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"Four Cent Cotton" is an old-time song and breakdown in 4/4 time and C Major.
The parts are played ABB (Brody) or AABB (Phillips).
The tune is similar to "Sally Goodin'". The title is probably a reference to moonshine liquor or "white lightnin'" as it is sometimes called. If the yeast is not properly settled before distilling, the whisky will be cloudy. The melody was one of those cited in the Fayette Northwest Alabamian of August 29th, 1929, as likely to be played at an upcoming fiddlers' convention. It was recorded twice (1928, 1932) by the north Georgia band The Skillet Lickers, which included fiddler Lowe Stokes and was also re-recorded in 1930 by Stokes with his band The Swamp Rooters (which also included Bert Layne on fiddle and Arthur Tanner on banjo among others). Words set to the tune go: Goin' up the road, whoopin' and a-hollerin',The sources for the notated version are The Skillet Lickers [Brody, Kaufman] and Lowe Stokes [Milliner & Koken, Phillips]. It was printed in Brody's Fiddler's Fakebook (1983), Kaufman's Beginning Old Time Fiddle (1977), Milliner & Koken's Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes (2011) and Phillips' Traditional American Fiddle Tunes (1994). It was recorded by The Skillet Lickers (1932) (78 RPM), The Skillet Lickers on Old Time Tunes (1965 reissue), Lowe Stokes' Georgia Potlickers on Hell Broke Loose in Georgia (orig. rec. 1930) and Lowe Stokes, vol. 1: 1927-1930 (1999 reissue). |