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Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/12/2025: 02:30:34
The tune of the week this week is a favourite for many, and though it was a TOTW back in 2009, its time has come round again.
I've picked Sally in the Garden, usually played in D minor, tuned in double C with a capo on the 2nd fret. The tune has flat 6ths and single natural 6th in the A part - musical theory folks can explain that I'm sure - I can't!
Tabs and brilliant @janetburton "tabtorial" below if that's your thing.
The earliest recording I could find is from Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers in 1928
youtu.be/-cGdKtxYVB4?si=di27mAufwiLpu4Iq
This recording is a set of tunes with SITG starting at 3:56 - after Sourwood Mountain.
The tune appears to belong to Kentucky and Tunearch suggests family ties with the following tunes: “Brad Walters,” "Boating Up Sandy " "Fire on the Mountain," " Hog Eye an' a 'Tater,” and “Pretty Betty Martin."
None of these sound very close to me though "Brad Walters" sounds the closest.
Each part usually has 9 measures, though some people try to straighten it out with an extra measure. The way I play it comes from the Glasgow Old-time session I attend. Jeri Foreman is one of the Glasgow session coordinators, and she learned this 9 measure version from Jenni Shimmin in Sydney, Australia.
Tom Mackenzie is one of those who plays 10 measures for each part - tutorial here: youtu.be/qOUHrSVzeT4?si=AjCXgUHVz73fQb-e
Beyond that, the structure is a pretty standard AABB.
Tunearch goes on to say "versions of the tune are widely known in the upland South and Mid-West under several titles."
There are lyrics but I can't find any recordings of anyone singing these lyrics with this tune. They appear to fit the A part quite well?
Sally in the garden, sifting, sifting,
Sally in the garden sifting sand
Sally in the garden sifting, sifting,
Sally's upstairs with a hog-eye man."
Some of my favourite versions from YouTube:
Jeri Foreman and Ruth Eliza
open.spotify.com/track/5rNrO5Z...DjQHdRPmA
Also in the link below at 3:50, but don't skip the first song - it's really beautiful!
youtu.be/lcLDlNj9CBk?si=C-NiUSvuMVwUiSHC
Abigail Washburn and Bela Fleck:
youtu.be/WWIfFIEeZjw?si=9ab9bGdcl-S89JYV
Molly McBride and Jeff Norman
youtu.be/1W9vzn7Xqeo?si=Un6LD_1XkiOjzWd6 Jeff's banjo on here is really clear and useful for working things out by ear.
Laurel Premo and Anna Gustavson youtu.be/0PXxOnmAnDg?si=-eodc-Td2rnKqJNG
Brandi Waller-Pace version in C minor youtu.be/wvTbzyxHgj0?si=IScwwFyfMrbA1r7D
Janet Burton "Tabtorial"
youtu.be/HD4OeJK4o4A?si=uUrfeMI4YGamKfjY
And below is a version recorded at the Glasgow Old-time session last night. (Recorded by a random man at the bar with my phone - he missed the start....)
My tab is below, but there are many excellent tabs out there including Janet Burton and Lukas Pool.
Please record and upload your versions here - I'd love to hear them!
And if anyone fancies trying those lyrics please do! (The internet suggests some interesting "double entendres" for these lyrics but if true, the innuendos are so archaic no-one will know what you're singing.....)
Edited by - Andyrhydycreuau on 12/12/2025 09:14:43
banjered - Posted - 12/12/2025: 06:49:58
Thanks! Definitely in my top 10 clawhammer tunes to play.Hypnotizing! banjered
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/12/2025: 09:17:44
Thanks Janet,
I've fixed the links now too. It was in Rich Text mode - I didn't notice.
I often wonder how my banjo carries in a session - this recording is quite instructive. My Tubaphone is doing what it was designed to - really clear!
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/12/2025: 09:22:04
Originally posted by banjered
Thanks Tom! It's a lovely thing for sure!
