The scheduled TOTW presenter hasn’t reached me and was out of the country last month, so here's an alternate tune, one of my favorites.
Horses (or Hosses) in the Canebrake is another great fiddle tune from Bob Carlin’s "Banging and Sawing" CD of 1996. Alabama fiddler James Bryan recorded it on his album “First of May” in 1986 and then with Bob Carlin. You can't help but notice James' fiddling on this album and he's become my favorite fiddler.
The source recording is western Kentucky fiddler Jake Phelps, 1885 – 1977, who recorded it as both Horses in the Canebrake and as Wild Horses in the Canebrake in 1965. He was said to have played “unusual tunes,” which to me means pretty tunes that don’t follow a normal, simple dance tune melody line. There’s a special emotional quality to the tunes he played.
Bruce Greene, who met and recorded William Lee “Jake” Phelps, has also kept alive several of Jake’s tunes with his own skillful fiddling. Jake’s influences were fiddler Will Stegall and a black fiddler named George Holland. Jake lived on a place called Pea Ridge and was well-respected for his knowledge of old-time music.
The TOTW only resembles Cattle in the Cane in their titles. I’ve been told that a canebrake is like a natural fencing that can keep livestock within.
There are some lovely or lively versions of the tune on YouTube and on BHO:
The original source recordings sound like diamonds in the rough and I credit the genius of James Bryan to have brought out its beauty with Bob Carlin. See if you agree: This is the 1965 recording of Jake Phelps in Jeff Titon’s Kentucky fiddle tunes book. And here’s the other Jake Phelp's recording: Wild Horses in the Canebrake.
I’ve found two tunings that work for Horses in the Canebrake. My favorite is Cumberland Gap, or SRB (gEADE) the recording below from four years ago. The alternate tab given below is in old Cumberland Gap tuning –f#BEAD. It was a "homework assignment" from Adam Hurt to adapt familiar tunes in this tuning. I also tried it in open G, but the up-the-neck fingering was tricky. I hope you try it and share your effort this week.
Since some of the links didn't work (I think a lot of YouTube videos are copyright protected and cannot be shown over here) I manage to find some other recordings that are worth listening to:
Great choice Janet and one of my favorites! Really nice version you play there and the recording of Bob reminds me of what a monster fiddler James Bryan is!
Thank you for the additional links, Jan and Dan. And I got the second link for Jake Phelps to work in my original post above, called Wild Horses in the Canebrake.
Dan, the Street Butler version, recorded by Bruce Greene and according to Jeff Titon, is an additional source for this "local tune," which he calls "Horses in the Canebreak." From the Fiddler's Companion: [HORSES IN THE CANEBRAKE. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Kentucky. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Titon says this appears to be a local tune, not related to the well-known (albeit relatedly entitled) “Cattle in the Cane.” Source for notated version: William Lee “Jake” Phelps and Street Butler (Pea Ridge, Todd County, Ky., 1965) [Titon]. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 63, pg. 93."]
A really lovely tune choice. My favourite version is on The Barn Owls CD of the same name released in 2014. The whole album is superb but their Horses in the Canebrake is one of the stand-out tracks.
I added a video of Horses in the Canebrake, realizing it's one of my favorite tunes and it's already memorized. A respected old-time musician in his 70's suggested we choose 20 or 30 of our favorite tunes and play them constantly to truly internalize them. This tune would have to be one of mine. Anything Alabama fiddler James Bryan has fiddled turns to gold and he brought out the beauty of this one for me.
Mike, I haven't listened to the Barn Owls yet. Sounds like one I definitely should (Barn Owls CD Horses in the Canebreak on amazon.com) Hanna Traynham's father, Mac, made one of my banjos. I know she's superb. I notice they spell canebrake differently on the CD. As a retired teacher, these things puzzle me. How can a child learn to spell when nobody agrees on spellings, plus letter/sound associations are inconsistent, if not literally crazy. Another subject....In the meantime, perhaps someone else will post a recording.
Andy, I like the B part very much, too. I'm curious about what guitar chords would accompany it. It sounds like it has both major and minor chords. If played in the key of G, I hear a G chord followed by an Am . It would use the V chord (a C chord), too, towards the end. What do you think?
I added a video of Horses in the Canebrake, realizing it's one of my favorite tunes and it's already memorized. A respected old-time musician in his 70's suggested we choose 20 or 30 of our favorite tunes and play them constantly to truly internalize them. This tune would have to be one of mine. Anything Alabama fiddler James Bryan has fiddled turns to gold and he brought out the beauty of this one for me.
Mike, I haven't listened to the Barn Owls yet. Sounds like one I definitely should (Barn Owls CD Horses in the Canebreak on amazon.com) Hanna Traynham's father, Mac, made one of my banjos. I know she's superb. I notice they spell canebrake differently on the CD. As a retired teacher, these things puzzle me. How can a child learn to spell when nobody agrees on spellings, plus letter/sound associations are inconsistent, if not literally crazy. Another subject....In the meantime, perhaps someone else will post a recording.
