“Sally Johnson,” “Done Gone,” and the Consolidation of the Texas Fiddle Repertoire and Style

In addition to the older tunes in his repertoire that were not destined to flourish in the nascent Texas style, Eck played an overlapping miscellany of inherited tunes that were already being funneled into the mainstream of Texas fiddling when he gathered them into his repertoire, such as “Sally Johnson.” His shapings of performances of such tunes anticipate modern performances to a degree. Finally, in the youngest part of his repertoire, Eck drew on bodies of tunes new or newly popular in his day, but that fit or could easily be shaped to fit traditional conventions for fiddle tunes. These were melodies that could join the fiddle mainstream immediately. This part of the chapter gives special attention to “Beaumont Rag” and to “Done Gone.” This last chapter about Eck’s music is followed by an extensive tune anthology.