MRichaud - Posted - 12/12/2025: 10:10:10
quote:
Originally posted by Andyrhydycreuau
quote:
Originally posted by MRichaud
Another nice version:
youtube.com/watch?v=BMUaskVXhB...t_radio=1
Thanks Mickey, it was hard choosing what to post TBH. This version is really nice though, not sure I saw this one!
I accidentally stumbled on that one - viewed several of her videos earlier; quite impressed!
bigcraig - Posted - 12/12/2025: 21:07:02
Andy,
Thanks for the info on this tune. I posted a recording a few years ago of me playing a 3 finger version of this based on a Mike Iverson Clawhammer tab I got from his website. There is also a great YouTube video of the Nashville Acoustic Allstars (Casey Driessen, Noam Pikelny and Rob Ickes) playing this somewhere in Scotland after Celtic Connections.
bigcraig - Posted - 12/12/2025: 21:13:18
Here is the link:
youtu.be/wbigUQOpPoI?si=SE_Eivax9Xtx_EIK
The Nashville Acoustic All Stars live at the Polish Club, Kirkcaldy, Fife Scotland
Casey Driessen - Fiddle
Rob Ickes - Dobro
Noam Pikelny - Banjo
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/13/2025: 02:29:54
quote:
Originally posted by bigcraig
Here is the link:
youtu.be/wbigUQOpPoI?si=SE_Eivax9Xtx_EIK
The Nashville Acoustic All Stars live at the Polish Club, Kirkcaldy, Fife Scotland
Casey Driessen - Fiddle
Rob Ickes - Dobro
Noam Pikelny - Banjo
Thanks Craig,
That's really nice - always good to see quality music in little venues like this!
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/13/2025: 02:30:11
quote:
Originally posted by bigcraig
Andy,
Thanks for the info on this tune. I posted a recording a few years ago of me playing a 3 finger version of this based on a Mike Iverson Clawhammer tab I got from his website. There is also a great YouTube video of the Nashville Acoustic Allstars (Casey Driessen, Noam Pikelny and Rob Ickes) playing this somewhere in Scotland after Celtic Connections.
And your version is excellent, really nice to hear, thanks for sharing!
Edited by - Andyrhydycreuau on 12/13/2025 02:31:16
jack_beuthin - Posted - 12/13/2025: 05:16:25
Nice presentation, Andrew, and excellent tune choice. A haunting standard that never gets old. I had no idea that this traced back to Crockett’s Kentucky Mountaineers.
Here is my thumb lead two finger version along with a corresponding tab. I recorded it in Double C without capoing up to Double D.
youtu.be/lHhfCWL7cAg
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/13/2025: 07:16:14
quote:
Originally posted by jack_beuthin
Nice presentation, Andrew, and excellent tune choice. A haunting standard that never gets old. I had no idea that this traced back to Crockett’s Kentucky Mountaineers.
Here is my thumb lead two finger version along with a corresponding tab. I recorded it in Double C without capoing up to Double D.
youtu.be/lHhfCWL7cAg
Thanks Jack, that's really good.
Yours is a 10 measure I noticed. Interesting how it shifts like this, it'd be interesting to count out the Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers version to see how it is in that early version. I'm off to count some crackly fiddle measures right now!
Thanks for the comment and sharing your version!
Andy
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/13/2025: 07:34:44
Ok, so I counted out (best I could) the Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers version.
A part is always 9 measures.
B part is 8 first time, then second tine through it's 8 plus a half measure just to mess with us!
It is possible I've counted wrong.
Some would say it's just wrong to count through an old time tune period.
I'm happy to have my counting corrected if anyone fancies a listening challenge!
Edited by - Andyrhydycreuau on 12/13/2025 07:42:24
AndrewD - Posted - 12/13/2025: 14:02:00
I learned it from the tab in the John Burke book many years ago. One of the few tabs in the book that works without having to figure out where the bar lines and beats are. I'll see how it compares to the others here and maybe record my version, which has probably deviated from the John Burke version. The US, but unfortunately not the UK, version of the John Burke book came with a floppy record. Was this on that record ? If so anybody got it and is able to upload ?
