Annotation:Boys in Blue
X:1 T:Boys in Blue M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Reel S:Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G (3D/E/F/ | G/D/B,/D/ E/F/G/A/|B/dd/ d>B|A/dd/ d>c|B/dd/ d>D|G/D/B,/D/ E/F/G/A/ | B/dd/ d>B|A/aa/ ag|f/g/e/f/ d/c/B/A/ || G/D/B,/D/ E/F/G/A/ | B/dd/ d>B | A/dd/ d>c | B/dd/ d>D | G/D/B,/D/ E/F/G/A/ | B/dd/ d>B | c/B/A/G/ F/D/E/F/ | G/D/B,/D/ G,||: D|(D/d/).d/.d/ .dd/c/ | (B/b/).b/.b/ .ba/g/ | (f/d/).d/.d/ (e/^c/).c/.c/ | d/A/F/A/ G/F/E/D/| (D/d/).d/.d/ .dd/c/|(B/b/).b/.b/ .ba/g/|(f/d/).d/.d/ (e/^c/).c/.c/|1 d/A/F/A/ d :|2 d/A/F/A/ D/D/E/F/ ||
BOYS IN BLUE. AKA and see "Slim Jim's Reel," "Take it out of that." American, Reel. G Major ('A' part) & D Major ('B' part). Standard tuning. AA'BB'. The title refers, perhaps, not to policemen (the modern connotation), but to Union Army Civil War soldiers, whose uniforms were blue. Despite its appearance in Kerr's publication, the tune sounds thoroughly American. Boston music publisher Elias Howe printed the identical tune twice a few years prior to its appearance in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) in his Musician's Omnibus Nos, 6 & 7 (1880-1882) under the titles "Slim Jim's Reel" and "Take it out of that."
