Davey Come on Back And Act Like You Ought To
Davey Come on Back And Act Like You Ought To
This recent October was riddled with old time music action! First off, Rafe and Clelia Stefanini stayed for a week at my Old Time Tiki Parlour for workshops, a house concert and a ton of filming! To let you in on a little secret, we’ll probably be releasing the footage as one of the first Old Time Tiki Parlour performance DVDs next year! Rafe was one of my living heroes when I started playing old time music, so it was a treat to be able to play tunes with him that I learned over a decade ago at his workshops. During their stay, many of us trekked up to the Santa Barbara area for the Goleta Old Time Fiddler’s Convention. Rafe and Clelia Stefanini performed, as did my old time jug band Sausage Grinder. Rafe, Chris Berry (of SG) and I taught fiddle and banjo workshops there as well. At first, I was going to present just an audio lesson of my workshop tune, but something kept nagging at me.
It was a tune that I heard Rafe and Clelia play several times during their stay, Davey Come on Back And Act Like You Ought To. It comes from Delbert Hughes (1905-1989). He was a fiddler born in Jellico, TN, raised in Kentucky, and settled in Ohley, Kanawha CO, WV in his mid thirties. He played several wonderful and crooked tunes. Recently, old time maestro Bruce Molsky recorded Delbert’s Rattle Down the Acorns on his latest CD If It Ain’t Here When I Get Back. Another great Delbert tune Jodie can be found on Scott Prouty’s Puncheon Floor CD. Oh, and if you don’t have these, buy ’em!!
So, for this month’s column I’ve decided to do both. First, the audio lesson of WV fiddler JT Lockard’s Old Greasy Coat that I picked up from one of the great out-of-print modern old time CDs, Natural History by Jimmy Triplett. It is simple, modal, spooky, evocative and trance-like. A great tune for fiddlers of all levels.
Old Greasy Coat
AAABB
GDGD tuning
source: JT Lockard, WV via Jimmy Triplett
Secondly, I present a video lesson of the Delbert Hughes’ crooked, strange modal masterpiece:
Davey Come on Back And Act Like You Ought To
AABB
GDAE, A modal
Delbert Hughes, TN, KY and WV
Enjoy Folks!!
David Bragger, Player and Instructor of Old Time Fiddle, Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar
David Bragger’s YouTube page, Sausage Grinder band home page