting TOTW to work on.

Johnny Walk Along With Your Paper Collar On (TOTW)

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/23/2015:  16:03:14

quote:

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Originally posted by Kernel

I took my banjo to a fiddle workshop in Berkeley, CA with Tricia Spencer and Howard Rains where they taught this tune. My fiddling friend, Mark Wardenburg, transcribed the fiddle part.  If you're inclined to talk a fiddler into learning the tune with you it can be found here. taterjoes.com/fiddle/JohnnyWal...larOn.pdf. My arrangement (linked above) should match pretty closely.

If you don't have Howard and Tricia's CDs you should consider picking them up. They've been in my CD player for weeks. Nice folks. Good stuff.

 

 

 

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Thanks for that added resource, Ken - and for your TaterJoe's site. I get a lot of good tunes there (my previous TOTW - Sherburn's Breakdown - was one I came across on your site).

I have added Howard and Tricia's CDs to my "to buy" list - I really enjoyed the videos and audio clips of them that I found online.

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/23/2015:  16:10:16

quote:

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Originally posted by JanetB

Good one, Bret -- you never let us down. I never knew about paper collars. The Texas fiddle tune CDs will now be more meaningful for me. And thanks for the good tab, Ken. It helped me learn the tune easily, and you all know I enjoy Saturdays with an interesting TOTW to work on.

---

Glad you enjoyed the tune, Janet.

I sort of knew about paper collars, but until researching this tune I didn't really know how they came about nor why they were so popular for two or three generations.

Thanks for posting your recording - it's nice to hear a solo banjo version of the tune.

Zischkale - Posted - 03/25/2015:  12:59:53

I'm all about a tune with words. Been stuck in my head for the last hour!

Thanks for sharing, and reminding me of the Weird Tunes of Old Texas album. Added that one to my list, sounds like some great playing, and honestly I'm sold just based on the title.

Paul Meredith - Posted - 03/25/2015:  19:39:07

Thanks for the unusual TOTW Bret, and the interesting article on paper collars.  And thanks for taking care of the TOTW (as always).  Alas I don't have time to work out this tune, I have been similarly remiss for the past month or so.  I've got to get my priorities straightened out!