EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 12/09/2016:  15:31:13

Well it looks like this week's volunteer is busy doing some early Christmas shopping or something, so I will post another emergency back-up tune.  Sorry about doing two tunes in three weeks, but it was a little too last notice to find another volunteer.

We got our first snow flurry of the winter here in central Ohio today, while I was out putting up Christmas lights.  As I did so the neighborhood deer herd wandered through my yard, barely paying any attention to me, as is usually the case.  An hour or two later, while searching through various tune lists to find a Tune of the Week, I came across one entitled Snow Deer, which seemed somewhat appropriate.  So here it is.

The fiddle tune began life as a song which actually has nothing to do with deer or snow, at least not directly.  Instead it tells of a cowboy's love for an Indian maiden named Snow Deer.  

Sweet Snow Deer mine, moon's a-shine through the pines

While Mohawks sleep, let us creep through the vale

Your cowboy lover your heart will cover

Don't hesitate, it is late, ponies wait

For you and me by the trees in the dale

Hear tom-toms beating. Let's hit the trail.

CHORUS: My pretty Snow Deer, say you will go, dear

From your side I'll never part, every trail leads to your heart

It's time to marry, no time to tarry

Let me carry you away from here, my sweet Snow Deer

The red men come, bullets hum, there'll be some

Left on the trail, I can't fail, cling to me

We'll crown the story with love and glory

Now after all must I fall, hear my call

And fly away while we may, can't you see

Those ranch lights gleaming. Safe there we'll be.

It was written by Percy Wenrich (music) and Jack Mahoney (lyrics) and first published in 1913.

Percy Wenrich, aka "The Joplin Kid", was a prolific song writer in the Tin Pan Alley era of American popular music. Born in Joplin Missouri in 1887, he learned to play piano at an early age, primarily mimicking the ragtime style prevalent at the time. He started writing his own melodies by the age of 15, many of which were used for local advertisements and political campaigns. Encouraged by this early success, he eventually enrolled in the Chicago Musical College for formal training. He earned money while in school working for a number of Chicago based music publishers, creating melodies to match the lyrics sent in by aspiring song writers. He also worked as a "song plugger" in a Milwaukee department store. Soon after graduation, he moved to New York City and Tin Pan Alley, which had become the center of the music publishing business in the United States. There he met and married a vaudeville performer named Dolly Connolley, and started writing songs for some of the productions she was involved in, including such hits as "Red Rose Rag", "Rainbow", "Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet", "When You Wore A Tulip", and perhaps his greatest hit, "On Moonlight Bay".



Tin Pan Alley era music was a "copy cat" industry, and once a song became popular, many other publishers would try and capitalize by trying to emulate it. In 1907, the song "Red Wing" was such a huge hit that it spun off a number of other songs about Western themes in general, and "Indian maidens" in particular. Wenrich teamed up with Edward Madden in 1910 for the similarly themed "Silver Bell", the success of which encouraged him to go back that theme again in 1913, when he wrote, with Jack Mahoney, another Indian maid song named "Snow Deer". His wife introduced it in one of her vaudeville shows, and it quickly became another hit, selling nearly 2 million copies of sheet music within just a few years. It remained popular in shows and eventually on the radio for the next 30 years. 

As a well-known song and melody from the 1910s through the 1940s, versions of Snow Deer have appeared in many different genres of American music.

The first recording, a Vaudeville-style duet by Ada Jones and Billy Murray on an Edison cylinder, came either in 1913 or possibly in 1911, two years before the song was officially published (sources differ): youtube.com/watch?v=mPIfN3Jk3pU

It seems to have been particularly popular in Western Swing.  Bob Wills recorded what is perhaps the most famous vocal version (youtube.com/watch?v=Y_inxrR4scw) while in1940 The Light Crust Doughboys (who claim to be the "longest running band in the history of recorded music") released an instrumental version of Snow Deer on Okeh Records as the B side to If You'll Come Back: youtube.com/watch?v=c-mYtgD3w9s .

Another well known vocal version is that by Woody Guthrie: youtube.com/watch?v=x0JlXpiST40 .

Ernest Thompson recorded a very early country or "hillbilly" version in 1924, as did Ernest Stoneman in 1926, Buell Kazee in 1928, and the Kentucky-based Madisonville String Band in 1930: youtube.com/watch?v=LDVE7GdXOH...VquSkfnU3 .

Don Reno included the tune as part of a banjo medley released as a single in 1958 by Reno&Smiley and the Tennessee Cut-Ups. Five years later The Stanley Brothers included an instrumental version on their album "America's Best Five-String Hootenanny" (youtube.com/watch?v=OWA5So3Y1m8) and in the years since many bluegrass banjoists have recorded the tune, Bill Emerson and Tom Adams among them.

Also in 1963, almost 40 years after "Pops" Stoneman released his first take on the tune, The Stoneman Family recorded a country/bluegrass version: 8.25.217.45/?t=100835402200464159 .

