Annotation:Waiting for the Boatsman
X:1 T:Waiting for the Boatsman S:Melvin Wine M:C| L:1/8 N:A hymn air played quickly enough to be a dance tune. D:Poplar LPI 40290, Melvin Wine - "Cold Frosty Morning" (1976) F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/waiting-boatsman Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:D D2F2|+slide+[A4A4][A2A2]AB|A2F2+slide+[A3A3](A|B2)d3d Bd|A4 D2F2| [A3A3]A [A2A2]AA|B2A2G2F2|E6F2|E4D2F2| +slide+[A4A4][A2A2]AB|A2F2+slide+[A3A3](A|B2)d3d Bd|A4d2f2| +slide+[e3e3]e efed|c2A2B2c2|[D3d3]d d2d2|d4||
WAITING FOR THE BOATSMAN. American, Air (2/4 or cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The melody was in the repertoire of fiddler Melvin Wine (1909-2003), of Copen, Braxton County, West Virginia, who played it quickly, almost dance tempo. It is Wine's derivation of a hymn that he learned from the singing of his mother. Drew Beissewenger, a Wine biographer, says that the fiddler would sometimes sing the hymn's lyrics before playing the tune. They began:
Oh, I’m waiting for the boatman, he is driving o’er and o’er.
There are several hymns that have the same or similar titles, such as "Waiting the Boatman" (Valdese Quartette, OKeh 45161, 1928, and, more recently, Norman & Nancy Blake's "Waiting the Boatsman"), and "Waiting the Boatsman's Call", but musically they are different. Other quartet groups, such as the Hall Brothers and the Ashford Quartette, recorded "Waiting the Boatman" in the 78 RPM era.
The similarly-titled reel "Boatman," also in Melvin Wine's repertory, is also musically different.
