I found a tune called Angeline the Baker in a book called “The Fiddler’s Fakebook” left over from my aborted attempt at learning to play the violin/fiddle. I never got rid of the book because I love a lot of the music in there and find it enjoyable to play on the guitar.
My recording of “Angeline the Baker” is an arrangement I created of an old time fiddle tune based on a song called Angelina Baker written by Stephen Foster for the Christy Minstrels, and published in 1850. The original laments the loss of a woman slave, sent away by her owner. The melody of the fiddle tune, Angeline the Baker differs from the Stephen Foster version.
In my arrangement and instrumentation in this recording I spiced it up and added a bit of country flavor! See my music page to buy a copy of Angeline the Baker.
There may be some old time/bluegrass purists out there who won’t like what I’ve done, but torpedoes be damned, I put my own soft rock type spin on this arrangement of the Temperance Reel, also known as the Teetotaler’s Reel and renamed it Temperance Reel to Real Rock.
And…….Here’s some info on the traditional tune From Mel Bay Mandolin Sessions:
Temperance Reel is another example of a tune that has crossed geographic & musical genre boundaries, coming from Ireland to America, where it is commonly played in Celtic, Old-Time & Bluegrass repertoires. This tune is also known as (aka) the Teetotaler’s Reel. The origin of the word teetotaler is credited to Englishman Richard Turner, who, while stammering, or simply duplicating the first letter for emphasis as was commonly done, urged a temperance society in the early 1830’s to ensure “tee-total” abstinence from liquor.
