Brilliancy

[AW Meyer]

I've been learning the tune Brilliancy, and I'm wondering where it came from. Who wrote it?

[Fred Keller]

Here's the listing from the Fiddler's Companion (www.ceolas.org):

BRILLIANCY. AKA- "Brilliance," "Brilliancy Medley." AKA and see "Liverpool Hornpipe," "Louisville Hornpipe." See also related tunes "Drunken Billy Goat," "Miller's Reel," "Wake Up Susan." Old-Time, Texas Style. USA, west Texas. A Major. Standard. AABB (Christeson, Phillips/1994): AABBCC (Phillips/1995): AABBCCDDEE (Brody). John Hartford and others note that the first strain of "Passaic Hornpipe" is the same as this tune, as is "Trafalger Hornpipe" (the latter is cognate with the 'A' and 'C' parts of "Brilliancy"). Stacy Phillips remarks that the tune is a combination of "Passaic," "Trafalgar" and "Dew Drop" (the 'B' part) hornpipes. See also the related tune "Butterfly Hornpipe." There is some thought that "Brilliancy" was Eck Robertson's name for the set of variations he developed for "Drunken Billy Goat," though Charles Wolfe (1997) states the tune is an amalgum of several fiddle tunes including "Drunken Billygoat" in combination with "Wake Up Susan," "Old Billy Wilson" and "Bill Cheatum." The piece was one of Robertson's best known pieces and sold over 2,600 copies when it was released in September, 1930 (Wolfe, 1997). Sources for notated versions: Red Williams [Christeson]; Eck Robertson (West Texas) [Brody]; Howard Forrester [Phillips]. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 2), 1984; pg. 5. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 57-58. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 37. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 183. County 507, Eck Robertson- "Old-Time Fiddle Classics." Folkways FA2952, Eck Robertson (1922) - "American Folk Music, Vol. 2." Rounder 0046, Mark O'Conner- "National Junior Fiddle Champion." Sonyatone 201, Eck Robertson- "Master Fiddler." Victor 40298 (78 RPM), Eck Robertson {1929. 2nd fiddle by Dr. J.B. Cranfill}.

[Soupy1957]

Peter: I ran across this reference to Howdy Forresters' version on:
"Fancy fiddlin' country style - Cub LP"
Is THAT the one you were talkin about?
-Soupy1957

[Peter Hackman]

That's the one. Cub is/was a subsidiary of MGM records. As far as I know
it's never been digitized. I ordered it from the US after hearing Brilliancy
on the radio in 1960, thought it was the prettiest tune I'd ever heard
(I later picked it out on banjo, thus discovering Keith style before ever hearing of him).

It has several remarkable tunes, Rutland's Reel (by Georgia Slim Rutland),
High Level Hornpipe, and Fiddler's Waltz. Learning these tunes supplied me
with quite a vocabulary.

The accompaniment is piano (I LOVE that sound and rhythm, probably a Texas influence)
and guitar, possibly bass (I don't have the album any longer). On one tune, Clarinet Polka, there's a harmonica, no piano,
which makes me suspect both are played by Jimmy Riddle (as both were with Roy Acuff's band). there's also one more songlike tune, Cruel Willie, in the key
of D, pretty sure it's crosstuned, a la Bonaparte. I would guess that
Bobby Osborne learned both Rutland's Reel and Say Old Man
off that record.

[AW Meyer]

Thanks for the wealth of information here. This is great.

[Pete Martin]

For "Drunken Billy Goat", listen to the 60's Dillards and Byron Berline "Pickin and Fiddlin" recording. Does anyone know if this has been re-issued on CD? If not, it should.

It is also interesting to note that what Eck and Howdy played is what a lot of Bluegrassers play today and call "Brilliancy" (Sam Bush, Blaine Sprouse and others have recorded that version).

What Texas style fiddlers call "Brilliancy" comes from the same tunes, but uses different sections of them, so nothing is the same between the two tunes. The folk process continues.

[Tom C]

It's one of my favorites to play

[Peter Hackman]

For "Drunken Billy Goat", listen to the 60's Dillards and Byron Berline "Pickin and Fiddlin" recording. #Does anyone know if this has been re-issued on CD? #If not, it should.

It is also interesting to note that what Eck and Howdy played is what a lot of Bluegrassers play today and call "Brilliancy" (Sam Bush, Blaine Sprouse and others have recorded that version).

What Texas style fiddlers call "Brilliancy" comes from the same tunes, but uses different sections of them, so nothing is the same between the two tunes. #The folk process continues.

Now I'm more confused than ever. Is Robertson's "Brilliancy Medley"
really the same as Howdy Forrester's "Brilliancy"? I thought it was the same
as the "Brilliancy Medley" played by Fairport Convention on YouTUbe,
where I recognized only Bill Cheatam, and which has nothing in common
with Forrester's piece.

Forrester's piece may have a dual
origin (1000 Fiddle Tunes give the A and C part as the two parts
of Trafalgar, but it is a coherent piece in 3 parts, 2 of them
repeated: AABBCCAABB. If that's what Robertson played it strikes
me as very odd that he should have called it a "medley".

Perhaps it would clear the issue to refer to a recording.
This is how I learned the piece from Forrester's record in 1965:
http://www.huthyfs.com/Brill2.mp3
except that I changed the last 4 bars of the B part.
Is Robertson's "medley" anything like that?

Forrester spent some time in Texas, and I guess the use of a piano
reflects that period. Always thought that's where he learned it.
What do the Texas fiddlers play? Any reference?

[Pete Martin]

Peter, I may have messed up in saying they were the same as it has been a long time since I've heard them back to back (don't have a turntable hooked up). I seem to remember they were they same.

If you want to hear a current Texan fiddle version, email me offlist and I'll email you an mp3, so you can hear the difference.

[Martin Jonas]

The Fairport version is certainly Eck Robertson's "Brilliancy Medley". Robertson's original is on the Harry Smith "Anthology of American Folk Music", and the liner notes together with a list of other recorded versions (including Fairport's) are at the Smithsonian site here, where you can also listen to the original recording.

Martin