Cottonwood Reel

 COTTENWOOD REEL. AKA- "Moreley's Reel." Old-Time, Breakdown; Canadian, Reel. USA, Missouri. Canada, Cape Breton. D Major ('A' & 'B' parts) & G Major ('C' part). Standard or ADae tuning (fiddle). AA'BCC (Dunlay & Greenberg/Laam): AABBCC (Dunley and Reich): AA'BBCC' (Phillips). The melody appears to have originated in American tradition, migrating in the reverse direction via New England to Cape Breton. It was recorded in 1930 by the Laam's Happy Hayseeds, a group whose members originally came from the rural town of John Day, Oregon, consisting of brothers Ivan Laam (fiddle) and Fred Laam (banjo), joined by Fred's son, Logan Laam (guitar), -- the group began performing in the 1920s, and traveled widely on the West Coast before their sole recording session for Victor Records. "Cottonwood Reel" may possibly have been learned by Hayseed's fiddler Ivan Laam from his German-born fiddling father, Abe, according to Dunlay & Greenberg (1996). The tune is associated on Cape Breton with Angus Chisholm, however, Winston Fitzgerald stated to Paul Cranford that he himself taught it to Chisholm. As Dunley and Reich point out, internal key changes in tunes are uncharacteristic of Scottish music, the style most Cape Breton tunes are composed in. Sources for notated versions: Arthur Muise (Cape Breton) [Dunlay and Reich]; Vivian Williams (Mo.) [Phillips]; Ivan Laam (Oregon/California) [Dunlay & Greenberg]; Angus Chisholm (Cape Breton) [Dunlay & Greenberg]. Printed sources: Dunlay & Greenberg (Traditional Celtic Violin Music from Cape Breton), 1996; pp. 80-81. Dunlay and Reich (Traditional Celtic Fiddle Music from Cape Breton), 1986; p. 56. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; p. 57. Recorded sources: Cape Breton's Magazine Tape, Mike MacDougall- "Mike MacDougall's Tape For Fr. Hector." DMP 6-27-1, Doug MacPhee- "Cape Breton Piano III" (1981). JAD-1, Jackie Dunn - "Dunn to a T" (1995). Rodeo (Banff) RBS 1255, Barbara MacDonald- "Scottish Piano Selections" (as "Moreley's Reel"). Rounder SS-0145, Joe Cormier (Cape Breton) - "Traditional Music on Rounder: A Sampler" (1981). Victor 23774 (78 RPM), The Happy Hayseeds (1930). Voyager VRLP 328-S, "Kenny Hall and the Long Haul String Band" (learned from the Victor 78 RPM recording by The Happy Hayseeds - the Lamb brothers). See also listings at Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index, and Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index.

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