Old-Time TOTW #432: Georgia Row (Buddy Thomas) 10/4/26 #kentucky #fiddle

Old-Time TOTW #432 is "Georgia Row" from Kentucky fiddler Elwood Carl "Buddy" Thomas (10 October 1935--4 October 1974. He was the son of William Harvey Thomas (1900-1966) and Gracie A. Richmond (1902-1978). His paternal ancestor, Captain William Dyer, was born in 1609 in London, England, and came to New England c. 1635. (source: Ancestry, Familysearch, and public documents) Thomas came from a large family and learned fiddle a boy. He would listen to his mother whistling tunes that her father, James Richmond, played. Richmond was a respected fiddler in his time. Thomas also played bluegrass, but preferred the older tunes. Here are some words about Buddy from Ray Alden: "Buddy Thomas, the great northeastern Kentucky fiddler who died a young man of 39, grew up 'so poor that even the poor folks said we were poor.' Dave Spilkia and I came across Buddy in Grayson, Kentucky, and found him to be an unassuming and kind human being with an enormous musical talent. He learned from sources such as his mother’s whistling, relatives and friends such as Perry Riley, Jimmy Wheeler, Morris Allen, and a bunch of 78 rpm records gotten in trade. These recordings were made upon our first meeting and a subsequent trip Dave made to Kentucky. On a third trip in 1974, we arrived to hear the sad news Buddy had just passed away.” Thomas passed away from a heart attack about a week before his thirty-ninth birthday. Traditional Tune Archive mentions that "Georgia Row" is similar to "Angeline the Baker," but I hear no connection between them. "Georgia Row” plays very nicely in calico tuning (A,Eac#; G,DGB; F,CFA). I look for certain characteristics to determine whether or not a tune is a good candidate for calico tuning. First, a small range that does not go into third position on the 1st string, and the third scale step must be a prominent note in the tune. That note ends up acting as a unison drone with the 1st string. Ease in fingering the tune is another consideration. I feel that there were more tunes played in calico tuning 150 years ago and more which we do not know about. Many of them, undoubtedly, fell out of favor, but I feel many are tunes people now play in cross A. My book, Marion Thede and the Fiddlers of Oklahoma: The Fiddle Book, the Musicians and Their Tunes is now available from McFarland & Company: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ma... My Patreon: www.patreon.com/paulkirk