Annotation:Chinese Breakdown (1)
X:1 T:Chinese Breakdown [1] R:Reel Q:232 M:2/4 L:1/8 K:D ((3A1/2B1/2c1/2) |dA BA|FF1/2F1/2 F ((3A1/2B1/2c1/2) |dA BA|GG1/2G1/2 GA1/2B1/2| cA BA|cc1/2c1/2 cA1/2B1/2|cA BA|FF1/2F1/2 F ((3A1/2B1/2c1/2) |dA BA |FF1/2F1/2 FF1/2E1/2| DF EF|GG1/2G1/2 Gc1/2d1/2|ee1/2e1/2 e1/2f1/2e1/2d1/2|cc1/2c1/2 c1/2d1/2c1/2B1/2|AA1/2A1/2 B1/2A1/2c1/2A1/2|dd1/2d1/2 dz| A|df fA|df fA|df ed|e2 e^g|aa1/2a1/2 ab1/2a1/2|gg1/2g1/2 g1/2a1/2g1/2f1/2|e^d e=f| ^f3 A| df fA |df fA|df gf |B4|ee1/2e1/2 e1/2f1/2e1/2d1/2| cc1/2c 1/2c1/2d1/2c1/2B1/2|AA1/2A1/2 B1/2A1/2c1/2A1/2|dd1/2d1/2 dz||
CHINESE BREAKDOWN [1]. AKA - "Chinese Rag." AKA and see "Beaver Valley Breakdown," "Georgia Bust Down," "Georgia Breakdown," "March (49)," "Tiger Rag." American, Canadian; Reel. USA; New Hampshire, Virginia, Georgia., Alabama, Arkansas. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (Messer): AA'BB' (Miskoe & Paul). The origins of this tune are unclear, although it is widespread from the South to Midwest, the American North and Canada and even to England and Scotland. "Chinese Breakdown" was first recorded by the "Dixie String Band" in 1925, followed a recording in Atlanta in 1927 by the Scottdale String Band, a group named in honor of the mill village of Scottdale, near Atlanta, and home to the band members (Wayne W. Daniel, Pickin' on Peachtree, 1990). Their first recording was made for the OKeh studios on October 28, 1926, and between that date and 1932 the group recorded nearly thirty sides (all but two-released by Paramount-for OKeh). Bill Rattray wrote about the group in Old Time Music magazine ("Scottdale Boys," OTM, Summer, 1971) and said the group's records sold "well, or at least fairly well," and that "their instrumentation was profoundly different from that of the other, more well-known Georgia bands like the Skillet-Lickers and Clayton McMichen's band, and gave their music a more sophisticated sound that that of the 'rough North Georgia' school." The group's repertoire varied more than usual for string bands from the region, and included "a wider range of material including tunes used chiefly by the jazz bands...the more traditional breakdowns, songs and ballads are hardly featured at all." [quoted by Daniel]. It is possible that the tune was composed by Fred Roe of the Walker Mt. String Band (Joel Shimberg). "Chinese Breakdown" was recorded from Ozark Mountain fiddlers by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's.
See also the untitled "March (49)", a version of "Chinese Breakdown [1]" from the playing of Métis fiddler Grandy Fagnan (c. 1902-1986) of Camperville, Manitoba.
