Farewell Whiskey

Traditional Old Time breakdown from Mississippi, played in A major with the fiddle cross-tuned AEae, and crooked. The source is Tishomingo County fiddler John Hatcher, recorded in 1939 for the Library of Congress. Hatcher is not thought to have composed it, since fellow Mississippi fiddler John A. Brown also knew it. The setting uses harmonics on the bass string and is demanding to play, and its high part carries a passing resemblance to “Rye Whiskey” and “Drunken Hiccups.” Hatcher’s performance was issued on Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi (Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, 1985).

Note: Unrelated to Neil Gow’s “Farewell to Whiskey” despite the near-identical title.