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Annotation:Sally Ann (1)
X:1 T:Sally Ann [1] S:Alonzo Elvis "Tony" Alderman (1900-1983, western Virginia, with the Hill Billies) M:C| L:1/8 Q:"Quick" D:OKeh 40336 (78 RPM), The Hill Billies (1925) F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/sally-ann-1 Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:D z|aba2 f2a2|b3a b4|aba(3b/a/g/ fefg|a3fa2 a2| baba (3b/a/g/ f/e/d2|f3g fe d2|[d3f3]f ec AB/c/ |d2d4-d:| |:([d=f]|[d2^f2])f2 ed3|+slide+f3a fe d2|+slide+[d2f2]ed A2 Bc|d2 d4-d][d=f]-| [d^f]ef2 ed3|+slide+f3a fe d2|+slide+[d2f2]ed A2 Bc|d2d4-d:|]
SALLY ANN [1]. AKA and see “Beano,” “Darneo,” "Dineo," "Mississippi Square Dance--Part 2." American, Reel (cut time). USA; West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina. D Major: A Major. Standard tuning, ADae or AEae (fiddle). AABB. One version of the tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozarks Mountains fiddlers in the early 1940's. See also related tunes "Big Sweet Taters in Sandy Land," "Great Big Taters in Sandy Land/Lot," "Sandy Land," "Sail away Ladies (1)" (Kentucky/Tennessee), "Wished/Wish I had My Time again" (Ky.). One version of the tune goes by the name "Dineo" in the Franklin/Floyd County area of southwestern Virginia, and it was recorded as “Darneo” by the Blue Ridge Highballers (Yazoo CD 2046). “Sally Ann” has been jokingly called the Surry County, North Carolina “national anthem.” Among the many early recordings of the tune was a version by the Ashe County, North Carolina, string band Frank Blevins and His Tar Hell Rattlers, a name made up on the spot at the 1927 Columbia recording session in Atlanta for 16 year old fiddler Frank Blevins, his older brother and guitarist Ed Blevins and banjo player Fred Miller. The band’s playing was inspired by a few shots of corn liquor from a convenient jug. The Hill Billies, a Galax, Va., area band, recorded an influential version in 1925 (re-released on Document DOCD-8039). Fiddler Joe Birchfield (1911-2001) of Roan Mountain, Tennessee, played a version of “Sally Ann” in the key of C. Freeny's Barn Dance Band, a family string band from Leake County, Mississippi, recorded a version of "Sally Ann" with square dance calls on their 1931 OKeh Records release "Mississippi Square Dance--Part 2."
English folk-song and dance collector Cecil Sharp noted the following set of words from Mrs. Dellie Hughes of Crane River, Burnsville, North Carolina, in 1918, while on a collecting trip to the Appalachians:
O where are you going Sally Anne ...(x3)
I’m going to the wedding, Sally Anne.
O shake that little foot, Sally Anne ...(x3)
You’re a pretty good dancer, Sally Anne.
These are from another traditional source (from Mudcat):
Ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann,
Draggin' his thick tail through the sand,
Pickin' a banjo, kickin' up sand?
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
Chorus:
I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
Make my livin' in sandy land,
Make my livin' in sandy land,
Make my livin' in sandy land,
Raise them taters, Sally Ann.
So, y'ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann,
Draggin' his thick tail through the sand,
Pickin' a banjo, kickin' up sand?
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
