The Speckers- Give the Fiddler a Dram

On his birthday, local fiddling sensation John Specker performs in the Okemo Valley TV studio with his daughters, Lila & Ida Mae. According to the Traditional Tune Archive: GIVE THE FIDDLER A DRAM [2]. AKA - "Fiddler a Dram," "Fiddler's Dram." Unrelated to "Dance All Night." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia. G Mixolydian (Brody, Phillips/Carlton, Silberberg): A Mixolydian (Chase, W.E. Claunch, Phillips/Honig). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (Brody, Phillips/Carlton): AA'BB (Chase): AA'BBCC (Phillips/Honig). One version of this tune was played at a 1931 LaFollette, north-east Tennessee fiddlers' contest, according to a local newspaper of the time. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. It was also listed by the Fayette Northwest Alabamian of August 19th, 1929, as one of the tunes likely to be played at an upcoming fiddlers' convention (Cauthen, 1990), and was recorded in 1939 for the Library of Congress by Herbert Halpert from the playing of Mississippi fiddler W.E. Claunch. Gerry Milnes, in the notes for his album "Hell Up Coal Creek," writes that this tune was one of old Tom Dillon's (of Webster County, W.Va.) showpiece tune. Dillon was a character who busked around sandlot baseball games for drinks and tips, often dancing while he played. Another trick of his was to play with two bows strapped together. "Girl with the Blue Dress On" is a related tune.