08 May 98 - 01:44 PM (#27760) Subject: Blackberry Blossom From: Frances H. Casstevens Who actually wrote Blakberry Blossom. It's usually played as an instrumental. It is "traditional" or a fairly recent song? |
13 May 98 - 06:26 PM (#28211) Subject: RE: Blackberry Blossom From: rechal I think Norman Blake has an album called "Blackberry Blossom." Can't remember if that song's on it, though. |
13 May 98 - 07:00 PM (#28215) Subject: RE: Blackberry Blossom From: Bruce O. Is it the one in the Stanford-Petrie collection, #475? If so, it was collected by G. Petrie before 1866. Theme code is my Irish Tunes Index at www.erols.com/olsonw |
14 May 98 - 10:03 AM (#28284) Subject: RE: Blackberry Blossom From: Jon W. I have a mandolin instruction book and tape with this tune in it. Bruce, how do you interpret the theme codes? I assume they represent a line or two of the music, but other than the time signature and key signature I couldn't get anything out of them, and I couldn't find information on your page about them. If I could hear the theme, I could verify whether the tune on your page was the one in question. |
14 May 98 - 10:33 AM (#28291) Subject: RE: Blackberry Blossom From: Bill in Alabama I have played that tune for years, and I know fiddle players in their 'eighties who learned it as beginners. I recorded it myself in the 'seventies on an instrumental album; at that time, BMI, ASCAP, etc., had no records of a writer or a copyright, according to the Harry Fox Agency. |
14 May 98 - 11:20 AM (#28299) Subject: RE: Blackberry Blossom From: Bruce O. SP #475- "Blackberry Blosssom". Theme code system is Charles Gore's modification of B. Breathnach's (in Gore's 'The Scottish Fiddle Music Index', 1994). Since tune is 2/4, code what is at start of each half-note time period for 1st 4 full measures, starting from keynote = 1. L for octave lower and H for octave higher than the one the keynote is in. Since tune is minor-Aeloian, then 3rd, 6th, and 7th of scale are flatted (b)(relative to major mode). If I had it to do over I wouldn't use this system. Many 2/4 tunes are really 4/8 and this one looks like 8/16. Code here is rather artificial, and playing it wouldn't lead to anything recognizable by ear.
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14 May 98 - 12:02 PM (#28306) Subject: Tune Add: BLACKBERRY BLOSSOM From: Bruce O. I should have noted that 'theme code' is really a misnomer (but not one I invented) X:1
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14 May 98 - 05:23 PM (#28355) Subject: RE: Blackberry Blossom From: Jon W. Well, comparing the ABC Bruce posted above to the arrangement on my mandolin instruction tape, I can't conclude if the modern bluegrass mando version is a generations-removed derivative of Bruce's or just done in somewhat the same style. One thing is for certain: the B part on both uses the minor scale predominantly. I'm no lawyer but I think you'd be fairly safe calling Blackberry Blossom traditional. |
19 May 98 - 09:29 AM (#28676) Subject: RE: Blackberry Blossom From: Bruce O. The tune is also in Petrie's 'Ancient Music of Ireland', 1855. |