Annotation:Maple Leaf Two-Step

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MAPLE LEAF TWO-STEP. Canadian, Two-Step or March (cut time). C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by Canadian fiddler Ward Allen [1] (1924-1965).

"Maple Leaf Two-Step" is Allen's first recording, a 78 RPM recorded in 1953 on Alvina AL-1001, with "C.N.E. Breakdown" on the flip side. When the recording was later reissued on Sparton 131R, the labels reversed, and "Maple Leaf Two-Step" was listed as "C.N.E. Breakdown." Similarly, on Allen's Ward's LP record, "Maple Leaf Hoedown" (Sparton SP 203), the tune labeled "C.N.E. Breakdown" is actually "Maple Leaf Two-Step." Don Messer recorded both tunes on a 45 RPM disc with his band the Islanders.

There was an earlier "Maple Leaf Two-Step" composed in 1895 by Frank W. Cole, unrelated to Allen's tune.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Page (Ralph Page Book of Contras), p. 19.

Recorded sources: Alvina AL-1001 (78 rpm), Wark Allen (1953). Apex 26419 (78 RPM), Don Messer and His Islanders. Flying Fish FF70572, Frank Ferrel - "Yankee Dreams: Wicked Good Fiddling from New England" (1991). MCA Records MCAD 4037, "The Very Best of Don Messer" (1994).

See also listing at:
Hear Ward Allen's recording on youtube.com [2]
Hear/see fiddler Gordon Stobbe play the tune on youtube.com [3]