Annotation:White River Bottoms

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WHITE RIVER BOTTOMS. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Indiana. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune was known among older fiddlers in central and southern Indiana, reports Paul Tyler, including Noble Melton, Frank Wisehart, Ken Smelser, as well as Lotus Dickey (1911-1989) and Jimmy Campbell of Dolan Heights. Dickey told Payl Tyler that "It's a local song from down in Orange County all the old-timers played at square dances, a good square dance piece" [1].

There is a White River Bottom region in southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas, that is rich and fertile farmland. However the title refers to a smiliarly rich farming area along the two forks of the White River in Indiana. The Chicago Tribune of June 20, 1882, records:

Bedford, Ind., June 19.--For the seventh time since last fall White River has again overflowed its bottoms, and the corn, which had been replanted after the last flood a few weeks ago, totally ruined. There will be but a small amount raised along this stream, probably not one-fifth of a crop. Many small farmers or renters who had about expended their limited means in replanting are ruined, and will have to seek labor by the day as a means of subsistance.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Lotus Dickey (1911-1989, Indiana) [Phillips]; W.B. Reid [Silberberg].

Printed sources : - Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 256. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 169. Songer (Portland Collection vol. 2), 2005; p. 223.

Recorded sources: - Marimac 9030, Lotus Lotus - "Fiddle Tunes from Orange County, Indiana. Vol. 2" (1982). Lotus Dickey and Friends - "The Pride of Glencoe" ().

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear Lotus Dickey's recording at Slippery Hill [3] and at Dr. Dosido [4]

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