Mtngoat - Posted - 03/17/2017:  14:59:51

TOTW (OT)  03/17/17  Wink the Other Eye

I’ve chosen Wink the Other Eye by Hack’s String Band of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky for this installment of TOTW.   The tune is apparently taken from a popular 19^th century song.   Lyrics are here:  monologues.co.uk/musichall/Son...r-Eye.htm

The Fiddler’s Companion has this to say: 

WINK THE OTHER EYE. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri. G Major. Standard. AABB (Christeson): AA'BB' (Phillips). The tune is meant to be played at a tempo slower than that for a standard breakdown. Charles Wolfe says it is a "fine old Sequatchie Valley (Tenn.) fiddle band tune known to area fiddlers as diverse as Tom Douglas and Curly Fox" (Charles Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 15, No. 4, Dec. 1981, pg. 56). It appears to be well-known in those states just west of the Mississippi River, as it is in Tennessee and Kentucky. Guthrie Meade (1980) identifies the composer of the tune as W.T. Lytton, who penned it in 1890. Sources for notated versions: Lonnie Robertson (Ozark County, Missouri) [Christeson]; William Garett with Hack's String Band [Phillips]. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 2), 1984; pg. 82. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 172. Recorded by Jess Young (Chattanooga, Tenn.) for Columbia in 1929, but never issued. Heritage 060, Art Galbraith - "Music of the Ozarks" (Brandywine, 1984). Morning Star 45003, Hack's String Band (Muhlenberg County, Ky.) - "Wink the Other Eye: Old-Time Fiddle Band Music from Kentucky" (1980. Originally recorded in 1930).

Muhlenberg County lies in the heart of the western Kentucky coalfields (see John Prine’s Paradise).  Wolfe described the band this way:  “E. E. Hack organized an eight piece string band in the 1920s.  With two fiddles, a “dog house” bass, and tenor banjo, the band had a strikingly different sound with a repertoire featuring a number of marches, rags, and waltzes which were tune types not normally found in the eastern mountain bands.”

The 1930 recording of Hack’s String Band is here:  youtube.com/watch?v=22T0mT_PHS8

Here’s a 1973 field recording of Sam Spencer of Cheatham County, Tennessee:  dla.acaweb.org/cdm/singleitem/...06/rec/20

Here’s Kentuckian Clyde Davenport:  fieldrecorder.bandcamp.com/tra...other-eye

Here’s Missouri fiddler Art Galbraith (1909 – 1993): youtube.com/watch?v=_NPrBzCBk8c

Here’s a banjo solo:  youtube.com/watch?v=QL8EUMS6ajY

Here’s a small group session:  youtube.com/watch?v=x4GZmhHPwZU

Here’s a modern commercial recording:  youtube.com/watch?v=arh4sXVXq_A

Here’s a jazzy version that works pretty well:  youtube.com/watch?v=SEXMSpuYePU

I found three tabs of the tune. 

stringband.mossyroof.com/Wink_...r_Eye.png

taterjoes.com/banjo/WinkTheOtherEye.pdf

ozarksbanjo.com/uploads/2/9/5/...yetab.jpg

Readers are encouraged to post facts, observations, opinions, performances and tabs contributing to this thread.

Edited by - Mtngoat on 03/17/2017 15:11:46

JanetB - Posted - 03/17/2017:  19:50:26

Well, Mtngoat, you picked a tune I once considered researching for TOTW, so -- thank you -- my work is done already.  Here are a couple of links to explore.  This first one tells of the 1895 release of the song by Marie Lloyd:  songfacts.com/detail.php?id=15044.  And this link includes a video from "Fiddle Tune a Day" plus the original lyrics:  vithefiddler.com/wink-the-othe...y-day-10/.

I referenced the tune through The Old-Time Fiddler's Repertory, Vol. 2, #132, by R. P. Christeson, and really liked how Art Galbraith played it.

Wink the Other Eye

Wink the Other Eye (CH) tab

atleson - Posted - 03/19/2017:  17:26:22

I second Janet's reference to Art Galraith's version of this tune.   I know i have this tune on some recordings, but it never jumped out at me until i heard his version. Interesting, in listening to Hack's String Band, to note how much the music has changed in tone and feeling.

bhniko - Posted - 03/23/2017:  08:47:43

Mntgoat,

This one caught me off guard when listening to the version on songfacts and the different interpretations of others. Thoroughly enjoyed the tune, printed the pdf's and off the and convince my arthritic fingerthat we can do it. Thanks.