Napoleon’s Charge

A traditional Old Time breakdown in D major, played in DDad tuning, documented from Alva Greene (1894–1976) of Sandy Hook, Elliott County, northeastern Kentucky, recorded in 1973. Jeff Titon’s Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes notes the historical confusion surrounding “Bonaparte” and “Napoleon” titles in Kentucky fiddling; W.H. Stepp’s “Piney Ridge,” recorded for the Library of Congress in 1937, is a variant. Bruce Greene and Jim Taylor recorded it on Little Rose is Gone (Pearl Mae 002CS, 1991).