Mtngoat - Posted - 01/12/2018:  04:22:45

TOTW (OT) 01/12/2018 – Three Thin Dimes

I’ve chosen Three Thin Dimes from Barnesville, Ohio fiddler John W. Hutchinson (1915 – 1979) for this installment of TOTW. Hutchison reportedly attributed many of his tunes to a neighbor identified simply as "old man Bondy."



Grammy winning Bluegrass musician Tim O’Brien says “I first heard this tune as played by the Hutchison Brothers band on their fine Vetco Records release back in about 1976 or so. John and Zeke Hutchison’s father (John W.) wrote the tune and taught it to the band’s fiddler Greg Dearth. I stayed with J.W. and his wife Emma Jane once or twice. J.W. was retired by then and spent his early mornings with a room full of fiddles, a cup of coffee, and a cigar. He loved all kinds of music and was proud of where his boys took the music.”



Here’s a sample of the performances that can be found on the internet:



A fiddle/banjo duet: therealschoolofmusic.com/tradi...hin-dimes



Hunter Walker in the 2015 Banjo finals at Clifftop: youtube.com/watch?v=Vh_7FQZHd44



A string quartet recorded at Clifftop in 2017: youtube.com/watch?v=PX0Lp49T2m0



A jam at the 2013 Kentucky Music weekend: youtube.com/watch?v=ejtzhM5camE



Three Thin Dimes was introduced to our weekly jam session by a fiddler who sang the lyric “In my pocket! In my pocket! Three thin dimes. In my pocket! In my pocket! Three thin dimes.” to accompany the A part. It’s a fun tune to play and most folks should be able to pick out a passable arrangement by ear but I found two tabs and a tutorial for those who want to delve into it a bit deeper.



Ken Torke has a tab here: taterjoes.com/banjo/ThreeThinDimes.pdf



Linda Littleton has a tab in the BHO tab archive here: hangoutstorage.com/banjohangou...62017.pdf



Hilarie Burhans provides a free video lesson here: youtube.com/watch?v=vb0ASgT9hcs .



BTW Hilarie’s Youtube channel is a great resource for Old-Time banjo players so explore it some more while you’re there.



Readers are encouraged to post comments, performances, and tabs contributing to this thread. I am especially interested in details of Hutchison’s life and music as I came up short on both counts.

Edited by - Mtngoat on 01/12/2018 15:21:34

carlb - Posted - 01/12/2018:  07:01:15

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mtngoat

I’ve chosen Three Thin Dimes from Barnesville, Ohio fiddler John W. Hutchinson (1915 – 1979) for this installment of TOTW.



Here’s a sample of the performances that can be found on the internet:

Another, John Hutchinson

slippery-hill.com/recording/th...hin-dimes

Banjowik - Posted - 01/13/2018:  14:48:05

Excellent, love this tune!!

JanetB - Posted - 01/13/2018:  16:51:15

You always choose interesting tunes, Mtngoat.  Three Thin Dimes, as heard in the original John Hutchison recording posted in Slippery Hill, has the feel of an old-time hornpipe.  It's very notey and the B part reminds me of Devil's Dream.  I like what others have done with the tune as a fast reel.  Here's my slower take which includes most of Hutchison's notes. When the tune becomes more familiar to me I could see playing it more rhythmically and with fewer notes.  I'm anxious to discover who else has recorded this in my CD collection.  The title is familiar.

Edited by - JanetB on 01/13/2018 16:54:49

Three Thin Dimes (TOTW)

Three Thin Dimes (CH) tab

jack_beuthin - Posted - 01/15/2018:  18:58:21

I love the little guy in the Manhattan Valley Ramblers video!

Three Thin Dimes is part of the jam tune repertoire here (we just played it yesterday in our Golden OT jam). I like the tune a lot, but it's one of those tunes that I fake well enough, then never really learn it properly. Need to change that!

Nice presentation of a really fun tune. Thanks.