September 2021 - Flop-Eared Mule
During his years as an adjunct professor at the Blair School of Music in Nashville, one of David’s closest friends, colleagues, and collaborators was Jerome “Butch” Baldassari. Butch was as passionate about the mandolin as David was about the dulcimer, and they both were true ambassadors and evangelists for their respective instruments. One of the many things they had in common was the unshakeable belief that these instruments should not be "pigeon-holed" into any one single type of music, and they effortlessly straddled the widest spectrum of musical genres. Butch became well-known as a bluegrass musician through his work with performers such as Alison Kraus, Richard Greene, and the band "Lonesome Standard Time".
Just like David, Butch was equally adept at arranging everything from baroque to classical, to traditional, to jazz and contemporary music for his chosen instrument. He revived the sound of the mandolin orchestra by forming the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, much as David did by creating and directing the Nashville Dulcimer Quartet. Butch composed "Blue Moon Over Kentucky" as an orchestral piece featuring the mandolin, based on bluegrass melodies by Bill Monroe, much as David did with his "Blackberry Winter" concerto. Their collaboration culminated with the 2006 release of "Appalachian Mandolin and Dulcimer", a recording of 14 tunes performed on a variety of mandolin and dulcimer family instruments that showcase traditional music of the Appalachian Mountains.
Sadly, on January 10, 2009, just a little over 3 years after David’s passing, Butch lost his battle with cancer as well. So for this year’s “Remembering David” post, I have chosen something to honor both David and Butch, and the collaboration that grew out of their friendship.
“Flop-Eared Mule” is another fun and lively dance tune that has been popular in old-time music circles dating back to the mid-1800’s. Like many old fiddle tunes, the exact origins of "Flop-Eared Mule" are a bit of a mystery. The original title is thought to have been “Detroit Schottische”, but it also goes by a myriad of other names: “Lop-Eared Mule”, “Big Eared Mule”, “D&A Schottische”, “D&A Quadrille”, “Washington Quadrille”, “Bluebell Polka”, and my personal favorite “Monkey in the Barbershop”. The tune “modulates” (changes keys) between the A-part and B-part, for example D to A, or sometimes G to D.
Here's a link to a YouTube video of Flop-Eared mule from David and Butch’s recording. David was playing a Tennessee Music Box tuned d-d-d-d with a turkey quill and noter, starting in the key of G, and modulating to the key of D.
The version presented here is a chord/melody arrangement in the keys of D and A. Here’s a link to another YouTube video of the tune being played in those keys:
Enjoy the tune, and as David and Butch would say, keep on pickin'!
As a reminder, a DVD of a concert David did in 1999, recorded and preserved by Dave Haas, is now available for purchase. This remarkable video capture's every detail of David's playing for a full hour-long concert. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this video go to support the "Dulcimers for David" project, spear-headed by Deborah Porter, with the goal of getting mountain dulcimers into the hands of young people who have expressed an interest in learning to play.
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