Sally Goodin

Among the most classic of fiddle tunes, Sally Goodin was recorded in 1923 by Eck Robertson.  This was actually the first fiddle recording made for commercial purposes.  Previous recordings were made by the Library of Congress and others, to capture folk culture.  I have been thinking about this tune and I have developed some of my own ideas about it and its history.  

Let’s start with the name.  I think the name Sally Goodin is probably there just to form a rhyme with puddin’.  It seems like it is the kind of space-filling lyric that was added in between dance instructions.  Here is an example of the puddin’ lyrics, though you may hear many other variations on these if you listen to different sung versions:

Had a piece of pie, I had a piece of puddin’ 

I’d give it all up just to see my Sally Goodin’

The basic melody as it is sung is pretty simple and seems to have been known widely…a popular dance tune around this time, perhaps.  Eck Robertson took this basic melody to the next level by adding more notes and playing a whole bunch of variations.  When I went back to transcribe what Eck Robertson played, I remembered hearing many of these variations played in fiddle contests when I was a teenager.  In any case, I think it was his recording that turned this piece from a simple dance tune to a fiddle showpiece.  

Eck (which is short for Alexander by the way) was a Texas fiddler and Texas fiddle style has become known for variation and improvisation.  In fact, its virtuosity has made it the dominant style for fiddle contests.  Somehow it seems that it was in Texas more than other places, where fiddlers focused on making intricate and often-improvised on the melody.  I’m not sure exactly how this came to be, but perhaps Eck was at or near the start of this trend.  It is also interesting to note that a later Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson moved to Seattle later in life and taught a young Mark O’Connor, who became one of the most famous fiddlers of our times.  (O’Connor’s first style was Texas fiddle.)    

One final note…as I was listening to other versions of Sally Goodin out there I found a wonderful and Western Swing version (quite different from the others) made by Bob Wills.  I became curious about this other style of Texas music and from what I read, it seems that in the 1930’s string bands began to include electric guitar and steel guitar, and that these bands became very popular (even beating Benny Goodman in a King of Swing radio competition).  This partially electric string band music came to be known as Western Swing.  The Bob Wills arrangement of Sally Goodin is fun listening and is an interesting contrast with the Eck version from 20 years earlier.

Here is sheet music for the basic melody:

And here are Eck Robertson’s variations transcribed:

(click image to view all pages)

Have a listen to the 1923 Eck Robertson recording, transcribed above:

And here’s another version I like by J.D. Crowe and New South. They add some nice bluesy touches to the melody that others don’t have.

And finally, here is the Bob Wills Western Swing version: