Annotation:John Brown's Dream

Find traditional instrumental music



X:1 T:John Brown's Dream S:Tommy Jarrell (1909 - 1986, Mt. Airy, western N.C.) M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel N:AEae tuning (fiddle) Q:"Quick" D:County CD 2734, Tommy Jarrell - Down to the Cider Mill (2004) F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/john-browns-dream Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:A ((3efg|a2) {ab}af e2 ef|a2 {gab}aa b2 (e/f/a-|a)baf ecBA|AcBG A2(3efg| a2a(f {ag}f)e ef|afaa b2((3e/f/g/a-|a)baf ecBA| ecBG A2|| +slide+[e2e2]-|[e2e2][ee][ee] [ee]dcd|ecBA c2+slide+[e2e2]-|[e2e2][ee][ee] [ee]dcd|ecBG A2+slide+[e2e2]-| [e2e2][ee][ee] [ee]dcd|ecBA c2+slide+[e2e2]-|[e2e2][ee][ee] [ee]dcd|ecBG A2|| (3EFG|AEA2 cABG|AEAd cABG|A3A cABc|AcBG AEEF| AEA2 dcBG|AE A2 cABG|A2cA cABc|AcBc AE [A,2E2]|| A,2|:CA,B,A, A,2B,A,|CA,B,C A,2B,A,|CA,B,C A,CB,C|1,2A,2A,4B,A,:|3A,2A,4||



JOHN BROWN'S DREAM. AKA and see "Brownlow's Dream," "Brown's Dream (1)," "Brownstream," "Pretty Little Gal (1)," "Pretty Little Miss (1)," "Herve Brown's Dream," "Johnny Bring the Jug Around the Hill," "Little Rabbit," "Red Steer," "Stillhouse Branch." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina. A Major. AEae (Tommy Jarrell) or Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC (Brody): AABBCCDD (Phillips, Songer). A Galax, Virginia, regional standard, but variants widely known throughout the upland South a under a variety of titles. One of a family of tunes that includes "Brownstream," "Herv Brown's Dream," "Jimmy Johnson Pass that Jug Around the Hill," "Little Rabbit" "Pretty Little Girl," "Pretty Little Miss (1)," "Stillhouse Branch" "Table Mountain Road" and others. The tune family is a common a popular one in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where it probably originated but has since been disseminated. Hobart Smith, of Saltville, Va., also played the tune on the banjo. Tommy Jarrell, of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, suggested that "John Brown's Dream," which he learned from his father, fiddler Ben Jarrell, was derived from "Pretty Little Miss."

Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters

('B' part vocal) John Brown's dream, the devil is dead.
('C' part vocal) Come on Lula, come on Lula, come on Lula you're hoggin' the bread.

John Brown's dream, John Brown's dream,
John Brown's dream, the devil is dead.
Come on, Lula, come on Lula,
Come on Lula, eat your hog and your bread. ... ("hog" refers to fatback).

Walton, West Virginia, fiddler Franklin George is the source for the "Herve (or Harv) Brown's Dream" title, which he obtained from Jim Farthing, of southwest Virginia and West Virginia. George asserts (unconfirmed) that the title of the tune was originally "Herve Brown's Dream," but the name Herve was supplanted by John because of the notoriety of the famous abolitionist who was hanged at Charles Town, Virginia in 1859 for treason committed in the raid of the U.S. Arsenal at Harper's Ferry earlier that year. Most commentators agree that the tune has considerable age, and may predate the Harpers Ferry incident in the mid-19th century. Dwight Diller has said that the West Virginia tune "Jimmy Johnson" (AKA "Jimmy Johnson bring the Jug around the Hill") was the musical precursor to "John Brown's Dream," and opined that "Jimmy Johnson" was the far superior melody. The Kessinger Brothers (Clark and his nephew Luches) recorded the tune as "Johnny bring the Jug 'round the Hill" for Brunswick Records in 1929. Lewis County, northeast Kentucky, fiddler Buddy Thomas knew the tune as "Stillhouse Branch." Thomas learned his version from his cousin, Perry Riley (1893-1973). Kerry Blech has even heard the title "Brown Stream," a mondegreen of course (for "Brown's Dream"), but both titles referring to moonshine. Hobart Smith called his version of the tune "Devil's Dream" on his Rounder recording (Rounder CD 0032).

Additional members of the "John Brown's Dream" family can be heard as "Red Steer" (by the Dykes' Magic City Trio, northeast Tennessee, recorded in 1927), "Brownlow's Dream" (east Kentucky/West Virginia fiddler Ed Haley), and as "Old Hen Cackled"/"Old Hen She Cackled" from east Kentucky fiddlers Luther Strong and William H. Stepp. See also the cognate Oklahoma breakdown "Give the Fiddler a Dram (3)" and Crockett’s Kentucky Mountaineers "Little Rabbit" (a compound tune that includes "Rabbit where's Your Mammy).


Additional notes
Source for notated version : - New Lost City Ramblers [Brody]; Kevin Wimmer [Phillips]; Tommy Jarrell (Mt. Airy, N.C.) [Milliner & Koken].

Printed sources : - Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 148. Milliner & Koken (Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), 2011; pp. 340-341. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; p. 126. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 111.

Recorded sources : - County 524, "Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters: 1927 Recordings" (the fiddler for this band is Ben Jarrell). County 713, Cockerham, Jenkins and Jarrell- "Down to the Cider Mill." County CD2702, Tommy Jarrell & Fred Cockerham - "Tommy and Fred: Best Fiddle-Banjo Duets" (1992). County CO-CD-2711, Kirk Sutphin - "Old Roots and New Branches" (1994). Document DOCD-8023, Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters (reissue). Folkways FA 2492, New Lost City Ramblers- "String Band Instrumentals" (1964). Folkways FTS 31041, New Lost City Ramblers- "Across the Great Divide." Kicking Mule 203, Art Rosenbaum- "The Art of the Mountain Banjo." Marimac 9038, Dan Gellert & Brad Leftwich - "A Moment in Time" (1993. Learned from Tommy Jarrell). Roane Records RR-101, "Cedar Point String Band" (Franklin George et al. Appears as "Harv Brown's Dream"). Oak Records OOK CD 001, "Brittany Haas" (2004). Silvertone 5183B (78 RPPM), Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters (1927). Tennvale 003, Pete Parish- "Clawhammer Banjo." Tradition Records TLP1007, Hobart Smith - "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians" (1956). PearlMae Muisc 004-2, Jim Taylor - "The Civil War Collection" (1996. Learned from Sheila Adams who had it from Tommy Jarrell and Scot Ainsley).




Back to John Brown's Dream

4.00
(one vote)