|
Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/385024
mjt0229 - Posted - 08/12/2022: 07:37:50
Hi everyone, and hope you're all having a nice summer! The tune of the week for this week is Run Down Boot, an Illinois tune collected by Gary Harrison. I learned this tune last year from Adam Hurt, and it's in the key of D.
The traditional tune archive describes it as a reel and attributes it to Walter "Pete" Priest. Here's the tune on Slippery Hill, which doesn't add much information but has a recording.
A commonly cited recording is from the Indian Creek Delta Boys (with Gary Harrison and Chirps Smith), available on youtube.
I've seen Gary Harrison's first name spelled Gary and Garry, not sure which is correct, can anyone help me?
And here's a video I made to send to Adam last year. It's not a great video, but it gives you an idea how the tune might go on solo banjo.
Edited by - mjt0229 on 08/12/2022 07:38:29
JanetB - Posted - 08/12/2022: 17:18:05
Nice to hear you play a lesson tune from Adam. I'm sure he gave you the thumbs up on that recording 
. The correct spelling is Garry. Perhaps his brother, Steve Harrison, will give us some details about the fiddler. In Garry's Dear Old Illinois book it says: "William 'Pete' Priest (1904-1991) Paradise. Mr. Priest was born in Kentucky and moved to Illinois as a young man. His father and mother both played the fiddle, and it was from his mother that he learned his first fiddle tune, 'Steamboat Bill.' His style was rhythmic and driving, inclined toward short bowing, open string accents, and occasional syncopation."
I look forward to arranging the tune from Slippery Hill's source archive and posting it within a few days.
jack_beuthin - Posted - 08/14/2022: 11:04:41
Thank you Mark, and well played. I really don't have anything to add on tune history. It has been a popular tune in jams in these parts, although I haven't played it in a while. I did post an audio here a few years back. Ha, I listen to it now and wonder how I ever played all those notes.
JanetB - Posted - 08/14/2022: 16:55:03
Good to hear you, Jack, and I also hear you about playing all those notes. After arranging it from the Indian Creek Delta Boys, I eliminated some such notes, especially on the fourth string.
Steve Harrison says that when brother Garry, Chirps Smith and sometimes John Bishop were collecting Illinois fiddle tunes they did "a lot of 'spreading out' in our field collecting since we come to realize that; a: there's more old fiddlers, singers, etc. out there than we ever would have imagined; b: time is of the essence (it being the mid-70's and many of them being already in their mid-80's); and c: there were just the 3 or sometimes 4 of us to cover the whole state of Illinois. As such, I may have been hot on some other trails while Chirps was on another." Steve thinks Run Down Boot was one of Garry's finds. The title suggests to him a "poor man's footwear."
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Privacy Consent (EU/GDPR Only)
Copyright 2026 Banjo Hangout. All Rights Reserved.
