Annotation:John Brown's Dream
X:1 T:John Brown's Dream S:Tommy Jarrell (1909 - 1986, Mt. Airy, western N.C.) M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel N:AEae tuning (fiddle) Q:"Quick" D:County CD 2734, Tommy Jarrell - Down to the Cider Mill (2004) F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/john-browns-dream Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:A ((3efg|a2) {ab}af e2 ef|a2 {gab}aa b2 (e/f/a-|a)baf ecBA|AcBG A2(3efg| a2a(f {ag}f)e ef|afaa b2((3e/f/g/a-|a)baf ecBA| ecBG A2|| +slide+[e2e2]-|[e2e2][ee][ee] [ee]dcd|ecBA c2+slide+[e2e2]-|[e2e2][ee][ee] [ee]dcd|ecBG A2+slide+[e2e2]-| [e2e2][ee][ee] [ee]dcd|ecBA c2+slide+[e2e2]-|[e2e2][ee][ee] [ee]dcd|ecBG A2|| (3EFG|AEA2 cABG|AEAd cABG|A3A cABc|AcBG AEEF| AEA2 dcBG|AE A2 cABG|A2cA cABc|AcBc AE [A,2E2]|| A,2|:CA,B,A, A,2B,A,|CA,B,C A,2B,A,|CA,B,C A,CB,C|1,2A,2A,4B,A,:|3A,2A,4||
JOHN BROWN'S DREAM. AKA and see "Brownlow's Dream," "Brown's Dream (1)," "Brownstream," "Pretty Little Gal (1)," "Pretty Little Miss (1)," "Herve Brown's Dream," "Johnny Bring the Jug Around the Hill," "Little Rabbit," "Red Steer," "Stillhouse Branch." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina. A Major. AEae (Tommy Jarrell) or Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC (Brody): AABBCCDD (Phillips, Songer). A Galax, Virginia, regional standard, but variants widely known throughout the upland South a under a variety of titles. One of a family of tunes that includes "Brownstream," "Herv Brown's Dream," "Jimmy Johnson Pass that Jug Around the Hill," "Little Rabbit" "Pretty Little Girl," "Pretty Little Miss (1)," "Stillhouse Branch" "Table Mountain Road" and others. The tune family is a common a popular one in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where it probably originated but has since been disseminated. Hobart Smith, of Saltville, Va., also played the tune on the banjo. Tommy Jarrell, of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, suggested that "John Brown's Dream," which he learned from his father, fiddler Ben Jarrell, was derived from "Pretty Little Miss."
('B' part vocal) John Brown's dream, the devil is dead.
('C' part vocal) Come on Lula, come on Lula, come on Lula you're hoggin' the bread.
John Brown's dream, John Brown's dream,
John Brown's dream, the devil is dead.
Come on, Lula, come on Lula,
Come on Lula, eat your hog and your bread. ... ("hog" refers to fatback).
Walton, West Virginia, fiddler Franklin George is the source for the "Herve (or Harv) Brown's Dream" title, which he obtained from Jim Farthing, of southwest Virginia and West Virginia. George asserts (unconfirmed) that the title of the tune was originally "Herve Brown's Dream," but the name Herve was supplanted by John because of the notoriety of the famous abolitionist who was hanged at Charles Town, Virginia in 1859 for treason committed in the raid of the U.S. Arsenal at Harper's Ferry earlier that year. Most commentators agree that the tune has considerable age, and may predate the Harpers Ferry incident in the mid-19th century. Dwight Diller has said that the West Virginia tune "Jimmy Johnson" (AKA "Jimmy Johnson bring the Jug around the Hill") was the musical precursor to "John Brown's Dream," and opined that "Jimmy Johnson" was the far superior melody. The Kessinger Brothers (Clark and his nephew Luches) recorded the tune as "Johnny bring the Jug 'round the Hill" for Brunswick Records in 1929. Lewis County, northeast Kentucky, fiddler Buddy Thomas knew the tune as "Stillhouse Branch." Thomas learned his version from his cousin, Perry Riley (1893-1973). Kerry Blech has even heard the title "Brown Stream," a mondegreen of course (for "Brown's Dream"), but both titles referring to moonshine. Hobart Smith called his version of the tune "Devil's Dream" on his Rounder recording (Rounder CD 0032).
Additional members of the "John Brown's Dream" family can be heard as "Red Steer" (by the Dykes' Magic City Trio, northeast Tennessee, recorded in 1927), "Brownlow's Dream" (east Kentucky/West Virginia fiddler Ed Haley), and as "Old Hen Cackled"/"Old Hen She Cackled" from east Kentucky fiddlers Luther Strong and William H. Stepp. See also the cognate Oklahoma breakdown "Give the Fiddler a Dram (3)" and Crockett’s Kentucky Mountaineers "Little Rabbit" (a compound tune that includes
"Rabbit where's Your Mammy).
