Old-Time TOTW

Old-Time TOTW #373 is Number Nine from the playing of Oklahoma fiddler Earl Perkins and is found in The Fiddle Book by Marion Thede.

Frances Marion Draughon (11 November 1903 -17 December 1998) was born in Davis, OK, and moved with her family to Norman, OK. She was the daughter of James Draughon (1873-1939) and Lena Pearl Erdwurm (1879-1985). James was born in TN and Lena was born in TX. Lena was a piano teacher, and went to college. This was unusual for a woman in those days and is quite notable.

Marion went to OU to study music in the fall of 1918 at the age of 14/15. She loved writing and took many English and writing courses. At age 18 (Spring 1922) she graduated, but lacked 14 hours for a BA. She married Johnston Murray (1902-1974) on 16 June 1923. They moved to South America in 1923/24 and lived in a colony. Marion returned to OK with her infant son in 1927. Johnston and Marion had grown apart, and did not come with them. She began teaching at a consolidated school in Amorita, OK.

It was there that she became enamored with cross tuned fiddles and began collecting tunes in earnest. By 1937 she was living in Shawnee, OK, and had married a man whose last name was Buchanan. A 1937 newspaper article states her many musical accomplishments and mentions that she had written a book on tunes that was to be published by University Press (Norman, OK). Apparently, it was never published. It would appear that had Marion's book been published at this time, it would have been the first book of its kind to focus exclusively on documenting American fiddle tunes and their sources with notation of each tune.

The 1940 Census lists Marion as head of household, and it is not clear what happened to Mr. Buchanan. By 1949, she had married George Henry Unger (1892-1952). He was a professional violinist, but apparently fiddled because his playing of the Chicken Reel is included in The Fiddle Book. The next 3 selections, including Mississippi Sawyer, are credited to Marion Unger. She would later marry Fred Thede and have her book of tunes published by Oak Publications as The Fiddle Book in 1967.

In addition to a much-sought after lecturer, Ms. Thede's list of accomplishments was great and included: fiddle contest judge, supervisor of the Federal Music Project (Shawnee, OK), member of the American Federation of Musicians, violinist and violist with the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa Philharmonic Symphony, and summer Lyric Theater Orchestra; she was on the national board of advisors for the national Folk Festival Association (Washington, D. C.), member of the Oklahoma Writers Association, organizer and head of the Oklahoma Folk Council; she held membership in the International Folk Music Council (London, England), the International Musicological Council (Basle, Switzerland), American Folklore Society, American String Teachers, Music Education National Conference, Mu Phi Epsilon, and Alpha Gamma Delta.

The above information comes from several sources, including public documents, The Fiddle Book, and newspaper articles. I'd like to thank Brad Leftwich and Cheryl Webber for sharing newspaper articles with me.

Thede relates that Engine Number Nine was originally built and used in the 1870s on the Rock Island Railway. According to Earl Perkins, the tune originated between 1870 and 1880. Interestingly, Kentucky fiddler Alva Greene (1894-1976) played the same tune and also called it “Number Nine.” Greene said he learned it from his father, Beldon Greene (1873-1948). Traditional Tune Archive seems convinced that the tune must have been in Kentucky before it was in Oklahoma, and while it is often the case that many tunes did travel from the eastern U.S. to the western U.S., the argument is weak. TTA states that since Greene’s father played the tune, it probably was in Kentucky first. They do not give Greene’s father’s birth year. I researched him and found he was born in 1873, so if Perkins was correct about the dating of the tune, that proves nothing.

You will find more interesting information about Number Nine in my upcoming book.

Joining me are friends Stephen Rapp on banjo (Kent, OH), Mark McNulty on guitar (Oberlin, OH), and Michael Seiser on bass (Cleveland, OH).

My book, Marion Thede and the Fiddlers of Oklahoma: The Fiddle Book, The Musicians and Their Tunes will be released soon and is now available for preorder from McFarland & Company: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ma...

Once the book is released, I plan to do a series of house concerts of Oklahoma tunes which will include book signings and jams. Please contact me at [email protected] if you are interested in hosting such an event.

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