Annotation:Frisky Jim
X:1 T:Frisky Jim N:From the playing of fiddler Bob Walters (1889-1960, N:Burt County, eastern Nebraska), recorded in 1949 by Bob Christeson. M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel D:Univ. of Missouri Press, Bob Walters - "Old Time Fiddler's Repertory" (1976) D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/frisky-jim-0 Z:Andrew Kuntz K:A |:A,G,|A,B,CA, C2E2|A2cA BAFD|E2FG ABce|afec AFEC| A,B,CA, C2E2|A2cA BAFD|E2FG ABce|afec A2:| (3efg|a2 ab afea|fecA BAFA|agab afea|B[Bb]-[Bb][Bb] [B2b2]e-f| a2 ab afea|fecA BAFD|E2FG ABce|afec A2:|
FRISKY JIM. AKA - "Old Frisky Jim." American, Reel (2/4 time). USA; Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska. A Major. Standard or AEae tuning (fiddle). AABB (Christeson/Devil's Box): AA'BB (Phillips): AA'BB' (Beisswenger & McCann). R.P. Christeson remarks that Nebraska fiddler Bob Walter's (1889-1960) father learned the tune around 1905-although he has heard no other fiddlers play it, save Walters. Mark Wilson points out the tunes popularity was given a boost by Walters, who played it on his radio broadcasts. If Walters was the source for the tune, it quickly gained currency and has become a Mid-West standard, played by fiddlers such as Missouri's Lonnie Robertson (who played it as early as 1939) and Oklahoma's Uncle Dick Richardson and Bob Kay.
There is a minstrel song called "Happy Frisky Jim," and although there is a similarity in the titles there appears to be no melodic material shared. Drew Beisswenger (2008) finds the 'B' parts of this tune and "Dance Around Molly" to be nearly the same.
