Annotation:Betty Likens

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BETTY LIKENS. AKA- "Betsy Likens," "Betty Liken." AKA and see "Granny Put the Kettle On," "Henry Reed's Favorite." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, W.Va. A Mixolydian/Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Most modern fiddlers source their version to Glen Lyn, Virginia, fiddler Henry Reed. Folklorist Alan Jabbour visited Reed in the 1960's and twice made field recordings of the reel. Both times Reed was hesitant about the title of the tune, and offered different titles both times. Jabbour's field notes record he called it "Betty Likins" one time and "Granny Put the Kettle On" another.

The tune was popularized in the latter 20th century by playing of the Hollow Rock String Band.

Source for notated version: Henry Reed (b. 1885, Monroe County, West Virginia) [Krassen]; Alan Jabbour with the Hollow Rock String Band [Phillips, Silberberg].

Printed sources: Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 39. Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; p. 95. Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1983; p. 93. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; p. 23. Silberberg (Fiddle Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 7.

Recorded sources: Kanawha 311, "Hollow Rock String Band." Rounder Records 0074, The Highwoods String Band- "No. 3 Special" (learned from Bert Levy & Durham/Chapel Hill N.C. musicians).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Alan Jabbour's 1967 field recording of Henry Reed playing the tune at the LOC American Memory [2], and as "Granny Put the Kettle On" [3]