Midway Fair | 1 year ago

One of my favorite Tim O'Brien songs, from his Two Journeys album, though I haven't played it in a very long time. I do it pretty close to his original, but with slightly more of a straight/"march" feel (O'Brien's sounds more like a waltz to me than a slowed down jig). Way back a long time ago when I first learned it I didn't learn how to play the garryowen jig part, so I sat myself down yesterday and worked it out by ear.

Unfortunately, I also forgot to change the lyrics for the second line on the last chorus (I'm haunted by the garryowen/drums are beating, bugles blowing), and didn't notice until I was already set up to do the mandolin part (which I did last). Oh well!

Some historical notes:
The first verse seems to hint that the native Americans called the place Little Bighorn, but that was the Americans' name for the river; it's the Battle of the Greasy Grass to the Lakota and Plains Indians who fought in the battle.

I think it's pretty obvious that O'Brien isn't celebrating Custer here, but it's worth noting that when I was growing up, even though my history teachers were critical of the westward expansion, there was still a bit of lionization of Custer in textbooks. He was controversial in his own time and his widow was at least partially responsible for turning him into something of a hero for people who probably didn't reflect too deeply or wisely on what the U.S. did to indigenous peoples.

One of the ultimate outcomes of the war that the battle was part of was that the Sioux lost the Black Hills. A 1980 supreme court decision acknowledged that the U.S. took the land without "just compensation" and offered money. The tribe refused the money and asked for the land back.

Mics: DIY 251 & 47. They're actually in cardiod for the guitar and banjo, and then the 251 was switched to omni for the mandolin. I tried a couple different ways to get stereo but ultimately I'm not actually playing all three parts at the same time so I just did what sounded better.
Guitar: Koa Larrivee
Banjo: Gold Tone CC-Carlin
Mandolin: Weber Bitterroot
ART MPA Pro II - stereo 1176 - Fireface UCX - Logic
Video: Sony zv-1, Final Cut