Mtngoat - Posted - 11/10/2021:  06:35:01

Due to circumstances beyond my control this TOTW is being posted early.  I apologize to gentrixuk for encroaching into his time slot but after discussion with him and Janet this action was chosen as the less disruptive option.   Please be patient.  I will respond to your posts when I am able.

TOTW  11–12–21 -  Possum Up a Gum Stump   

I’ve chosen Possum Up a Gum Stump for this installment of TOTW.   There are several tunes bearing this title but the subject of this essay is the one commonly played in the Key of G.

One of the pleasures I get from TOTW is learning new and interesting stories and facts about the tunes, musicians, and subject matter presented.  I found very little on the history of Possum Up a Gum Stump other than it probably has African-American origins and passed into the repertoire of White minstrel performers in the early 19^th century.  The Traditional Tune Archive for example, which usually has a wealth of historical information, says only that “Possum Up a Gum Stump in G is unrelated to any of the other entries listed under that name.”  

tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:P...um_Stump_(3)

The title is apparently a colloquial phrase endemic to both the United States and Australia.  You can read a bit of the title’s etymology here:  phrases.org.uk/meanings/up-a-gum-tree.html   Their research is admirable but you have to wonder if perhaps they should look back to England for antecedents in use prior to the separation of the American and Australian dialects.

The tune has a respectable internet presence and I’ve linked a few performances below.

Here’s a solo fiddle version:  youtube.com/watch?v=AuggbmHZgO...=youtu.be

Here’s a fiddle/guitar version:  youtube.com/watch?v=JVs-1yBaXqk

Here’s a guitar band version:  youtube.com/watch?v=Ls5rpNRM-vw

Here’s a flat picked banjo version:  youtube.com/watch?v=q_dSOaxa7aU

Here’s a clawhammer version:  youtube.com/watch?v=OPwpNCUDvEU

Here’s a version by Cathy Barton Parra:  bartonpara.com/bp/wp-content/b...Stump.mp3

A clawhammer tab for the tune can be found at Tater Joe’s web page here:  taterjoes.com/Warehouse/Banjo/...Stump.pdf

Readers are encouraged to post comments, performances, and tabs contributing to this thread.

Edited by - Mtngoat on 11/10/2021 06:37:11

 

R Buck - Posted - 11/10/2021:  11:06:36

I know another tune in D with the name Possum on a Gum Stump. One word can amke a big difference I guess.

Here is a soundfile for it youtube.com/watch?v=OwVJca43I3k

This tune comes from the Old Dubuque/Duck River/Hell on the Nine Mile milieu.

Danaher - Posted - 11/10/2021:  19:22:15

In the 1950 movie "Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone" actress Marjorie Main wins a train trip to New York from a radio contest by being able to name the tune "Possum Up a Gum Stump" , then mayhem ensues.

Been a while since I've seen it, can't say the tune she has to name is actually that one. At some point in the movie she even "sings" a verse of it.

JanetB - Posted - 11/13/2021:  11:59:35

Possum tunes are always fun in my book.  We had a rescued possum at home and my classroom had possum stories which were amongst my favorites.  Because Mtngoat conferred with me about needing to post early, I had an early start on the possum tune, but ended up with two versions not in G.  Upon reading this post, I found notation in the above Traditional Tune Archive link and made a go of it by using two of them, mostly the one on the bottom.  Now that I've learned it better by recording it (over and over and over again!), I can compare the key of G version to the other two I worked on in double C (or D) tuning.  It might be that they'd make another good Possum Up a Gum Stump TOTW.  

One thing I wonder is how anything goes "up a stump", which is short by definition.

Edited by - JanetB on 11/13/2021 12:00:29

VIDEO: Possum Up a Gum Stump
(click to view)

Possum Up a Gum Stump (CH in key of G) tab

Ben's possum