Annotation:Going Up to Hamburg

Back to 

 GOING UP TO HAMBURG. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Mississippi. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). Tom Rankin (1985) reports that the tune is local to the northern Mississippi area. The title refers to a locale on the Tennessee River, just across the state line from Mississippi in Hardin County, Tennessee. Rankin thinks the melody may have begun as a holler and evolved into a fiddle tune, citing the tune's almost unison following of the vocal line. Well Shane Going up to Hamburg, pretty little lady, Going up to Hamburg, yes I am; Going up to Hamburg, pretty little lady, Going up to Hamburg to get me a dram.  Source for notated version:  Printed sources:  Recorded sources: Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, John Hatcher (Tishomingo County, Miss.) - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985. Originally recorded for the Library of Congress in 1939).

Back to