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/14/2025: 01:03:21
quote:
Originally posted by AndrewD
I learned it from the tab in the John Burke book many years ago. One of the few tabs in the book that works without having to figure out where the bar lines and beats are. I'll see how it compares to the others here and maybe record my version, which has probably deviated from the John Burke version. The US, but unfortunately not the UK, version of the John Burke book came with a floppy record. Was this on that record ? If so anybody got it and is able to upload ?
Thanks Andrew, do upload a version of you have time, I'd love hear it. It looks like the John Burke book is long out of print and is selling (or is advertised) for silly money on Amazon.
I've never seen the book but the tune list / contents page is on line and it seems to have some interesting tunes.
Thanks for the comment - if anyone has the record it would be interesting to hear!
Hunter Robertson - Posted - 12/14/2025: 15:44:29
John Burke got it from Crockett's Mountaineers, but I'm pretty sure everybody else got it from John Burke's book. Or from someone who got it from... you get the idea. It's probably on its fourth generation of banjo players by now.
Modern clawhammer would be very different without that book.
Hunter Robertson - Posted - 12/14/2025: 15:48:12
quote:
Originally posted by AndrewD
I learned it from the tab in the John Burke book many years ago. One of the few tabs in the book that works without having to figure out where the bar lines and beats are. I'll see how it compares to the others here and maybe record my version, which has probably deviated from the John Burke version. The US, but unfortunately not the UK, version of the John Burke book came with a floppy record. Was this on that record ? If so anybody got it and is able to upload ?
It is on the record and if you dig a little you'll find it online. As I recall there was talk years ago about reissuing it but that doesn't seem to have happened.
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/15/2025: 04:48:26
quote:
Originally posted by Hunter Robertson
John Burke got it from Crockett's Mountaineers, but I'm pretty sure everybody else got it from John Burke's book. Or from someone who got it from... you get the idea. It's probably on its fourth generation of banjo players by now.
Modern clawhammer would be very different without that book.
That's interesting Hunter, thanks.
To my ear the Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers B part is quite different to the version that is common now. I'd be interested to see how Burke has it either on the Disc or the tab from the book.
Thanks for the response - and adding a link in my understanding of the tune. Here is the link to your version of Hog Eyed Man with the lyrics above!
See track 8 here:
bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/al...nt=true/#
I like it when things come together!
Edited by - Andyrhydycreuau on 12/15/2025 04:50:03
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/16/2025: 06:14:41
quote:
Originally posted by Hunter Robertson
Thanks!
Here's a nice sung version by J. D. Cornett: folkways.si.edu/j-d-cornett/sa...ithsonian
And here's a lot of information on the lyrics (not double entendres, just plain dirty): blog.zarfhome.com/2024/09/she-...g-eye-man
Two of my favorite recordings of Hog Eyed Man are here, by Luther Strong and Hiram Stamper: slippery-hill.com/taxonomy/tun...yed-man-0
And setting them on banjo: youtube.com/watch?v=fypR2rVZKBg
Speaking of things coming together, my father grew up in Helensburgh and got his first banjo going around people's houses asking if they might have an old banjo in the attic they'd like to sell. He ended up with a fancy S.S. Stewart apparently - sadly long gone.
Thanks for all that. I wonder how many other songs had lyrics that were as unprintable?
I'm not asking for more examples - the link Hunter shared above is more than enough. But wherever there are lyrics that don't really make sense I will now wonder what body part or bodily function has been edited out!
I'm a recent immigrant to Helensburgh, but there is a little banjo playing community still, and we meet for tunes from time to time.
Not sure what else lurks in the attics of Helensburgh!
Thanks again!
