ndlxs - Posted - 05/28/2021:  05:07:23

Today’s Tune of the Week is an obscure one.  I got it from a set of LPs put out in 1977 by the Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts called “I’m Old But I’m Awfully Tough”.  The tune is called “Rattlesnake and the Texas Pony” and was performed by Green Berry Horton.  Horton plays 4 banjo pieces on this recording; the other two are classic banjo-style pieces, and one sounds like it is up-picking.  There are no other banjo pieces on this LP set.



Here is some information about Green Berry Horton:

facebook.com/media/set/?set=a....147105131



“As noted in an earlier post, Green Berry Horton was one of the first people that we encountered on our forays into the Ozarks. We first met him on the square in Mountain View, Arkansas, fifty years ago, at the local Dogwood Festival. Berry, as he was known, lived out in the country on a place he called Barren Hollow, some seven miles from Marshall, Arkansas. He was a farmer, banjo player, fiddler, barber, blacksmith, water witcher, fiddler, haint-tale teller, and jokester. We returned to his farm to visit him many times over the years. In retrospect, for many of us he was like a grandfather. He also was one of the folks whose music, wisdom, and skills led us to believe that we should be making recordings on these visits.”



I think this is these are the only recordings of Green Berry Horton.  No doubt the people that did the original recording have more unreleased recordings; hopefully, the Field Recorders Collective or someone like that will provide an outlet for those recordings.  From the liner notes of the LP, it is really just a version of “Wolves A’Howling”.  Normally that fiddle tune is done in A; Horton does a DIFFERENT “Wolves” in G on fiddle.  This is actually pitched at about B flat.  There are fiddle tunes with “Rattlesnake” in the title, but they aren’t this one.  My only attempt at googling the title with the search {rattlesnake “Texas pony”} resulted in a few links of cowboy stories, so perhaps that is a source.

 

The LP I got is from has never been released on CD or digitally, and the organization that released it is defunct.  I have digitized my copy of the LP, and here is the source recording: my apologies to the Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts, but this LP looks difficult to find even as a used copy.

Here is the recording from the LP:

youtube.com/watch?v=5ZXYkNhGXCI

(I will put up the other pieces by Horton up over the weekend...subscribe!)



Here is my tab:

banjohangout.org/tab/browse.as...p;v=24858

Here is me playing it, done in our spare bedroom, recently upgraded with crown moulding and soon to get new floors; it is wonderfully resonant now that the carpet is gone. As you can tell, this is largely improvised.

youtu.be/RPrG_a-ZU7U



Here is a version of “Wolves A’Howling” that does sound like this one:

youtube.com/watch?v=wJoIKMNY3pU



One notable thing about Mr Horton’s version is that he just plays the parts, or pieces of the parts, in a seemingly random order. For the first minute or two, he plays the 12 measures of the tab twice, but on the third time, he stops at the 8^th measure and goes to the beginning of the tune, and so on.  Like certain banjo tunes, it is really more of a rhythm, perhaps for dancing than a strongly defined fiddle tune or song.



Here is a blurb from the LP: Barry Bergey, who is credited on the LP for the photographs and for this blurb, seems to be on Facebook. If he responds to my friend request perhaps more information will be forthcoming.

“I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough: Traditional Music Of The Ozark Region is a collection of field recordings made in southern Missouri and in Northern Arkansas over the period of 1975-76 by members of the Missouri Friends Of The Folk Arts. The singers, instrumentalists, and storytellers who appear on these records reveal the variety and richness of the folk traditions in the Ozark region. Many of these tunes and songs are unique and none of these performers has appeared on record before. Some of the music may surprise you because it is not normally associated with the Ozark region. Some of the conversation may enlighten you, providing a historical perspective not often found in Ozark history books. We hope that all of it will entertain you.”

-Barry Bergey

 

WVDreamin - Posted - 05/28/2021:  05:23:10

Definitely a "Wolves a-Howlin" variation. Good one, I plan to check back to YT for the other tunes.

ndlxs - Posted - 05/28/2021:  05:26:41

It was the name of this tune, of course, that attracted me to it. 

ndlxs - Posted - 05/28/2021:  05:56:55

I was inspired: here are Green Berry Horton's other pieces:

Bunker Hill

(I misspoke; this is clearly clawhammer!)

Story/Over the Hills and Through the Woods

Midnight Shuffle



There is also a beautiful waltz on this LP; the Spokane Waltz, played on fiddle and swing guitar.  I'll try and get the source recording up soon.  It was recorded by Pete Sutherland years ago; I don't think his recording is available anymore, but you can hear a taste of his arrangement here as the second tune in this medley:

richardruane.bandcamp.com/trac...ane-waltz

Mtngoat - Posted - 05/28/2021:  08:01:09

Andy, like your video.

ndlxs - Posted - 05/28/2021:  08:07:50

The Spokane Waltz, Emmanuel Wood & Family:

youtu.be/7mMWyLXI2Kw

carolynf - Posted - 05/28/2021:  08:34:53

Interesting! Bless those field recorders.
I'm always interested in something that comes out of the Mountain View Ark area. My mom spent her musically formative years in that area (Fifty-Six) when she was a child, which gave her her lifetime passion.
It is so much like "Wolves" you wonder why it needed another name, but I guess that is part of the Folk Process. I like the high part you did in your version. I'll have to have a look at your tab.
I realized I have not subscribed to your channel, but I rectified that.

JanetB - Posted - 05/29/2021:  22:41:17

Andy, you're always fun and creative!  Your improvisation inspired me to try something more, too.  Using Garage Band I put in harmony with both my Carolina Banjo and a Goldtone cello banjo using Green Berry Horton's recording for an arrangement.  

Rattlesnake and the Texas Pony (TOTW)

Rattlesnake and the Texas Pony