Influential Canadian folk musician, fiddler, and bandleader Don Messer recorded a "down east" (New England) style version with his band the Islanders: youtube.com/watch?v=6bnMgTO9Akc

At some point, probably via those early hillbilly/stringband recordings, Snow Deer entered the old-time fiddle tune repertoire.  An internet search will turn up many recent fiddle, banjo, and band versions.  Here are a few.

​SOLO FIDDLE

Vi Wickam: youtube.com/watch?v=wEN8bWJZ_IU

Susanna Heysteck: youtube.com/watch?v=SjeVNnYk5Rs

Gary Sizemore: youtube.com/watch?v=w1Y16TWWO1w

SOLO BANJO

Tim Davis: youtube.com/watch?v=3ZJ_RMKf6Rc

HAMMERED DULCIMER

Joe Jewel: youtube.com/watch?v=prv0hKtBWFQ

​TAB

Clawhammer tab (in both G and D) by Ken Torke can be found at his TaterJoe's site: taterjoes.com/banjo/SnowDeerG.pdf , taterjoes.com/banjo/SnowDeerD.pdf

And just to circle back to the initial inspiration for this TOTW: youtube.com/watch?v=R9PdR1zrgSM

Edited by - EggerRidgeBoy on 12/17/2016 17:43:53

Rawhide Creek - Posted - 12/09/2016:  20:47:40

Here's a Scruggs/3-finger version, both TablEdit and PDF:

banjohangout.org/w/tab/browse/...Snow+Deer

This is a copy of the original sheet music:

dropbox.com/s/ekhdirdfcykjnw5/....pdf?dl=0

Edited by - Rawhide Creek on 12/09/2016 20:55:01

JanetB - Posted - 12/10/2016:  09:29:11

Well, Brett, one more good pick like this one and you'll have a grand slam hit.  Thanks to Ken Torke's tab I learned the tune and added a Native American sounding bridge to go along with the theme of Snow Deer.  See if you can guess what made the sound effect in the background.  Hope you enjoy!

Snow Deer (CB) (TOTW)

 

 

 

rickhayes - Posted - 12/10/2016:  14:32:25

Nice Janet.  Fireplace?

JanetB - Posted - 12/10/2016:  22:01:10

quote:

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Originally posted by rickhayes

 

Nice Janet.  Fireplace?

---

Thanks, Rick.  Yes, the oak wood popped -- very unusual.

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 12/11/2016:  14:56:53

I managed to hurt my shoulder so no banjo for a while, but I can contribute this video to this great TOTW:

youtube.com/watch?v=vOXO1wHZBvg

bhniko - Posted - 12/12/2016:  10:50:13

Nice choice. Enjoyed the different versions of the players.

bhniko - Posted - 12/12/2016:  11:42:24

Janet, forgot to ask if you are playing your Laydie as your sound seems a bit deeper?

JanetB - Posted - 12/12/2016:  14:10:27

Yes, Richard, I'm playing the Mac Traynham Whyte Laydie, set up with a goatskin hide by John Balch and nylgut strings.  

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 12/12/2016:  18:01:54

quote:

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Originally posted by Rawhide Creek

 

Here's a Scruggs/3-finger version, both TablEdit and PDF:

banjohangout.org/w/tab/browse/...Snow+Deer

This is a copy of the original sheet music:

dropbox.com/s/ekhdirdfcykjnw5/....pdf?dl=0

---

Thanks for the three-finger version, Russ, and for that sheet music. I hadn't come across the cover illustration - I may add that to my original post.

Edited by - EggerRidgeBoy on 12/12/2016 18:04:42

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 12/12/2016:  18:17:03

quote:

---

Originally posted by JanetB

 

Well, Brett, one more good pick like this one and you'll have a grand slam hit.  Thanks to Ken Torke's tab I learned the tune and added a Native American sounding bridge to go along with the theme of Snow Deer.  See if you can guess what made the sound effect in the background.  Hope you enjoy!

---

I did indeed enjoy your version, Janet - especially the unique bridge you added to the piece (and of course the very appropriate cackling fire in the background).  Thanks for sharing it.

RV6 - Posted - 12/13/2016:  05:49:49

quote:

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Originally posted by JanetB

 

quote:

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Originally posted by rickhayes

 

Nice Janet.  Fireplace?

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Thanks, Rick.  Yes, the oak wood popped -- very unusual.

---

Rats. I guessed wrong.  It sounded like me slapping my forehead while thinking to myself, "why can't I play like Janet?"

Your banjo sounds great!  And, your playing does too (as usual)

Zischkale - Posted - 12/13/2016:  10:25:34

Great choice for TOTW, ERB! It's interesting to hear a pop piece migrate toward old-time like this, and blur the lines of the standard repertoire. Would love to hear Buell Kazee's version - I'm so used to him singing traditional ballads it'd be fun to hear him to something that originated in Tin Pan Alley. 

