Annotation:Sally's got Mud between Her Toes

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X:1 % T:Sallie's got Mud between Her Toes S:Pat Kingery (Ky.) M:C| L:1/8 N:A lot of variability in Kingery’s tune; he never plays N:it the same way twice. D:1976 field recording by Bruce Greene Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:D +slide+[A2A2][A2A2][EA][FA] [D2A2] |[F2A2][A2A2][A4A4]|B2 AA FEDE|FEDF {D}E2[EA][EA]| F2[F2A2]BAAA|[E2A2]-[F2A2][F4A4]|BABc BADF|E2D2 D4| F2A2 A3A|B2 A4AA|F2D2 DFDF|E2DF E4| F4+slide+[A2A2][A2A2]|B2F2 A4|[A2A2][A2A2][FA][EA][DA][FA]|[E2A2][D2A2][D4A4]|| |:d2d2 BAFA|d2d2 ([de][df])-[d2f2]-|[d4f4]|a3e d2d2|fe d2 [de][d3f3]| a3d fedf|e2d2([de][d3f3])|(3efed2 dB A2|B2d2d4:| D2 FG A2D2|F2 AA A4|F2A2 BA D2|F2 AF E3F| D2 F2 AF D2|F2 A2 A4|c2 cA AF D2|E2D2 D4| D3D B,2A,2|D2D2+slide+F4|D2 DD B,2A,A,|(B,2 [D2D2])[D4D4]||

SALLY'S GOT MUD BETWEEN HER TOES. AKA - "Sal's got Mud between Her Toes," "Sallie's got Mud between Her Toes." American, Reel (cut time). D Major. ADae or Standard tuning (fiddle). ABBC: ABC (Silberberg). The tune is sourced to southern Kentucky fiddler Pat Kingery, whom collector and fiddler Bruce Greene recorded in the field in 1976. On that recording Kingery did not sing words, but later told Greene that these words were sung to the tune:

Here comes Sally down the road,
She's got mud between her toes,
Though her face is pretty as a pear,
She's got a yellow ribbon in her hair.

Musician, instrument-maker and songwriter Bob Coltman used Kingery's words as the first stanza and added a chorus and more verses:

CHORUS:
Sal, Sal, don’t be slow,
You love me, you know it’s so,
All I ask, the good Lord knows,
Shake that mud from ‘tween your toes.

Here she comes and yon she goes,
She don’t wear no fancy clothes,
She don’t carry no long stem rose,
She’s got mud between her toes.

Asked her would she marry me,
She says, "Not immediately,"
But I noticed her with a hose
Washin' mud from ‘tween her toes.^[1]

Transcriptions of "Sal's got Mud between Her Toes" tend to differ greatly.

Additional notes

Pat Kingery and the Kentuckians (P. Kingery, fiddle, with Iola Weaver, Tommy Bellamy, Bill Wagoner, and Troy Basil)

Source for notated version: - Pat Kingery, 1912-c. 1976, Nobob, Barren County, southern Ky.; Geff Crawford [Silberberg].

Printed sources : - Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 173.

Recorded sources: - McDirlan/Greene Productions, Bruce Greene & Hilary Dirlam - "Fiddler's Dozen" (1994. Learned from Pat Kingery). Rounder 0369, Tarheel Hotshots - "Young Fogies, vol. II" (1995). Greg Clarke - "Home Recordings - October 2001" (2001).

See also listing at:
See two further standard notation transcriptions at taterjoes.com [1], and another at banjr.com/thursday_jam [2]
See/hear Susan Platz and David Bragger's version on youtube.com [3]
Hear Bruce Greene's 1976 field recording of Pat Kingery playing the tune at Slippery Hill [4] and at the Digital Library of Appalachia [5]
See the entry at Old-Time Frederick [6]
See Don Pedi's dulcimer tab for the tune [7]

Back to Sally's got Mud between Her Toes

↑ Muccat Lyr. Request: Sal's Got Mud Between Her Toes [8]

[1] Muccat Lyr. Request: Sal's Got Mud Between Her Toes [8]

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