Annotation:Charleston Girls

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CHARLESTON GIRLS. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, West Virginia. A Mixolydian. AABB. The melody is similar to (and perhaps a variant of) Henry Reed's "Texas" and to a tune in Phil Rice's Banjo Instructor (1858) appearing under the title "Hi! Ho! Charleston Gals." John Heine reports it apparently was in minstrel tradition under the later title and appears in sheet music from the mid-1840's. West Virginia fiddler Melvin Wine plays a crooked version and sings a few words to it.

Source for notated version: Melvin Wine (1909-2003, Braxton County, W.Va.) [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; p. 46.

Recorded sources: Augusta Heritage AHR-013, Melvin Wine - "Old Time Fiddling of Braxton County, vol 2" (1992).

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