Jim Wood and John Hartford
The Bullies Have All Gone to Rest
Song Titles
Jim Wood: fiddle
John Hartford: banjo
Produced by John Hartford and Jim Wood
Recorded by John Furbush
Mastered by John Eberle
Package Design by Ron Ault
All tunes are public domain.
The arrangements are by Jim Wood and John Hartford and published by Magic Bow Music,(BMI).
Whippoorwill Records
7570 Pewitt Road
Franklin, TN 37064
(615) 799-9869
1 (888) 799-9768
Liner Notes
The fiddle music of a given area tells a story. If you listen carefully, you can hear not only the story of the people and their joys and sorrows but the story of the land itself. Fiddle music seems to spring forth from the living earth as God calls creation to arise and celebrate life, and a fiddler's job is to give some tangible form and expression to this creative energy so others in his community can share in this celebration. As remuneration, fiddlers are given the opportunity to experience the inherent satisfaction of playing the fiddle. This line of work requires some special attributes such as humility, respect for tradition, imagination, the willingness to perfect the craft, and the desire to have a good time. John and I both owe an eternal debt of gratitude to the older musicians who possess these attributes and who have guided us along the right path.
John has a special group of folks from Missouri who have inspired him over the years, but this recording is really the story of some of the old-time musicians in and around Williamson County here in Middle Tennessee. Some of the big names, the stars of fiddling, so to speak, such as Howdy Forrester, Arthur Smith, and Paul Warren, were from my neck of the woods, and John and I certainly have learned a bunch from these fellows, but the values of traditional music I have learned from some of the lesser known artists from my neighborhood.
I must thank my dad, Jimmy Wood, first and foremost; I grew up exposed to music through his playing with local string bands and bluegrass musicians. Before I got my first fiddle, I used to run around outside and play tag in the yard of the old schoolhouse where he played a little show on Saturday nights with Sam Liggett and Shorty Mangrum called the Jingo Jamboree (Jingo is an older name for Fairview where I grew up). We have gone to a couple hundred fiddle contests together over the years, and he is still one of my favorite guitarists.
I did not understand what was happening when I was a kid, but some of the local musicians gave me exactly what I needed most. I learned not only tunes and style but about friendship and the way music connects everybody and everything together. I do not have the space here to tell the stories I want to tell about the talent, generosity, and humanity of the many friends with whom I have had the time of my life; all I can do here is mention a few names and say special thanks to Bennie Pewitt, Edward Pewitt, Lloyd "Pee Wee" Buttrey, W. T. Mangrum, Vester Turman, Benton Sullivan, Frazier Moss, Sam Liggett, Shorty Mangrum, Mitch neely, Ernest Ferguson, Richard Hoffman, Charlie Turner, Clyde Hartman, and Billy Womack. I also need thank two of Nashville's top studio fiddlers, who are largely responsible for my being a professional musician: Buddy Spicher and Hoot Hester. These fellows lived close to me when I first started playing, and I had the best role models I could have dreamed of knowing.
John Hartford has given me so much over the years that I cannot begin to thank him enough. His direction and production experience gave shape to this entire project. John is intensely creative and inspirational, and at the time of this recording he was seriously ill battling a life-threatening bout with cancer. He has since recovered, and his strong commitment to life is evident in every note he plays. No one loves old-time music more than John.
John and I recorded this live to two-track with no studio funny business; we simply set up a stereo pair of microphones between us and let it rip. What you hear is the two of us playing the way we do with funkiness and all. This is a musical snap shot of a couple of afternoons in Fairview, Tennessee in the spring of 1997; capturing the right feeling was the sole criteria by which all cuts were selected. (By the way, Edward Pewitt, pictured on the right of the cover, dropped into studio to assist in the vibe.)
This recording is dedicated to my mom, Faye, who passed away not long after we finished. Thanks also to Inge Schlager for her support. Thanks, ultimately, to God for all gifts, music being amongst them.
John wishes to thank Marie Hartford, Earl Scruggs, Gene Goforth, Benny Martin, Jim "Texas Shorty" Chancellor, Lawrence Haley, and Jim Wood.
