The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #9627   Message #2997086
Posted By: Gibb Sahib
30-Sep-10 - 04:29 PM
Thread Name: Origin: Hill and Gully Rider-is there such a song?
Subject: RE: Hill and Gully Riders - is there such a song?
FWIW "Hill and Gully," from my experience with Jamaican music (I am not Jamaican) "Hill and Gully" is extremely well known, to the point that it functions as a sort of "standard reference"... maybe something like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" in North America. As such, the song been recycled in various genres -- evinced by the two samples by "Guest" a couple posts above, where one is in a Calypso style (no, calypso is not "native" to Jamaica, but this song has a calypso style) and the other is to the Ska rhythm. Rendition in a Mento (similar, but distinct from calypso) style are common. It seems as a "standard" item of repertoire for "folkloric" presentations of Jamaican music -- admittedly, the "folkloric" mobilizations of heritage are often pretty staid and contrived-feeling. However, beyond that, I have heard the melody "quoted" by instrumentalists in other genre contexts, and have even heard the phrase "hill and gully" used by at least one toaster/dj/rapper. Jamaican rappers often pull out proverbs and all kinds of non sequitur phrases drawn from the collective cultural conscious (for lack of a better term), so to hear one throw in "Hill and gully" is a pretty good indicator IMO that the ditty has endured and is quite well known. "Hill and Gully" has also been adopted by people in the names for other things...I can't point to any examples, but perhaps you'll take my word for it that they are there, eg. a jerk chicken shack might call itself "Hill and Gully Jerk Centre" or something of that sort.

ramble ramble ramble...