That wintry image of a deer is a good choice for the season. Going to miss visiting my Great Aunt in New Mexico this Christmas as per the usual tradition. We've had to move her back to Texas so we won't be going west -- she'd always go around to the side of the house and holler "deer, deer, deer, deer!" to usher in about ten or so from the snowy woods.

Looks like your Jones/Murray link got taken down (surprised that a song over one-hundred years old gets pulled, pretty arbitrary policing they're doing on Youtube). Here's another video featuring the recording, with a cool visual of the wax cylinder being played:

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 12/13/2016:  15:52:02

quote:

---

Originally posted by Zischkale

 

Great choice for TOTW, ERB! It's interesting to hear a pop piece migrate toward old-time like this, and blur the lines of the standard repertoire. Would love to hear Buell Kazee's version - I'm so used to him singing traditional ballads it'd be fun to hear him to something that originated in Tin Pan Alley. 

That wintry image of a deer is a good choice for the season. Going to miss visiting my Great Aunt in New Mexico this Christmas as per the usual tradition. We've had to move her back to Texas so we won't be going west -- she'd always go around to the side of the house and holler "deer, deer, deer, deer!" to usher in about ten or so from the snowy woods.

Looks like your Jones/Murray link got taken down (surprised that a song over one-hundred years old gets pulled, pretty arbitrary policing they're doing on Youtube). Here's another video featuring the recording, with a cool visual of the wax cylinder being played:

---

Glad you liked the tune, Aaron.  I, too, am fascinated by the path some songs take from popular music to the "traditional" repertoire.  I am more familiar with mid-19th-Century minstrel songs that made that journey; "Snow Deer" is one of the few fiddle tunes I've learned that started out on Tin Pan Alley.  Makes me wonder if Clifftop jams in 2067 will feature stringband versions of Beyonce songs.

As for Buell Kazee's version of "Snow Deer", I have yet to find a full recording online, but you can hear a brief snippet here: microsoft.com/en-au/store/musi...kgx029tfw

We didn't have deer here in my area of Columbus- a 1920s neighborhood about 15 miles from anything that could be considered countryside - until about a decade ago.  Now they are a constant presence.  I still enjoy seeing the does with their fawns in the Spring, or the occasional buck with a mature rack in the Fall, but most of the time I am just annoyed with them since they eat everything in sight - even the trees we plant in the yard.  But I guess they do sometimes help me get in the old-time banjo frame of mind.

Thanks for the heads up about the Jones/Murray video. It was ok when I posted it; I wonder if it had just been put on YouTube.  Like you say, I find it hard to imagine that there would be a copyright issue with a 103-year old composition and recording.  It had been "cleaned up" by an audio specialist, whose name was given at the beginning of the video - perhaps he has the rights to that particular modified version.

Thanks for posting another video of the recording - it is neat to see the cylinder in action.

Edited by - EggerRidgeBoy on 12/13/2016 16:06:07

Don Borchelt - Posted - 12/15/2016:  16:07:34

I great choice for TOTW, one that carries with it a lot of memories for me.  I love Janet's lovely rendition, very fine.  Her bridge and variations are very nice. This was one of the first fiddle tunes I learned on banjo, when I first started playing back in high school, in Cincinnati Ohio.  You heard it a lot among fiddle players back then, not so much these days, when tunes with a more archaic sound seem to hold more sway.   The open position break is about how I played it back then, when I attended the weekly jam session in Orville Leach's basement in Arlington, just north of Cincinnati.  I mentioned the tune in an article that I wrote that is in this month's Banjo Newsletter.  So I dusted it off as soon as I saw it was Egger's choice for the TOTW.  I couldn't remember my original up the neck break, so I worked up a new one.  I have a tab for this arrangement posted on my webpage.

- Don Borchelt

Edited by - Don Borchelt on 12/15/2016 16:08:28

VIDEO: Snow Deer
(click to view)

 

 

 

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 01/05/2017:  16:54:26

quote:

---

Originally posted by Don Borchelt

 

I great choice for TOTW, one that carries with it a lot of memories for me.  I love Janet's lovely rendition, very fine.  Her bridge and variations are very nice. This was one of the first fiddle tunes I learned on banjo, when I first started playing back in high school, in Cincinnati Ohio.  You heard it a lot among fiddle players back then, not so much these days, when tunes with a more archaic sound seem to hold more sway.   The open position break is about how I played it back then, when I attended the weekly jam session in Orville Leach's basement in Arlington, just north of Cincinnati.  I mentioned the tune in an article that I wrote that is in this month's Banjo Newsletter.  So I dusted it off as soon as I saw it was Egger's choice for the TOTW.  I couldn't remember my original up the neck break, so I worked up a new one.  I have a tab for this arrangement posted on my webpage.

- Don Borchelt

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Glad you liked the tune, Don.  It is interesting to see how tunes (and types of tunes) go in and out of style.  

Thanks for the heads up about the BNL article, and for posting your version.  Thanks also for the glimpse into the old-time scene in Cincinnati back in the day.  Growing up in Columbus I am always interested in names and events from the region's old-time community history.