Peace,
Jim Wood
Christmas 1997
1. Don't You Want to Go to Heaven, Uncle Joe? 2:36
I picked up this tune primarily from Lloyd "Pee Wee" Buttrey. Pee Wee hails from Hickman County and worked on the Opry through the fifties with the Gully Jumpers. The variation on the "B" section was inspired by Tom Dotson, an old timer from Dickson County. This tune bears no resemblance to the popular family of "Uncle Joe" tunes.
2. The Bullies Have All Gone to Rest 2:33
I also got this tune from Pee Wee, who learned this and the previous tune from his dad.
3. Lafayette 2:07
John brought this tune to the project from the playing of Opry fiddler Earl White, who learned it from Opry star and Williamson County native Kirk McGee; it was quite popular for years as an Opry dance tune.
4. The Cat Came Back 2:43
I learned this piece at a fiddle contest from Mitch Neely, a fine hoedown and country fiddler from Hickman County who was in Hank Williams' first band. Mitch heard this tune as a kid on a Doc Roberts record.
5. Old Joe 2:29
Richard Hoffman from Fairview, who worked on the Opry with Pee Wee, provided me with the foundation for this setting of "Old Joe," but Vester Turman, a local fiddler with whom my dad played for many years, inspired my love of the tune when I was a little kid.
6. Green Valley Waltz 2:09
I kind of absorbed this one from simply being around, but Charlie Acuff from Alcoa, Tennessee and Curly Fox both gave me a few tips.
7. Jack's Been A-Gettin' There 1:54
I got this tune from W.T. Mangrum, a local guitarist and harmonica player, who learned it from Bennie Pewitt. Bennie and W.T., both from Fairview were enormously important to my early development; my dad and I spent many evenings in W. T.'s and Bennie's kitchens playing the night away. Bennie was one of my true sources of musical inspiration, not to mention his being like a grandfather. The Crook Brothers cut a tune entitled "Jobbin Gettin' There," which contains faint echoes of this piece.
8. Old Napper 2:45
Richard Hoffman showed me this tune which he had learned from his father. John says that Homer Dillard (Rodney and Doug's dad) from Burns in Dickson County played this one, also. It probably has roots in black-face minstrelsy.
9. Beech Bottom 1:50
I also learned this piece from Richard Hoffman.
10. Sleepy Lou 1:47
John found this tune on an old Uncle Dave Macon record with Mazy Todd on fiddle.
11. Going Across the Sea 2:51
Frazier Moss, the great old-time fiddler from Jackson County, took me under his wing when I was just a kid and introduced me to this and many other old standards. Frazier plays this in the more common D major, but I moved it over to A (tuned AEAE). Uncle Dave recorded this song in the thirties.
12. Lady of the Lake 1:50
John suggested the inclusion of this widely known piece. Usually in D, I put my setting of this old dance number in E. It has been popular in Middle Tennessee for years and was performed frequently on the early Opry. Sir Walter Scott's poem of the same title was well read in the American frontier
13. Rattlesnake Bit the Baby 1:26
Crawford Jones, also an old Opry musician from Fairview, taught me this tune with a little help from Bluegrass veteran Joe Drumright. It is simply a Middle Tennessee incarnation of the "Boston Boy" group of tunes.
14. House of David Blues 1:53
Ernest Ferguson , a wonderful mandolinist from Hickman County who worked the Opry for years with the Bailes Brothers, used to play this old novelty song about a quirky religious sect for me when I was a little kid. I also went back and picked up a lick or two from the Arthur Smith version from the thirties.
15. Over Yonder 2:20
Pee Wee calls this tune "Over There" from his father, but "Over Yonder" is an alternate title. Benton Sullivan, an old-time fiddler and really fine buck dancer from Fairview, also provided me with some inspiration on this one. Paul and Clebert Warren also play this one.
16. Green Back Dollar 2:28
John showed me this old-timer based on the playing of Howdy Forrester, but John originally learned it from Homer Dillard.
17. New Five Cents 1:53
18. Possom and Taters 1:52
I learned this hoedown from Pee Wee Buttrey. A remotely related tune of the same title appears on an old Skillet Lickers record, but Pee Wee learned this from his dad.
WR 1001
Released: 1998
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