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/16/2025: 06:21:36
quote:
Originally posted by Mtngoat
quote:
Originally posted by Hunter Robertson
Thanks!
Two of my favorite recordings of Hog Eyed Man are here, by Luther Strong and Hiram Stamper: slippery-hill.com/taxonomy/tun...yed-man-0
And setting them on banjo: youtube.com/watch?v=fypR2rVZKBg
Hunter, I've always preferred the Hog Eye variants over the Sally version. Here's a recording from a dance we played.
Can you tell us a bit about the banjo you're playing in the video.
Thanks for the comment and sharing your Hog Eyed Man.
The B part in several of the Hog Eyed Man versions above does seem more like the B part in the Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers to me. Anyone else feel that too? I haven't worked either out properly though.....
Now I'm really interested to hear that Burke recording that came with the book - to hear how the B part goes.....
Hunter Robertson - Posted - 12/16/2025: 10:14:02
quote:
Originally posted by Mtngoat
quote:
Originally posted by Hunter Robertson
Thanks!
Two of my favorite recordings of Hog Eyed Man are here, by Luther Strong and Hiram Stamper: slippery-hill.com/taxonomy/tun...yed-man-0
And setting them on banjo: youtube.com/watch?v=fypR2rVZKBg
Hunter, I've always preferred the Hog Eye variants over the Sally version. Here's a recording from a dance we played.
Can you tell us a bit about the banjo you're playing in the video.
Like the old fiddler said, "Natchez Under the Hill' - it sounds a lot like 'Turkey in the Straw', but still there's a difference!"
The banjo is the best hundred dollars I ever spent. It's a bakelite Harmony with a copper fingerboard I put on it up to the seventh fret. For that tuning, I find having a wound third helps. It works fine in normal tunings too as it's so thin, .016. I get them from Clifford Essex.
Hunter Robertson - Posted - 12/16/2025: 10:27:43
quote:
Originally posted by Andyrhydycreuau
quote:
Originally posted by Mtngoat
quote:
Originally posted by Hunter Robertson
Thanks!
Two of my favorite recordings of Hog Eyed Man are here, by Luther Strong and Hiram Stamper: slippery-hill.com/taxonomy/tun...yed-man-0
And setting them on banjo: youtube.com/watch?v=fypR2rVZKBg
Hunter, I've always preferred the Hog Eye variants over the Sally version. Here's a recording from a dance we played.
Can you tell us a bit about the banjo you're playing in the video.
Thanks for the comment and sharing your Hog Eyed Man.
The B part in several of the Hog Eyed Man versions above does seem more like the B part in the Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers to me. Anyone else feel that too? I haven't worked either out properly though.....
Now I'm really interested to hear that Burke recording that came with the book - to hear how the B part goes.....
I've got the floppy disc somewhere, but you can try this: acrosstheplains.wordpress.com
Hunter Robertson - Posted - 12/16/2025: 10:36:53
quote:
Originally posted by Andyrhydycreuau
quote:
Originally posted by Hunter Robertson
Thanks!
Here's a nice sung version by J. D. Cornett: folkways.si.edu/j-d-cornett/sa...ithsonian
And here's a lot of information on the lyrics (not double entendres, just plain dirty): blog.zarfhome.com/2024/09/she-...g-eye-man
Two of my favorite recordings of Hog Eyed Man are here, by Luther Strong and Hiram Stamper: slippery-hill.com/taxonomy/tun...yed-man-0
And setting them on banjo: youtube.com/watch?v=fypR2rVZKBg
Speaking of things coming together, my father grew up in Helensburgh and got his first banjo going around people's houses asking if they might have an old banjo in the attic they'd like to sell. He ended up with a fancy S.S. Stewart apparently - sadly long gone.
Thanks for all that. I wonder how many other songs had lyrics that were as unprintable?
I'm not asking for more examples - the link Hunter shared above is more than enough. But wherever there are lyrics that don't really make sense I will now wonder what body part or bodily function has been edited out!
