Sullivans hollow

[Gary S]

I had the opportunity to play this beautiful tune in a session last night and cannot remember exactly how it went.
Do any of you all play this tune and are there some good sources for listening and learning it? Thanks...Gary

[Paul Kotapish]

"Sullivan's Hollow" is one of my favorites--quirky, crooked, and fun.

The tune was originally recorded on a 78 on the Okeh Label by the Mississippi group, Freeny's Barndance Band. It is available as a reissue
here. (http://www.amazon.com/Mississippi-String-Bands-Vol-2/dp/B000009NJQ) You can hear a bit of the tune at that amazon.com link.

Mississippi String Bands, Volume Two: Traditional Fiddle Music of MississippiCounty 3514 CD (1998)

It has also been recorded by numerous old-time revivalists such as Bob Carlin and others, and Uncle Earl recently recorded it, too, You can download their version of the tune and one by Dick Kimmel on iTunes for $.99 each. Such a deal. Kimmel's version is pretty straightforward, but I like Uncle Earl's dreamy interpretation a lot, too.

I believe it shows up in several published collections of old-time tune transciptions.

You can hear a full run-through of the tune in midi format at the Hetzler's Fakebook Site. (http://www.homestead.com/hetzler/music_2.html)

The midi fiddle is a little eerie, but all the notes are there and you could learn the tune from the resource.

Great little resource, that.

BTW, the region of Sullivan's Hollow in Smith County, Mississippi, has quite a colorful history and reputation. There are various articles and books about the place. Here's a little

online article. (http://wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=5012906)

Good luck.

PK

[Gary S]

Wow Paul!!! Thanks so much.Great resources for jumping in to this tune. I will order the Missippi Fiddle music cd. The Hertler version short steps the cool turnaround on the end of the second part. Thanks for your help...Gary

[Paul Kotapish]

Gary,

Right you are about that midi version. The setting I know--like the Freeny's Barndance Band setting--repeats the second part and on the repeat has another couple of bars of with a little figure around the low F# before repeating the final high phrase.

Have fun.

[Steve P]

Hi Paul and Gary,
I first learned this tune in the late 1970's from a Kenny Hall record (those big black frisbee things) Philo 1008.
Thanks to Kenny playihg it, the tune became popular at local jam sessions. Of course, we can thank him for many other tunes as well.

The music is currently available in Vykki Gray's
book, "Kenny Hall's Music Book." Kenny is quoted as saying that he learned it from the 78 record mentioned above while he was working in a broom factory in 1942.
Cheeers, Steve

[Paul Kotapish]

Thanks, Steve.

I probably learned it from Kenny, too. He is an incredible source for great tunes, and I still love those old Sweets Mill String Band LPs. Such a joyful, mando-centric, old-time sound.

PK

[David M.]

This is a cool tune. #Just learned it on fiddle from the Uncle Earl cd, then played it on mandolin. #I've got an old Kay mando I acquired from a 'Bay seller who is from Vicksburg, MS, so a good Mississippi tune made sense to me I also recorded Vicksburg Stomp on it and sent him the MP3 of it...)

On fiddle, works best in ADAE tuning

If anyone wants to hear it played on a junky old Kay mando I mention above, I just uploaded it to my profile page on AcousticFriends.com (http://www.acousticfriends.com) #User name: #David M D35 # and located on left way down at the bottom of the profile page. #

I play this tune after Camp Meeting on the 4th of July and it makes a good set

[MikeB]

Hey, David, it took me a bit to find where you were playing, but I found it. That's some dang nice picking there, Buddy! I wish my NOT junky mandolins sounded half as good as you did there. A little bit of clawhammer banjo in there, to my ear, and I love that sound. Thanks for sharing it. I've been looking at Sullivan's Hollow and trying to figure out how it's supposed to sound. Now I know! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[Gary S]

Very nice rendition of Sullivan's Hollow. Full of ancient tones. Keep playing those good old tunes...Gary S

[David M.]

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

this is literally a $100 mando (what i paid for it) made in the 30's or something. #had the neck reset and it's pretty cool, in a tubby kind of way.

Listen to Uncle Earl's version of this tune. #Amazing. #I assume it's Reyna fiddling it and she does some kind of trill or roll or something on that first measure. #i try to copy that, but don't know if I got it exactly "down" yet. #May try to find a way to email her and ask her how she does it.

I appreciate the comments, yall. #I love this tune. #No clawhammer in there at this point, but that'd be awful cool, wouldn't it... #This was recorded in my basement, on computer using the "Creative Recorder" that came native on the system software and the little bitty mic.