Andy, I like the B part very much, too. I'm curious about what guitar chords would accompany it. It sounds like it has both major and minor chords. If played in the key of G, I hear a G chord followed by an Am . It would use the V chord (a C chord), too, towards the end. What do you think?
Janet, as always, you come through with a huge winner in my book! I hadn't heard this one before, but I've been putting some back porch time in on it. I don't know where you get your inspiration, but keep it up!
Always interested in the details, I did a bit of research on Canebrakes and came up with some interesting information:
The article is short and a good read, and it sounds like "Rattler In The Canebrake" could just as well be a tune.
I'm playing it in fDGCD instead of what you listed in your original post. Hopefully I'll get a quick version of it together for a video post, although I'm already taking it outside of your melody notes.
I feel like the tune could be either major or minor in the B section, but I'd strongly favor the minor version as it would most likely have been thought of as having the minor in the B section as originated. Once in a while I hear a tune that has a major, but the minor shift is much more common IMHO.
Wow, Rudy, that's incredibly beautiful! It doesn't matter how long it takes us to come back to these tunes, that's the beauty of TOTW. It's a resource for me to return to again and again. Today I went back to an old one to enhance the current one.
I'm so glad you posted your video. Who made your banjo? Your picking sounds so lovely on it. Do always play without picks?
I like the way certain tunes stir up mental images, and "Horses in the Canebrake" makes me think of some of my favorite places, both from the sound of it, and the name of it.
The article Randy posted was very interesting, and reminded me of something I read about a frontiersman named Simon Butler / Kenton (he went under the assumed name of Butler for 20 years believing he had killed a man in a fist fight, but later learned the man survived).
Anyway, the early settlers of the Ohio river valley were looking for the vast canebrakes which were an entry point into the Shawnee hunting grounds of Kentucky. It took them a while to get that far down the river due to wars with the Shawnee, Cherokee, and the British who still maintained a fort in that area even though it was long after the revolutionary war.
I have been to that area, and the vast canebrakes are long gone, but we still have canebrakes along the rivers near where I live, and above where the Hiwassee enters the Tennessee there are acres of both cane, and cattails which is something to see.
Now, I am thinking about how difficult it would be to ride horses through a canebrake, and I can't help but wonder if such an experience far back in the years might have influenced someone in naming this tune.
Wow, Rudy, that's incredibly beautiful! It doesn't matter how long it takes us to come back to these tunes, that's the beauty of TOTW. It's a resource for me to return to again and again. Today I went back to an old one to enhance the current one.
I'm so glad you posted your video. Who made your banjo? Your picking sounds so lovely on it. Do always play without picks?
Thanks kindly, Janet. I give you the credit for coming up with all those irresistible tunes!
All I can say is I'm really glad that a lot of these tunes leave a lot of room for "artistic interpretation". (In other words, too difficult for me to play correctly!)
I make all my own banjos, and the one in the video has yet to be torn down for final finish details. They are somewhat unique, and are made to switch between synthetic or steel strings, although I usually end up with steel strings on whatever I have for a personal instrument so it's easier to use different tunings without the need for the strings to settle in.
My M.O. is to encourage others to make the instruments they play. I did post an over-view of moving toward the design I'm doing now if you want to know more about it:
I always play without picks, with the exception of when I was in my last working band and needed the extra volume and punch from a plastic thumb pick and single metal finger pick. I did that for something like 3 years before a severe collarbone injury put me out of performing shape for about a year.
The segues we create in TOTW constantly enlighten me. History comes so natural to this music.
I’ve wondered about canebrakes since hearing this tune. Groves thick enough to be a fence....
And after looking at Rudy’s link describing his banjo-building innovation I’m impressed all the more with the art of a luthier. The wood of Rudy’s was smooth-fitting as could be.
Not that I want to build a banjo or ride a horse anymore anywhere....picking banjo, learning tunes, and exploring their titles is plenty fulfilling.
The segues we create in TOTW constantly enlighten me. History comes so natural to this music.
I’ve wondered about canebrakes since hearing this tune. Groves thick enough to be a fence....
And after looking at Rudy’s link describing his banjo-building innovation I’m impressed all the more with the art of a luthier. The wood of Rudy’s was smooth-fitting as could be.
Not that I want to build a banjo or ride a horse anymore anywhere....picking banjo, learning tunes, and exploring their titles is plenty fulfilling.
Agreed 100%.
There's quite a few of us her on BHO that are into building; OldPappy (above) makes some mighty fine open backs, too.
Whatever you do, keep coming up with those tunes! I love nothing more than to check out a TOTW post and get it stuck in my mind until I do something with it.
Everyone who posts TOTW submissions has their own unique slant to what they like, and that's what keeps it interesting.
Thanks for the kudos Randy! Complements from someone as skilled as you mean a lot to me.
As to the different spelling Janet mentioned earlier, I believe Candbrake to be the correct form, as "break" means something is broken, and "brake" beans something is stopped, and a canebrake can sure stop you from getting through it.
It is a beauty of a tune, that has been in my head since I listened to Randy play it. I guess I'll have to learn it now.
