Annotation:Swinging on a Gate

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SWINGING ON A GATE. Irish, American; Reel. USA, New England. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. An Irish reel that has become very popular at New England contra dances, especially when backed with a swing chord progression. See related hornpipe "Katherine Brennan's Favorite." The tune’s origins are obscure, however, it appears to have been composed in comparatively modern times. A creditable rumor has it that it came out of the New York Irish traditional music community sometime in the mid-20th century. The alternate title, “Katherine Brennan’s Favorite” points its being populazed by a teacher of New York fiddler Andy McGann’s, which certainly dates it prior to any of the printed sources listed below.

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - Delaware Water Gap (N.Y.) [Brody]; April Limber [Phillips]; the Bridge Ceili Band [Mulvihill]; Paddy Organ Mullins of the Kilfenora Céilí Band [Treoir].

Printed sources : - Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; p. 272. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland vol. 1), 1974, No. 53. Laufman (Okay, Let's Try a Contra, Men on the Right, Ladies on the Left, Up and Down the Hall), 1973; p. 35. McNulty (Dance Music of Ireland), 1965; p. 16. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler’s Repertoire), 1983; No. 87. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No.. 24, p. 6 (appears as “Swinging on the Gate”). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 237. Prior (Fionn Seisiún 2), 2003; p. 19. Sannella, Balance and Swing (CDSS). Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 155. Sweet (Fifer’s Delight), 1965/1981; p. 71. Treoir, vol. 41, No. 2, 2009; p. 20.

Recorded sources : - Folkways FTS 31098, Ken Perlman - "Clawhammer Banjo and Fingerstyle Guitar Solos." Front Hall 05, Fennigs All Stars - "Saturday Night in the Provinces." Front Hall 03, Dudley Laufman "Swinging on a Gate" (1974). Green Linnet 1009, Edire Og Ceili Band - "Irish Music: The Living Tradition." Green Linnet GLCD 1135, Martin Mulhaire, Séamus Connolly, Jack Coen, with Felix Dolan - "Warming Up" (1993). Green Linnet 1021, Father Charles Coen - "Father Charlie." Kicking Mule 205, Delaware Water Gap - "From the Rivers of Babylon to the Land of Jazz" (1979. Learned from Dudley Laufman's Canterbury Dance Orchestra).

See also listing at :
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]

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