I'm a recent immigrant to Helensburgh, but there is a little banjo playing community still, and we meet for tunes from time to time.
Not sure what else lurks in the attics of Helensburgh!
Thanks again!
Nice! I haven't been back to Helensburgh for a very very long time.
I bet there's a lot of (dirty) songs that haven't made it down to us. Eunice Yeatts McAlexander's mother wouldn't sing her Maddie Groves, but she eventually learned it from a neighbor. "In singing the ballad for me, Eunice was still a bit hesitant, and interestingly changed the line in stanza six from “they went home a hugging and a kissing” to “a laughing and a talking.” There are some things you don’t sing about to a male stranger!" ( fieldrecorder.org/product/euni...a-frc739/ )
RG - Posted - 12/16/2025: 10:49:51
quote:
Originally posted by Andyrhydycreuau
quote:
Originally posted by Hunter Robertson
Thanks!
Here's a nice sung version by J. D. Cornett: folkways.si.edu/j-d-cornett/sa...ithsonian
And here's a lot of information on the lyrics (not double entendres, just plain dirty): blog.zarfhome.com/2024/09/she-...g-eye-man
Two of my favorite recordings of Hog Eyed Man are here, by Luther Strong and Hiram Stamper: slippery-hill.com/taxonomy/tun...yed-man-0
And setting them on banjo: youtube.com/watch?v=fypR2rVZKBg
Speaking of things coming together, my father grew up in Helensburgh and got his first banjo going around people's houses asking if they might have an old banjo in the attic they'd like to sell. He ended up with a fancy S.S. Stewart apparently - sadly long gone.
Thanks for all that. I wonder how many other songs had lyrics that were as unprintable?
I'm not asking for more examples - the link Hunter shared above is more than enough. But wherever there are lyrics that don't really make sense I will now wonder what body part or bodily function has been edited out!
I'm a recent immigrant to Helensburgh, but there is a little banjo playing community still, and we meet for tunes from time to time.
Not sure what else lurks in the attics of Helensburgh!
Thanks again!
Don't think too long about the lyrics for Greasy Coat or Skillet Good 'n Greasy...
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/17/2025: 05:43:32
quote:
Originally posted by RG
Don't think too long about the lyrics for Greasy Coat or Skillet Good 'n Greasy...
I've never understood the Wildwood Flower lyrics either.
"The pale and the leader and eyes look like blue"?
Please don't suggest anything.....!
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/17/2025: 05:49:54
So - the link above to the John Burke recording is excellent. Thanks @Hunter_robertson.
The Burke version is identical to the 9 measure version I know from the Glasgow Old-time session.
(The other tunes are really nicely done too, and though the tempos are on the high side for me the banjo parts are really clear for working out by ear)
If anyone wants a copy of the audio file for Sally in the Garden message me separately.
I might try to work out the B part from Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers, but it's so difficult from crackly old recordings with "characterful" fiddling.....
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 12/17/2025: 06:12:02
quote:
Originally posted by cmic
And I remember the superb (my own POV) @Jillianh rendition.
(Jillianh uploaded this in 2015). It is played in fDADE. Hum. Maybe aDADE ?
banjohangout.org/myhangout/med...archived=
Thanks Michel,
That's a useful link.
fDADE would be interesting with the minor third on the fifth string. Ive done similar in the past for Darling Cora and Wayfaring Stranger, but never for SITG.
I guess it's the kind of tuning that works a treat when you're playing on your own, but a pain in the "dead eye" (just checking who read all of that article above about euphemisms.....) otherwise!
Noah Cline - Posted - 12/28/2025: 17:38:18
Nice choice, Andy. I meant to leave a comment. I was going to record some friends and I playing Sally in the Garden as it's one of our favorites out of a handful of D minor tunes that we know, but unfortunately the video didn't turn out as good as I had hoped, so I scratched it, and unfortunately my reply with it. My friend Andy likes playing a low harmony on guitar while I'm playing it on banjo, and I tend to switch up between high and low runs of the B part.
