Annotation:Texas Farewell
X:1 T:Texas Farewell S:Fiddlin' Jim Pate (1867-1935, Shelby County, east Texas) M:C| L:1/8 Q:"Fast" R:Reel N:AEac# tuning (fiddle) N:"+" = pizzicato D: Victor V-40170 (78 RPM), Fiddlin' Jim Pate (1929) F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/texas-farewell Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:A [A,2E2]-|[A,E]AfA [A2c2][A2c2]|[Ac][AB][AA][AB] [A2c2][A,2E2]-| [A,E]AfA [A2c2][A2c2]|1[A2c2]Bc [A2A2]:|2[A2c2]Bc[A3A3]|| |: [A,E]|"+"c2"+"A2"+"E2[A,2E2]-|[A,E]B {B}[A2c2]+slide+[A3c3][A,E]|1"+"c2"+"A2"+"E2[A,2E2]-|[A,E]B c2[E2A2]:|2"+"c2"+"A2"+"E2[A,E]F|EFAB [E2A2]|| |: [A,2E2]|EcBA FEC[CE]-|[CE]A-AB c2c2|EcBc FEC[CE]-|[CE]A-AB A2A2:|]
TEXAS FAREWELL. American, Reel (cut time). A Major. AEac# tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'CC. The tune is sourced to east Texas fiddler Jim Pate (1867-1935), of Shelby County.
Pate was the son of a Confederate Civil War veteran who often won or placed in the old-time fiddling contest at the Louisiana State Fair in Shreveport. A clipping from the October 29, 1922 Shreveport Times shows a photograph of the contestants and the first place winner, Jim Pate of the Arcadia Community, just south of Timpson. At the invitation of Captain James Bronner, also a Texas fiddler and Victor Records recording artist, Pate and his guitar playing son Tom travelled from Nacogdoches to Dallas in October, 1929, to record for Victor. It is not known how many tunes were recorded that day (Pate's only commercial recording session), but the only two to be commercially released were "Texas Farewell" and "Prisoner Boy." Tony Russell finds the recording sold about 3,600 copies, a respectable number for an unknown artist, however, not enough to secure a second recording date with Victor.
Champion Records 78 RPM artist 'Fiddlin' Ike Pate' is no relation, and in fact the name was only a pseudonym for fiddler William B. Houchens.