“The Third Of July" comes from the playing of The Red Brush Rowdies. They recorded this tune in 1928 on the Paramount label. The composer is listed as “A. Lamoore,” which is one of the known pseudonyms of Paramount’s Recording Manager, Aletha Dickerson. The main players in the Rowdies were Frank Welling (1900-1957) and John McGhee (1882-1945), both from Huntington, WV. Welling and McGhee were best known for their Country and Gospel recordings, cutting hundreds of sides starting in 1927. A lot of their non-religious material came out under the The Red Brush Rowdies name, whose sound has been described as an early attempt to capitalize on the popular record category of country/hillbilly music. Both Welling and McGhee also released sides under a variety of other names. The fiddler on this recording is uncredited, but was likely Miller Wikel, who often recorded with the band; the banjo artist is unknown.

The tune is played at a very quick pace, in the key of G. Here is an mp3 of the Red Brush Rowdies' original recording of “The Third Of July” from Slippery Hill. Chirps Smith recorded this tune in the key of F. His transcription (but in the key of G) is in the slider deck photos below. Slippery Hill also found the same melody titled as “The Cornshucker’s Frolic” by "Calloway's West Virginia Mountaineers." This recording can be found on a 1999 compilation album of artists from the 1920’s and 30’s. You can listen to it on Spotify here.

Want more "July" tunes?

Camp Meeting On The Fourth Of July - (circa 19th century)

Fourth Of July At A Country Fair - The Georgia Yellow Hammers (1927)

Fourth Of July - Estill Bingham (recorded 1989)

A Morning In July - Frank Quinn (1925)