To muddy the waters a bit more on the Hog Eyed Man connection, I did want to provide this additional info:
Chris Wig recorded a version of "Hog Eyed Man," starting with similar lyrics:
Sally in the garden sifting sand,
Susie upstairs with the hog-eyed man
Now, in the liner notes, along with the aforementioned euphemisms, Chris included that small flat-bottom boats used on the rivers and canals were called hog-eyes, and the men that rowed them, hog-eyed men.
Theophilus Hoskins was the source for this setting of the tune, having been recorded by Alan Lomax.
cmorgan - Posted - 12/31/2025: 05:50:03
I made a recording of Sally in the Garden for the mandolin cafe Song A Week group a while back. I'm primarily a mando player but also love clawhammer, despite my mediocre skill. This recording leads and closes with clawhammer so I guess it fits here too. There are also up to three mandolin tracks and a ubass track. I learned Sally from a banjo player who leaned heavily into the slow mesmerizing sound of it so that's how it sounds right to me. The collie mutt in the video is my beloved Sally, who died about 25 years ago. The rest of the shots are my gardens and fields.
youtube.com/watch?v=HYjzyOgkI4w
Don Borchelt - Posted - 01/01/2026: 08:56:52
Andrew, this is a great pick, I can't remember when there has been so much participation in the TOTW here on the Hangout! Your jam session sounds great, I wish you were all here on this side of the Atlantic. Craig's three finger version is just so sweet. I made a comment when he posted it fifteen years ago, "This is some very lovely picking. Thoughtful and elegant. A fine performance." It still grabs the heart. Jack's two finger version is wonderful, too, he is a master of the style.
It never hit me before, but now I can hear the similarity of the tune with Hog-Eyed Man, and Hunter does his always fine job of laying it out on banjo, especially the way he tickles that low drone on the 4th string . I am thrilled to see him posting new performances. He plays one of my favorite banjos, the old Harmony Sovereign. Mtngoat's jam video is great, too, lots of energy in those hog lovers! Cmorgan's version may be a bit slower than that one, but the interplay of banjo and mandolin is thoughtful and striking, well done!
Janet's instruction video, as always, gets right down to the heart of the tune. She represents the epitome of my philosophy- before you can play a fiddle tune on the banjo, you have to turn it into a banjo tune!
I made a recording of this with my old pal, the late Ed Britt, for a home produced CD we made up in 2011, to sell when we went busking. We did it in a duet with the tune Child Grove; he taught me both tunes. I have separated out the Sally in the Garden to post here. I am playing three finger, Ed is clawhammering in his unique style.
Sally in the Garden
- Don Borchelt
Noah Cline - Posted - 01/01/2026: 10:23:41
quote:
Originally posted by Noah Cline
Nice choice, Andy. I meant to leave a comment. I was going to record some friends and I playing Sally in the Garden as it's one of our favorites out of a handful of D minor tunes that we know, but unfortunately the video didn't turn out as good as I had hoped, so I scratched it, and unfortunately my reply with it. My friend Andy likes playing a low harmony on guitar while I'm playing it on banjo, and I tend to switch up between high and low runs of the B part.
To muddy the waters a bit more on the Hog Eyed Man connection, I did want to provide this additional info:
Chris Wig recorded a version of "Hog Eyed Man," starting with similar lyrics:
Sally in the garden sifting sand,
Susie upstairs with the hog-eyed man
Now, in the liner notes, along with the aforementioned euphemisms, Chris included that small flat-bottom boats used on the rivers and canals were called hog-eyes, and the men that rowed them, hog-eyed men.
Theophilus Hoskins was the source for this setting of the tune, having been recorded by Alan Lomax.
