Sally Goodin

Hi,

Just got my digital images of my painting of Sally Goodin on left (Click to Enlarge).

Sally Goodin may be the all time favorite bluegrass /country fiddle tune. Lily May Ledford played a great version of it on her CD: Gems.

The classic version was done by one of the great country fiddlers, Eck Roberston.

Sally Goodin is important because it is generally accepted as being "the" first Country Music recording which was done by Eck Roberston in 1922. It was the best selling country song in 1922 and Eck's version became the classic version of the tune.

Here's a story Eck Robertson would tell about the song: "There was a girl named Sallie who had two boyfriends. The two boys were both fiddle players, and one of the boys had the last name of 'Goodin.' Sallie couldn't decide which one to marry, so she thought a fiddle contest between the two would be a good way to make her selection. Of course, the fellow Goodin won the contest, and Sally became Sally Goodin. They were very happy and had a productive life with 14 children, so I'm going to play 'Sally Goodin' 14 different ways."

My painting (above) shows Eck as a young man towering over the mountain tops playing Sally Goodin. This was based of an early black and white photo.

The lyrics (on the bottom left corner) are typical silly fiddle lyrics that are sometimes interspersed between fiddle parts. Normally there is one verse about "had a little pie, had a little puddin' '' so naturally I painted a piece of pie (cherry) and puddin'.

Here are my lyrics:

Sally Goodin

I love pie, I love puddin',
Crazy 'bout the gal they call Sally Goodin.

I dropped the tater pie and I left the apple puddin',
I went across the mountain to see my Sally Goodin.

Well, I looked down the road and I see my Sally comin',
And I thought to my soul that I'd kill myself a-runnin'.

Sally is my doxy and Sally is my daisy,
When Sally says she hates me I think I'm goin’ crazy.

I'm goin’ up the mountain and marry little Sally,
Raise corn on the hillside and the devil in the valley.

Well... Sally sure is a doxy. Hope you like the painting. I'll be doing a detailed history of the song Sally Goodin in my next blog.

See you later,

Richard