X:1
T:Shove that Pig's Foot a Little Farther in the Fire
N:From the playing of Marcus Martin (1881- 1974, Swannanoa, western N.C.),
N:from 1950's field recordings by Peter Hoover
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
D:Field Recorders Collective 502, Marcus Martin
D:PRP-43711, "Old Timey Fiddle Music by the
D:Legendary Fiddle Marcus Martin" (1973)
Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz
K:G
[G_B]-|[G=B]cBA G2EF|GAGE [G,4D4]|D-G3 [G3B3]c|[G2B2][D4A4][G_B]-|
[G=B]cBA G2 EF|GAGE [G,4D4]|D-G3 [G3B3]G|A2G4:|
|:[Bg][d2g2]e [d2g2]B2|[eg]-[dg]([Bg]c) [d4g4]|[Bg]-[d3g3]g3d|e2d6|
[Bg][d2g2][Bg][d2g2][B2g2]|edB2 [d4g4]|_B-=B2d BAGB|A2 G4:|
Marcus Martin, 1881-1974SHOVE THAT PIG'S FOOT A LITTLE FARTHER IN THE FIRE. AKA – “Push that Pig’s Foot a Little Further in the Fire,” “Push that Pig’s Foot Closer to the Fire.” American, Reel (cut time). USA, western North Carolina. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (Phillips, Songer). A ‘pig’s foot’ is a blacksmith’s tool that somewhat resembles a crowbar or poker, used to manipulate pieces of pig iron in a forge. The tune was originally recorded by western North Carolina fiddler biography:Martin Marcus on an LP where he played it as a duet with his son Wayne. Marcus also recorded it for the Library of Congress in the 1940's. Martin was influence by E. Tenn. fiddler J. Dedrick Harris, who played regularly with Bob Taylor in the latter's bid for Governor of Tenn. in the late 1800's. Joel Shimberg (who says tongue-in-cheek, “Surely it’s a barbecue song”) learned the following verse to the (low part of the) tune from Mike Seegar:
Shove that pig's foot into the fire, Do it now, Miss Liza, Shove that pig's foot into the fire, Do it now, Miss Liza.
The melody can be heard in the film Cold Mountain, albeit the producers saw fit to rename it “Ruby with Eyes that Sparkle.”
Additional notes
Sources for notated versions: - fiddler and violin maker Armin Barnett and Jere Canote (Seattle, Washington) [Phillips, Songer]; Tony Mates [Silberberg].
Printed sources : - Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 222. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Taven), 2002; p. 145. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 185.
Recorded sources: -Field Recorders Collective 502, "Marcus Martin" (2004). PRP-43711, "Old Timey Fiddle Music by the Legendary Fiddle Marcus Martin" (1973). Rounder CD0421, Bruce Molsky - “Big Hoedown” (1997).
See also listing at:
Hear Marcus Martin's field recording at Slippery Hill [1]
