Shove that pig's foot further in the fire

[sgarrity]

So a jam I go to on occassion has started playing this tune. I'd heard it a time or two before but I don't have a recording of it. So off to YouTube I go and find two nice versions, one with Bruce Molsky in the TransAtlantic Sessions. I've pretty much got both parts down. But I don't have the chords figured out yet. Anybody know 'em?

[John Flynn]

The way I play it, and it seems to fit with the videos on YouTube, more or less, is:
GCGDGCGDG for both parts. However, the two C's and that last D are quick and have to be timed just right or you are better off leaving them out.

[harwilli55]

Hi Shaun,

Bern and I have been playing Pig's foot pretty regularly. Don't know if Molsky's version is the same, but I had found it at a website, which I cannot remember at the moment, but will try to find it again. These are the chords I have from that notated version we have been playing. Hope this helps.


Shove That Pigs Foot A Little Further In The Fire

Key of G

A part:

G G/C G D
G C/G G/D G

B part:

G C/G C D
G C/G G/D G

Harlan

[PhilGE]

Here's a JPEG image of the tune exported from an ABC music format file player called Barfly. This has some glitches in it, so feel free to "fix it up."

[sgarrity]

Thanks fellas, I got it now!! I'll be ready to burn this one with Bern now. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[fatt-dad]

Shaun, you bringing that new mandolin up to Richmond? Tell me where your next visit is - I'd like to see it/play it/maybe even bang it up for you a little - ha. I promise, I'll be gentle. . . .

f-d

[sgarrity]

As soon as I get it set up so it's not buzzin' like a bee hive, I'll be headed that direction. I'll definitely let ya know.

[JeffD]

Thats a great tune isn't it.

[Joe F]

I was playing that tune at local jams for several months before somebody told me it was about a blacksmithing tool, not barbecued pork. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[blacksmith]

Haven't heard that name for a tool before. Also, tools typically don't get put in the fire (forge) unless you're heat treating an edge or something, the piece to be worked (forged) is.

[mrmando]

IIRC John Hartford plays this tune on the "Down from the Mountain" concert video, but calls it "Shove That Pig's Foot a Little Further in the Bed," and naturally prefaces it with a story about what the pig was doing in the bed in the first place.

[Steve P]

There's a slightly different version I transcribed for my book, "150 Hot Tunes for Fiddle & Mandolin." It's from the playing of Greg and Jere Canote. The tune is from Marcus Martin. I'd post the tune, but can't figure out how to attach an image. I'll be happy to email it.

A: ||: G C/G G D
G C/G G/D G :||

B: G C/G G G
G C/G G D/G
G C/G G G
G C/G G D/G

Steve Parker
www.ragtime-resource.com

[Steve P]

After some advice from Phil, I'm going to try again to post a version of the Pig's Foot tune.
Steve Parker
www.ragtime-resource.com

[Dennis Ladd]

There's a tab version here at the Cafe - use "shove" as a search term and it will come up.

[PhilGE]

Nice, Steve! Now, could you redo that notation as Cezanne might have? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

pig foot

a. An iron clamp shaped like a pig's foot used to attach the jack to the
feed chain of a continuous electric coal cutter.

b. A pipe jack with a pig foot at one end.

And - like the hokey pokey - that's what it's all about.

[Steve P]

Here's a Tab version of the tune I posted above in standard notation.
Steve Parker
www.ragtime-resource.com

[Tripp Johnson]

Great tunes indeed...so Shaun, tell me about this jam! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[sgarrity]

Well it's this group of really good pickers and really nice folks who play exactly the kind of tunes I like to play. If I didn't live an hour and a half away, they'd have to put up with me a lot more! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Gary S]

Thanks Shaun for drawing our attention to this great tune. The fine fiddler Marcus Martin from our Mts in North Carolina recorded this as "Push the pigs foot further in the fire" It sounds like he played this out of Flatwoods tuning (drops the E string down to D to get a nice drone when he plays the 5th fret on the A string, I think). Martin recorded many fine tunes. I have been fooling with "Booth" also refered to as "Booth shot Lincoln". If you enjoy shove the pigs foot you will also have fun with Booth as well.

On another note, Bessie Smith's "Gimme a Pigs Foot and a Bottle of Beer" is as good as it gets...Gary

[Don Grieser]

Here's the YouTube Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBIjR39WYfM&feature=related) for Shove the Pig's Foot from the Transatlantic Sessions. I just discovered the Transatlantic Sessions on YouTube. Wow!

[mitchelwb]

I love that you posted images of both the standard notation as well as the tab on a staff and not just a text version of the tab. I wish there was a place where this type of stuff was stored in a collection. online tab is ok, but is so hard to make good sense of if you don't know the tune well. Sometimes it's tough even if you do know it.

Is there a warehouse of this info somewhere that I just haven't stumbled onto yet?

[MikeB]

Thanks for that YouTube link, Don! Man, I've been lost over there for an hour, following one video after another! Those Transatlantic Sessions are the BEST!! WOWOWOW! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Don Grieser]

I know what you mean! We had a snow day--no school--here in NM and I've been watching one after another of those TS videos. There's a lot to learn from Bruce Molsky's playing as well as those pipers.

[sgarrity]

I uploaded this one to my youtube page last night. I made a few mistakes, like only playing the A part once the second time through the tune. But otherwise a fair effort. I'll be doing more old-time tunes in the coming weeks. Click on the link in my signature line to see it.

The mandolin I'm playing is my newly acquired Heiden. I like it!

[gabe]

Listening to the soundtrack from Cold Mountain last night and I realized that a tune called "Ruby with the Eyes That Sparkle" is basically Shove The Pig's Foot Closer to the Fire. Nice version too by Dirk Powell I believe.
Gabe

[gonzograss]

Hey Shaun, we played "Shove That Pig's Foot...." at the Cary St. jam in Rchmnd today (yesterday?). Ever since I heard the Molsky version w/ Sharon, Flux, et al I've been in love w/ the tune. Hope your Heiden and my Hamlett will get to play it together real soon.
BTW, John Hamlett's new F5 is a great instrument; played it at Galax and the tone and fit/finish are just beautiful. Also got the story behind my smokey blond Hamlett A-model. Seems John was holding a bottle of Macallen's single malt scotch whiskey up to the sunlight and decided that the color would be just right for a mandolin. And it is.
~~Joe Hannabach

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

[David M.]

Glad to know this is a trad tune. I thought it was modern.

Also glad to see the tab posted. I like sound file best, but tab is sure better than them dots http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[raulb]

Although I can't find my copy at the moment, I believe this is in The Fiddler's Fakebook.