Annotation:Little Princess Footsteps (The)

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LITTLE PRINCESS FOOTSTEPS, THE. AKA - "Little Prince's Footsteps (The)." AKA and see "Third Party." Old-Time, Reel. USA, Mississippi. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). The original title may have been "Little Prince's Footsteps." A tune called "Royal Princess Two-Step" is a close relative (in the repertoire of Lancaster, Pa., fiddler Roy Zimmerman), probably obtained from the playing of Canadian fiddler Don Messer (although it was composed by Ontario fiddler Graham Townsend).

Source for notated version: From the playing of Mississippi fiddler Alvis Massengale (b. 1897) of the band Newton County Hillibillies (whose members also were Andrew Harrison on guitar and Marcus Harrison on mandolin). The group recorded the side and several others in December, 1931, in Jackson, Mississippi. The issues were obscure and all-but-forgotten, but researchers such as Gus Meade, Tony Russell, and Rich Nevins, familiar with the OKeh records catalog, were able to locate the then-elderly Massengale in the early 1970's at his home in Mississippi. He was interviewed and persuaded to play some of the old tunes, some he hardly remembered until his memory was goaded. In 1974 the fiddler was invited to play at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife.

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Okeh 45549 (78 RPM), Newton County Hillbillies (1931. Mississippi band, with Alvis Massengale on fiddle). County CO3514 CD, Newton County Hillbillies - "Mississippi String Bands, vol. 2" (Reissue). Volo Bogtrotters - "Tough Luck" (1991). WHOOP 102, Red Mountain White Trash - "Chickens Don't Roost Too High."

See also listing at:
Hear the Newton County Hillbillies 1931 recording at Slippery Hill [1]

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