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Annotation:Old Parnell Reel
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OLD PARNELL REEL. AKA and see "Hotfoot." Old-Time, Rag or Two-Step. USA; Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Old Parnell," sometimes called "Old Parnell Reel," is more properly a country rag or two-step. The title refers to the city of Parnell, Nodaway County, northwest Missouri, which began as a station stop on the Chicago Great Western Railway in 1887. See also "Whistling Rufus," which, according to Mark Wilson, may be a related tune. There are similarities as well to "I Don't Love Nobody (1)" and Kerry Mills' "Georgia Camp Meeting" (1887), according to Howard Marshall (Play Me Something Quick and Devilish, 2013, p. 204). Wilson sees similarities between this tune and the calk-walk genre. Drew Beisswenger points out it was recorded by several popular Mid-West fiddlers in the mid-20th century, such was Bob Walters, Cyril Stinnett and Dwight Lamb.
Sources for notated versions: Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) [Christeson]; Lonnie Robertson (1908-1981, Springfield, Missouri), learned from radio fiddler Casey Jones [Beisswenger & McCann].
Printed sources: Beisswenger & McCann (Ozarks Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 123. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; pp. 162-165.
Recorded sources: Caney Mountain Records CLP 228, Lonnie Robertson - "Fiddle Favorites." MSOTFA 201, Dwight Lamb - "Old Ladies Pickin' Chickens." Rounder CD 0375, Lonnie Robertson - "Lonnie's Breakdown" (1996. Originally recorded 1971).
See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Bob Walters' recording at Slippery Hill [2]
See John Lamancusa's transcription [3]
See Stuart Williams' transcription at the Washington Old Time Fiddler's Association site [4]
