Off to California
Music from the Gold Rush Era
Now Available at CDBABY!
Recorded June-August, 2006
Produced by Andy Alexis and Dorothy Hawkinson
The banjo and the guitar tabs require the free tabledit viewer, available here.
Liner Notes:
Sweet Betsy in the Parlor
- Hear it
-- Banjo Tab
An instrumental version of the well-known gold rush song, Sweet
Betsy from Pike. We imagine a polite Victorian parlor back in "the
States," as people contemplate their journey west with no idea what’s in
store.
Banjo: Andy Alexis
Fiddle: Dorothy Hawkinson
Promised Land -
Hear it
-- Lyrics
A gospel number from the Sacred Harp and shape note singing
traditions of the deep South. Our verses are drawn from several
different shape note hymns. The gold country can be seen as a metaphor
for the promised land.
Vocals: Andy Alexis, Dorothy Hawkinson, Alan Fuller
The Arrival ©Andrew A. Alexis (ASCAP) -
Hear it
-- Banjo
Tab
A tune of cautious optimism on the fretless banjo.
Gut String Banjo: Andy Alexis
Miss Ella -
Hear it
-- Lyrics - Banjo Tab
History reports few female miners, but this one’s documented in
song. The music comes from Nelly Bly, a song by Stephen C. Foster.
Lead Vocal and Guitar: Alan Fuller
Fiddle and Harmony Vocal: Dorothy Hawkinson
Banjo and Harmony Vocal: Andy Alexis
Tater Patch/Kitchen Girl -
Hear it
-- Tunes - Banjo Tab
Two Appalachian fiddle tunes, our homage to the women who
earned a good living running boarding house kitchens for the miners,
bringing them a welcome taste of home.
Fiddle: Dorothy Hawkinson
Guitar: Alan Fuller
Banjo: Andy Alexis
Sweet Betsy from Pike -
Hear it
-- Lyrics
The famous tale of Betsy and Ike from Pike County, written by
John A. Stone, known as "Old Put." His traveling shows were a big hit in
the mining camps. Old Put is buried not far from Coloma.
Vocal: Alan Fuller
Trudging up the South Fork
©Dorothy A. Hawkinson (Fleur de Lys Music, ASCAP) -
Hear it
-- Tune -
Guitar Tab
A bluesy hornpipe in tribute to all those miners who slogged their
way through muck and rock on the South Fork of the American River,
searching for a little flash in the pan.
Fiddle: Dorothy Hawkinson
Guitar: Alan Fuller
Bottleneck Guitar: Andy Alexis
Wayfaring Stranger -
Hear it
-- Lyrics -- Banjo
Tab
Another well-known gospel number from the Sacred Harp tradition
and it’s chock full of lonely.
Lead Vocal: Dorothy Hawkinson
Flamenco
Guitar and Harmony Vocal: Alan Fuller
Banjo and Harmony Vocal: Andy Alexis
Few Days -
Hear it
-- Lyrics
Based on a spiritual with lyrics relevant to a miner’s plight
He’s had about as much as he can bear.
Guitar and Lead Vocal: Alan Fuller
Harmony Vocals: Andy Alexis and Dorothy Hawkinson
Alone and Lonely (Im Aonar Seal) -
Hear it
-- Tune
An old Irish air from around the time of Napoleon and an apt
description for how many miners felt.
Fiddle: Dorothy Hawkinson
Flamenco
Guitar: Alan Fuller
Hard Times -
Hear it
-- Lyrics
Stephen Foster was at the height of his popularity when he
wrote Hard Times. It certainly epitomized life for most in the mining
camps, even if they were not fortunate enough to even have a cabin or a
door.
Guitar, Gut String Banjo, and Lead and Harmony Vocals: Andy Alexis
Fiddle: Dorothy Hawkinson
Harmony Vocal: Alan Fuller
Ingrian Polka/Kuppari Eeva -
Hear it
-- Tune - Banjo Tab
Two polkas--the first, from Inkeri, a region in the western
part of Russia which is home to many people of Finnish origin, the
second, from Finland. A kuppari in earlier times was a midwife, a type
of rural nurse, a bloodletter who used a sharp tool to release blood in
the belief it helped high blood pressure and other ailments.
Fiddle: Dorothy Hawkinson
Banjo: Andy Alexis
Flamenco
Guitar: Alan Fuller
O Death -
Hear it
-- Lyrics
First comes the enumeration of the horrible things death will
do, then the begging and pleading with death not to do them. Recorded
and transcribed versions of this song first appear in the early 20th
century; it’s probably older in folk and religious traditions.
Vocal: Andy Alexis
Pennknivsmördaren (The Penknife Murderer) -
Hear it
-- Tune
A sextondelspolska–16th note polska–we learned from the playing
of one of our favorite Swedish groups, Väsen. It’s said that a fiddler
named Erlandsson, who served 10 years in prison for committing murder
with a penknife, played this tune.
Fiddle and Hardingfele: Dorothy Hawkinson
Flamenco
Guitar: Alan Fuller
Guitar: Andy Alexis
La Llorona (The Wailing Woman) -
Hear it
-- Lyrics -- Tune
The Mexican legend tells of a dark woman, her Spanish lover and
their children, whom she killed when her left her for another. She threw
the children in a river and now haunts places where rivers flow. The
ballad is more poetic and vague in its lyrical allusions to the legend.
Flamenco
Guitar and Vocal: Alan Fuller
Hardingfele: Dorothy Hawkinson
