Old-Time TOTW #360: Johnny Get Your Hair Cut (Sarah Armstrong) 5/18/25 #fiddle

Old-Time TOTW #360 is Johnny Get Your Hair Cut from the playing of Sarah “Sadie” Gray Armstrong (18 Mar 1883--2 Aug 1957) of Westmoreland County, PA, and is found in Samuel Bayard's Hill Country Tunes, published in 1944. She was the daughter of Charles H. Gray (1863-1941) and Julia Kuster/Custer (1866-1920). Her gr-gr-gr grandfather on her father's side was John Dixon, born c. 1690 in Scotland, died 1760 in Cumberland County, PA. Sarah married Charles Benjamin Armstrong (born c. 1880) on 23 September 1899. He worked on the railroad as a brakeman. (source for above: Ancestry and public documents) Bayard prominently featured Sarah's tunes in his book, Hill Country Tunes. He notes: "In the previous generation of the [Gray] family were five brothers: Charley (Mrs. Armstrong's father), Laney, Dan, Joss (Joshua) and Abe, all skillful on some instrument, and accustomed to playing together for dances...All of these men are now gone, and Mrs. Armstrong, who began playing at the age of five, is the sole legatee of their melodic treasure. As a young girl she used to listen by the hour to her uncle Laney – the most expert fiddler of the group, and the one possessing the largest repertory of tunes – absorbing his music and learning to play it herself. She also use to play cello, on which she would help the group out when they were playing in the pavilion at ‘Kist’s Grove’ (a dancing ground on the outskirts of Derry), and elsewhere in the neighborhood.” Daniel "Dan" D. Gray (1867-1928?) married Sadie Logue. Joshua "Joss" Grant Gray (1865-1925) married Margaret Maria Brant. Abraham "Abe" Lincoln Gray (1861-1940) married Savilla Stump (1860-1930). This is all the information I have about Sarah's uncles, other than the fact that they had six half-brothers and one half sister. (all above information from public documents) Bayard also notes: "About thirty-five years ago, [1908/1909 ] her [Sarah's] Uncle Laney went to live in the Far West. The “Gray Boys” ensemble broke up, although its remaining members continued to play individually for dances; and Mrs. Armstrong, with the assistance of her daughter at the piano and her son on the guitar or banjo, has likewise continued playing the old music, either for dances or an occasional radio or theater program. The children, however, do not pick up her repertory, and she is left its only preserver." George Laney Gray (b. June 1859, d. 1936 or 1937) relocated to Los Angeles, CA, around 1908/09. (Bayard's reference to the "Far West.") Interestingly, Sarah's daughter Mary (1917-2005) relocated to California as well at some point. Neither Mary nor Sarah's other daughter Bertha (1899-1964) married. Bertha lived with brother Charles Robert (1902-1984) until her death. In his sixty-third year, Charles married in 1965 for apparently a brief time. (source: Find-A-Grave and public documents)) Though Sarah's son and daughter accompanied her (on guitar and piano, respectively), neither of them continued her tradition of passing on the family's tunes. Bayard collected this tune from Sarah Armstrong on 18 November 1943, and states that the first part was sung, unaccompanied, in southwestern Pennsylvania to the lyrics: Johnny get your hair cut, hair cut, hair cut, Johnny get your hair cut, just like me! and Granny will your dog bite, dog bite, dog bite, Granny will your dog bite? No child, no! The latter lyrics, along with the melody, show the connection of Johnny Get Your Hair Cut to the tune Granny Will Your Dog Bite? though Bayard does not mention that connection. He does make his usual critical assessment, this time of the additional third part which he describes as “more modern than the [other parts]” and “distinctly inferior.” That’s an interesting assessment because I see the third part being a variation of the second part an octave lower and not inferior at all. Bayard notes that Ms. Armstrong was “rather proud of knowing a set containing three parts instead of the normal two: this attitude is likewise often encountered in similar circumstances.” Other tunes from Sarah Armstrong featured for Old-Time TOTW: #38: Over the Stump and Back Again (3/17/19); #40: Sarah Armstrong's Tune (3/31/19); #48: Waltzing With the One I Love (5/26/19); Quadrille in A (8/4/19); #100: Laney Tunin' His Fiddle (5/24/20); #118 Dream Song (9/27/20), and #141 Rolling of a Log (3/7/21); and #153: Maggots in the Sheep Hide (5/3/21), #196: The Red Brick House in Georgia Town (3/27/22), #245: Old Reel or “Sarah Armstrong’s Tune” (3/5/23), and #350 The Snouts and Ears of America (3/9/25), #351: Patty on the Turnpike (3/16/25), and #352: Muddy Water (3/23/25). Joining me is friend Mark McNulty on guitar (Oberlin, OH). My upcoming book, Marion Thede and the Fiddlers of Oklahoma: The Fiddle Book, the Musicians and Their Tunes is now able to be preordered: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ma... .