This week's winner is Angeline the Baker, also known as Angelina Baker. From Wikipedia: Angelina Baker, sometimes sung as Angeline the Baker (Roud 18341) is a song written by Stephen Foster for the Christy Minstrels, and published in 1850.[1] The original laments the loss of a woman slave, sent away by her owner.[2] The lyrics have been subjected to the folk process, and some versions have become examples of the "Ugly Girl" or Dinah song. Contents 1 Fiddle tune 2 Lyrics 3 Notable performers 4 References 5 External links Fiddle tune An instrumental version, as collected by John A. Lomax under the title "Angelina the Baker"[3] is a popular fiddle or banjo tune, and differs from the Stephen Foster melody. It is part of the old time fiddle canon, but is also played by bluegrass musicians.[4] This old time tune was also played as bluegrass by Stuart Duncan at the 2007 Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival.[5] Lyrics According to Lyle Lofgren, writing for Inside Bluegrass, publication of the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association, "Foster published Angelina Baker in 1850, and it was featured on stage by the original Christy Minstrels."[6] The melody and lyrics is as follows: Angeline the baker lives in our village green, The way I always loved her beats all you ever seen. Chorus: Angeline the baker, her age is forty-three, I bought her candy by the peck, and she won't marry me. Chorus: Her father is the miller, they call him Uncle Sam. I never will forget her, unless I take a dram. Chorus: Angeline is handsome, Angeline is tall, They say she sprained her ankle a-dancing at the ball. Chorus: She can't do hard work because she is not stout, She bakes her biscuits every day, and pours the coffee out. Chorus: I'll never marry no other girl, no matter where I go. I said I'd marry Angeline just twenty years ago. Chorus: The last time I saw her was at the county fair. Her father run me almost home and told me to stay there. Chorus:[7] Here's a link to bare bones notation on abcnotation.com This tune had a run as an "Other Tune" a few years back, but, it seems that many of those videos were embedded in a way that site upgrades along the way, has made it so they don't show up! Here's a link to that discussion! And, here are some videos!
Here's a version I recorded this rainy morning, with (as usual) some other instruments in the mix: Bob Michel Near Philly
Wonderful Bob. I love the banjo backing - real old time feel - and the accordion coming into the mix. Mine is an altogether simpler production - straight through twice in two octaves with no embellishments. This is the way I learnt this tune, one of the very few old time tunes I know.
Thanks, James. Your production may be "simpler," but it hits the sweet spot for me. And you're certainly coaxing a great sound out of that Eastman. Bob Michel Near Philly
Great stuff Bob and James; two fine versions. I learnt to play using Rich DelGrosso's Hal Leonard method where this tune appears four times; the last being an exercise in double stops. Kenny Hall also has a version in his book which he says he learnt from Dave Ricker and is not the Stephen Foster tune. So here is the double stop arrangement followed by KennyHall's by way of comparison.
It's music practice today with my friends, and we just happen to play Angeline the Baker! I grabbed my iphone and recorded this; we play it along with Susannah Gal. I'm playing my Collings MT2-O mandolin, Scott Ross is playing his banjo, and Donna Ritchie is playing her Martin guitar. I think we have some tuning issues.... but I'm blaming it on the banjo ;-)
Nice job Bob, very nice picking James and good solid picking maudlin. Barbara, what a pleasure to hear you pick again (and your friends too!) Very well done!
I love the crooked still version of this song, but i also enjoyed the different versions posted above. here is my effort on my weber octave:
finally got around to making a video of this fiddle tune. It gets called a lot around here (Richmond, Virginia). I play it often and always enjoy Angelina Baker/Angeline the Baker. . . ? f-d
You're making the A-3 sound mighty fine fd.
I've been anxious to post something in this group, so here's my first attempt. Please excuse me for using Strum Machine, but I haven't gotten my backing track skills down (nor my chord-changing skills!). I'm always open to constructive criticism, so please feel free to critique! My teacher would say I'm still not holding my fingers down. Lol
Really nice Sherry. You’ve got a good bounce there and delicate touch. And you have nice expression with the different melodic call/responses. Really well done.
There you go, Sherry! First posting on the SAW Group. You have made a fine job of this tune and you play it at a sensible speed for a beginner. There is often a temptation to try to bring tunes up to speed too soon and then you end up tripping over yourself. You are picking cleanly here and your left hand is fretting cleanly too; keeping the fingers down comes with practice.
Simon' thank you for the kind words. John, I figured "clean" is better than "fast" any day - or most days anyway.
Hey Sherry, congrats on posting in the SAW!! There is NO shame in using Strum Machine, I would say use anything that makes it happen for you - prerecorded backing tracks, your own accompaniment, even a simple click, it doesn't matter. Really good first effort, and you've left yourself something to look back on in 6 months and marvel at how far you've come along - for that matter, look at how far you've come since joining the Cafe Look forward to more postings!
Thanks for the encouragement, Bruce! So, to all who make your own backing tracks, I don't hear a count in. How do you synchronize the melody with the track?
For a first... That was reallly good Sherry. You'll do just fine. If you listen to my last offering you'll hear I came In BAD, but I don't do alot of redos, nor do I care about little mistakes unless they disrupt the song. I usually try and count off of a starting chord but it's hard when doing the second part live.I would just add that if your having trouble fretting clean, is to try and stay right of center and almost on top of the next fret. That you won't have to press so hard to get a clean note.Congrats!
Interesting question re starting in sync, Sherry. As Frank has said, an opening chord is a good way. Used a lot in ceilidh bands and Scottish dance bands, almost as a signal to the dancers and the band members, then there is regularly an intro of maybe the last four bars. This gives you the tempo the leader is playing at - generally fiddle or accordion in my world. Listen too to recordings of pipe bands where the snare drummers will begin a march with a pattern of triple rolls then the pipes come in. I also often watch the screen with the REAPER track on it, magnified a bit to let me count in and with the grid visible. The grid is a big help in counting in, and is the visual equivalent of your "1, 2, 3, 4" on your Strum Machine. If the click track is turned on you can align the track accurately using the grid. I think most DAWs have the facility of showing the grid. By moving the track visually across from the start I can have it synced with the click track and know by looking AND listening just when to come in with the backing or subsequent tracks. So, opening chord, or opening bars from the last four of the tune, or the mix of grid and sound. Whatever works for you. I never record the backing first though many people do it this way. Especially when playing slow airs where the tune does not adhere to strict time but expects the performer to put his/her own interpretation on the written score. Find what suits you and work on that till you can do it without it intruding on your playing. And remember, you have made a fine start!
Sherry, you have done the first step. It needs some courage to go on a (new) stage! In this case a very kind community is waiting for your next offerings.
Very impressive first video, Sherry. Hope there will be many more in the future.
Thanks for the additional comments. I look forward to trying this again and am working toward that end.
https://youtu.be/C9dJ4RG_CCA
Kitchen dancing to Simon's tune - the rest of the day can come! This one suits your style particularly well.
What Dennis said. A real Simon tune, done as well as ever.
