Annotation:Sally comin' through the Rye

Back to Sally comin' through the Rye

X:1 T:Sally comin' through the Rye S:Havey Sampson (1909-1991, Calhoun County, W.Va.) M:C| L:1/8 R:Quick listening tune D:Augusta Heritage AHR 004, Harvey Sampson - "Flat Foot in the Ashes" (1986) Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:Amix A2-|ABcd e3e|g2gg (g/f/e) d2|c2 cd e2ef|gfg2 {d}([e2e2](3e)e/d/c/| cd e2[e3e3]f|g2 gf eAdA|c3d ed e2|[M:6/4]gf g2 [e4e4] e2(=c^c)|| |[M:C|]A2 ED EDE2|{=c}^c2A2 ED E2|{=c}^c2 GGAG|EE+slide+[A2A2][A4A4]| A2cc A2 E2|(=c^c2)c A2E2|(=c^c2)A GGAE|EG[A2A2]{G}[A4A4]|-[A6A6]||

SALLY COMING THROUGH THE RYE. American, Listening Air (cut time). USA, West Virginia. A Dorian or A Mixolydian, or C Major (Lester McCumber). Standard, AEae (Ward Jarvis) or DGdg (Harvey Sampson), ADae tunings (fiddle). ABB. The first strain is irregular (‘crooked’) in form while the tonality may vary between Mixolydian and Dorian, meaning the accompanying chords can be either minor or major. Categorizing it is similarly ambiguous as there are fast tempo parts interspaced with (what musicologist Chris Goertzen calls 'dwells', i.e. held notes), giving it an air-like feeling. It is neither a dance tune, nor so restful as to be called an air. Gerry Milnes identifies “Sally coming through the Rye” as a Calhoun County, central W.Va., tune. The tune was also in the repertoire of Athens County, Ohio, fiddler Ward Jarvis (1894-1982), who was originally from Calhoun County, W.Va., and who may have learned it there from a neighboring fiddler, Henry Franklin McCumbers. "Sally coming through the Rye" was also played by fiddler biography:Harvey Sampson (1909-1991), who was born in Clay County but moved to Calhoun County as a young man. He learned the tune from his father, David A. Sampson, born 1866.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Kerry Blech [Phillips].

Printed sources : - Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 209.

Recorded sources: - Augusta Heritage AHR 004, Harvey Sampson & the Big Possoum String Band - "Flat Foot in the Ashes" (1986). Field Recorder FRC 601, Jeff Goehring - "With Family and Friends" (2007. Ward Jarvis's version, also similar to W.Va. fiddler Lester McCumbers 1921-, who learned it from his father, Henry Franklin McCumbers, born in 1877). Shanachie 6040, Gerry Milnes & Lorraine Lee Hammond – “Hell Up Coal Holler” (1999. Learned from Harvey Sampson and his brother Homer). Reed Island Rounders – “Goin’ Home” (2002). Lester McCumbers - "Old Timey Tunes of Central West Virginia" (2002). The Ephemeral Stringband with Tatiana Hargreaves - "Land of Rest" (2014).

See also listing at:
Hear Havey Sampson's solo fiddle recording at Slippery Hill [1]