Whiskey Before Breakfast is a really interesting song. In my humble opinion, it is best done as an instrumental. In fact many people don't even know that there are words to the song, but in fact almost all fiddle tunes from the Scotch irish tradition do have words.
Here is a version from the Appalachian String Project, which was played at the Worley Gardner Festival:
I've been trying to do some research on the songs we play at the Wednesday Night Jam at the West Virginia Brewing Company in beautiful downtown Morgantown, but in this case, the lyrics take bad to a whole new level. The lyrics are nothing more than a joyous celebration of hard core alcoholism.
Saints alive, angels protect us
We've been drinking whiskey before breakfast!
The complete lyrics are appended below, just for completeness, but if ever there was a song that begged to be an instrumental, this is definitely it!
The chord progression goes something like this (and thanks to Bob Shank for clarifying the B part for us)
D D GD A
D D GD AD
D D Em A7
DA GD GD AD
The B part has different variations in different parts of the country, and in particular some folks substitute a D chord for the E minor and A7. In fact it might be that some of us play D during the jam.
But underneath all this, there is a very simple tune. In fact the A part starts with just the scale in the key of D: (do re mi fa so, or 1 2 3 4 5 if you prefer the Nashville notation). Then coming down in the B part, you can actually play the whole
scale backwards (do ti la so fa me re do, or 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1). So it can be very simple to play, and even a novice can do it.
Alternatively, you can crosspick the chords and it can become very sophisticated. Norman Blake's Youtube video shows one way (sorry I can't imbed this video in the blog; you have to cut and paste the link in your browser):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYau7QfiiuM
(By the way, if you want to play along with him, he is actually in the key of E-flat (finger postions in C, with the capo on the third fret).
I used to try to copy a guitarist's son note for note, but Norman Blake cured me of that. One, he's too good to opy. Two, Norman teaches some basic crosspicking licks that can be used with any chord and any song. So you can crosspick on the bass strings, or treble strings, or whichever strings you want as long as the chord position is right. It doesn't have to be the exact same notes that Norman plays.
Anyway, no one can ever sound exactly like Norman because he is about the cleanest guitar picker in the universe, and the rest of us are mere mortals.
But more than just the notes that are played, there are a wide range of sounds that can go with this song. I would say that Norman's version is a very elegant, dignified version.
On the other hand, when the lyrics are used, the song takes on a light-hearted feeling. Check out this version from some little kids:
(Link lost, sorrry)
And here is a very clean version from Japan. "Japanese Bluegrass Band" is actually the name of the group. That confused me for about a year, trying to find the name of the group.
In Morgantown, lead fiddler Keith McManus usually plays this song like his hair is on fire. It's a very powerful version, not at all like the other two. As far as I know, however, there are no recordings of this song, so to hear it you'll just have to come down to the Brew Pub some Wednesday night.
In the meantime, here are the lyrics, for those who are curious, although in all honesty my life will be just as complete if I never hear them again....
Early one morning before the sun could shine I was walkin' down the street, not feelin' so fine I saw two old men with a bottle between' em And this is the song that I heard them singin'
Lord protect us, Saints preserve us We been drinkin' whiskey 'fore breakfast I passed by the steps where they were a' sittin' I couldn't believe how drunk they were gettin' I said "Old men you been drinkn' long?" "Long enough to be singin' this song" They handed me a bottle, said, "Take a little sip" And it felt so good, I just couldn't quit So I took a little more, next thing I knew There were three of us sittin' there singin' this tune One by one everybody in town Heard our ruckus and they all came down Pretty soon all the streets were a-ringin' With the sound of the whole town laughin' and singin'Whiskey before Breakfast, Norman Blake
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