"Twin Sisters" also known as "Grandfather's Tune", "Jennie Baker", "The Old Ark's a-Moving" and
"The Two Sisters" is an American reel in 4/4 or cut time in D Major. The parts are played AB
or AA'BB'.
"Twin Sisters" is a floating title that is appended to a variety of tunes, perhaps in association with dance figures. The melody is a variant of the hornpipe "The Boys of Bluehill". Several West Virginia versions were recorded (e.g. Ernie Carpenter, Melvin Wine). This is very different from several other tunes that are known by the same name. One is an English country dance and another is a New England variant of "Farewell to Whiskey" (in the Legacies section). The banjo tablature is by John Letscher. It was printed in Silberberg's Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern (2002), Lamancusa's The Gettysburg Collection of Old-Time Fiddle Tunes (2021) and Susan Songer & Clyde Curley's Portland Collection vol. 2 (2005). It was recorded by Ernie Carpenter on Elk River Blues: Traditional Tunes from Braxton County, W.Va. (1986), Sherman Wimmer on Old Originals, vol. I (1978), Putnam String County Band on Home Grown (1973), Vivian Williams & Barbara Lamb on Twin Sisters (1975), The Reeltime Travelers on The Reeltime Travelers (2000) and Chance McCoy and The Appalachian String Band on Chance McCoy and The Appalachian String Band (2008). |