Mtngoat - Posted - 08/26/2016:  03:39:20

TOTW (OT) 08/26/2016 Old Beech Leaves

I’ve chosen Old Beech Leaves for this installment of TOTW.  Bruce Greene collected the tune in 1975 from Logan County, Kentucky Fiddler Sid Hudnall (1891-1984).  Mr. Hudnall appears to have been a very private person who left little in the way of a digital footprint.  Greene, writing for Fiddler Magazine in 1997, said “many times I strayed off the main roads as I roamed the state, to stumble onto a piece of the past that should no longer be there, yet somehow was. That was how I met fiddler Sid Hudnall, who lived with his ancient mother in an isolated farmstead, called Happy Valley because there they had escaped the curse of civilization all their lives”.

The tune has a modest internet presence.

Greene’s recording of Hudnall is on the Slippery Hill website here:  slippery-hill.com/recording/ol...ch-leaves

A string band version by The Haints with Jason Romero playing finger picking banjo style is here:    

youtube.com/watch?v=YcQwxQDNCnc

Adam Hurt plays the tune on his unique gourd banjo here: 

youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2sNe2v5sY

Paul Draper plays a gourd banjo solo here:

youtube.com/watch?v=Y7gfwrtOKE0

Phil Wilson plays the tune in this 2014 posting:

ballardbanjers.com/whats-on-th...s/07-2014

Michael Telzrow posted this 2010 recording:

youtube.com/watch?v=vNaWoaTacCw

Regular TOTW contributor Janet Burton posted a version here:  youtube.com/watch?v=5Gzi1ZTzf-A

The tune can be played in standard G tuning in a jam situation but other tunings, as depicted in the videos, appear to employ easier fingerings.  I was unable to find a banjo tab but a score in standard notation is here:

mne.psu.edu/lamancusa/tunes/ol...eaves.pdf

The Traditional Tune Archive says the tune is related to Lost Girl and Little Boy Where'd You Get Your Britches?   You can decide for yourself.

Adam Hurt’s Lost Girl is here youtube.com/watch?v=jc_z4UT4New 

and here’s Little Boy Where'd You Get Your Britches?  youtube.com/watch?v=zukDpTY1i4g

Readers are encouraged to post observations, opinions, performances and tabs contributing to this thread.  I am especially interested in biographical information about Mr. Hudnall.

trapdoor2 - Posted - 08/26/2016:  11:00:47

Snapshot of Sidney Hubnall from Ancestry.com:

Born: July 10, 1891

Residence: Butler County, KY. Variously claimed "Forgytown" and "Quality" (probably nearby villages, Forgytown no longer exists).

Census data:

1900: Age 8, 4 brothers, 2 sisters. Uncle (Sidney's father's brother) living next door with sister Rachel (Sidney's father's sister) as lodger.

1910: Age 18, "Farmer", two sisters listed at home, one brother. Father 72, mother 48.

1917: Draft card. Citizenship hand written, "Natural Borned"

1920: Age 27, "Farmer", Married, spouse's name: Ada. One child: Hilda, age 1yr 8mo. Father age 82, mother age 58.

1930: Age 37, "Farmer", Widowed, Hilda 12, Carrie 10. Father 92, Mother 68.

1940: Age 47, "Farmer", Married, spouse's name: Rachel (31), son "Oreon Fay" 2yrs old. Lodger, Aunt Rachel, 76.

I suspect Greene met Sidney and his Aunt Rachel (rather than his mother). His mother and father drop off the Census in 1940. Typical of the Census, the spelling of his name varies between "Sydney" and "Sidney" over the years.

Generally, it looks like some of his extended family stuck pretty close by. Usually there is a brother or uncle (and family) on the same Census page.

I know this tune only from the Adam Hurt recording...which is lovely. It does sound a lot like "Lost Girl" to me.

Edited by - trapdoor2 on 08/26/2016 11:03:24

Mtngoat - Posted - 08/26/2016:  15:21:35

Marc, thanks for sharing your research.

JanetB - Posted - 08/26/2016:  17:55:18

Mtngoat, you've chosen one of my favorite tunes learned from Adam Hurt.  He took the rough source recording of Sid Hudnall and turned it into a much-copied work of art (along with thirteen other great old-time tunes on the CD Earth Tones).  It was probably this very track that encouraged me to contact him for lessons.  Adam gave permission to post a basic tab of how he taught Old Beech Leaves in our second Skype lesson over three years ago.   

I listened to the Sid Hudnall source recording in the above link and came up with an arrangement in open G tuning.  It's fun to play, with a Galax lick used twice in Part A (another skill taught me by Adam).  I'd like to find a recording of Old Beech Leaves by Bruce Greene to clarify what was rather hard to decipher in the original Hudnall recording.  I'll try emailing him with my question.

A few more "hurrahs:"  I'm impressed with all the info gleaned from Ancestory.com by Marc (trapdoor2).  I'm grateful to the Slippery Hill website and the Milliner - Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes who allow us to research these old tunes.  And thanks for letting me be a "regular contributor" here!

Old Beech Leaves (CB) - TOTW

Old Beech Leaves (Sid Hudnall) open G tuning

Old Beech Leaves (Adam Hurt version) SRB tuning

 

Cyndy - Posted - 08/27/2016:  00:26:11

For anyone who has access to The Courier-Journal from Louisville, KY (available on newspapers.com), the 22 April 1992 issue has an article titled "Farm family finally sees the light" which talks about Mr. Hudnall's widow Rachel and son Orin, getting electricity.

It's a detailed article, with photos, and reading it paints a picture of how the Hudnall family lived. The house, for example, was built c. 1864 by Rachel's father-in-law when he returned from the Civil War and they powered a radio and television from car batteries.

Mtngoat - Posted - 08/27/2016:  12:04:42

Cyndy,

That's good sleuthing.

RG - Posted - 08/27/2016:  12:39:11

Great tune!

Mtngoat - Posted - 08/28/2016:  15:07:03

Janet,

Thanks for the tabs.   I learned the tune in standard G at a jam one night.  I got home with this in my head and rightly or wrongly I still play it this way.  Here’s a very rough recording but you get the picture.  It has a bit in common with your G tab.

Old Beech Leaves