The Chris Wig recording that I referenced (and meant to include) in my post above: christianwig.bandcamp.com/trac...-eyed-man
Noah Cline - Posted - 01/01/2026: 10:44:37
I was able to grab a better video of some friends and I playing Sally in the Garden. Hope you enjoy:
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 01/05/2026: 12:24:28
quote:
Originally posted by Noah Cline
Nice choice, Andy. I meant to leave a comment. I was going to record some friends and I playing Sally in the Garden as it's one of our favorites out of a handful of D minor tunes that we know, but unfortunately the video didn't turn out as good as I had hoped, so I scratched it, and unfortunately my reply with it. My friend Andy likes playing a low harmony on guitar while I'm playing it on banjo, and I tend to switch up between high and low runs of the B part.
To muddy the waters a bit more on the Hog Eyed Man connection, I did want to provide this additional info:
Chris Wig recorded a version of "Hog Eyed Man," starting with similar lyrics:
Sally in the garden sifting sand,
Susie upstairs with the hog-eyed man
Now, in the liner notes, along with the aforementioned euphemisms, Chris included that small flat-bottom boats used on the rivers and canals were called hog-eyes, and the men that rowed them, hog-eyed men.
Theophilus Hoskins was the source for this setting of the tune, having been recorded by Alan Lomax.
Thanks Noah,
The flat bottomed boat information is interesting. D minor tunes are nice in double D tuning. Tam Lin is another, but it's not popular with trad players here in Scotland - a little too clichéd like being asked for Wagon wheel or "that banjo thing from deliverance". Which is a shame as it works well clawhammer.....
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 01/05/2026: 12:28:35
quote:
Originally posted by Don Borchelt
Andrew, this is a great pick, I can't remember when there has been so much participation in the TOTW here on the Hangout! Your jam session sounds great, I wish you were all here on this side of the Atlantic. Craig's three finger version is just so sweet. I made a comment when he posted it fifteen years ago, "This is some very lovely picking. Thoughtful and elegant. A fine performance." It still grabs the heart. Jack's two finger version is wonderful, too, he is a master of the style.
It never hit me before, but now I can hear the similarity of the tune with Hog-Eyed Man, and Hunter does his always fine job of laying it out on banjo, especially the way he tickles that low drone on the 4th string . I am thrilled to see him posting new performances. He plays one of my favorite banjos, the old Harmony Sovereign. Mtngoat's jam video is great, too, lots of energy in those hog lovers! Cmorgan's version may be a bit slower than that one, but the interplay of banjo and mandolin is thoughtful and striking, well done!
Janet's instruction video, as always, gets right down to the heart of the tune. She represents the epitome of my philosophy- before you can play a fiddle tune on the banjo, you have to turn it into a banjo tune!
I made a recording of this with my old pal, the late Ed Britt, for a home produced CD we made up in 2011, to sell when we went busking. We did it in a duet with the tune Child Grove; he taught me both tunes. I have separated out the Sally in the Garden to post here. I am playing three finger, Ed is clawhammering in his unique style.
Sally in the Garden
- Don Borchelt
Thanks Don, I'll share your comments with our session. (We'd all come over in the blink of an eye when one of us wins the lottery!)
Your version is lovely - 10x10 measures I notice.
All the best,
Andy
Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 01/05/2026: 12:41:43
quote:
Originally posted by cmorgan
I made a recording of Sally in the Garden for the mandolin cafe Song A Week group a while back. I'm primarily a mando player but also love clawhammer, despite my mediocre skill. This recording leads and closes with clawhammer so I guess it fits here too. There are also up to three mandolin tracks and a ubass track. I learned Sally from a banjo player who leaned heavily into the slow mesmerizing sound of it so that's how it sounds right to me. The collie mutt in the video is my beloved Sally, who died about 25 years ago. The rest of the shots are my gardens and fields.
youtube.com/watch?v=HYjzyOgkI4w
Lovely, thanks for sharing.
A favourite tune for a favourite dog, that's nice!
