Vodka Before Breakfast: A Song History

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"Vodka Before Breakfast" is a minor-key reworking of a familiar tune: the song list for Dana Gruber's book Deja-New gives it the subtitle "Whiskey Before Breakfast In E Minor."[1] Published by Fingers Of Steel, Deja-New presents classic and traditional melodies given a fresh twist, arranged for mountain dulcimer, with guitar chords as an option.[1] The tune is one of several in the book that move a well-known piece into E minor under a new name, alongside "Soldier's Lament" (from "Soldier's Joy"), "Sourwood Blossom" (from "Wildwood Flower") and "Moscow Stockade Blues" (from "Columbus Stockade Blues").[1]

Painting of a woman in a black dress standing at a tea table with a metal urn.

James Tissot, Tea, oil on wood, 1872. Shown in fun for its tea table; it has no connection to the tune.

The Traditional Tune Archive describes "Whiskey Before Breakfast" as a D-major reel commonly attributed to Andy DeJarlis (1914-1975), a Manitoba fiddler and composer, a credit it suggests probably rests on his copyrighted arrangement; his 1957 collection Canadian Fiddle Tunes from Red River Valley names him as arranger only.[2] Gruber and her husband, Hank, came across the mountain dulcimer at an Appalachian festival in Cincinnati in 1997 and have played together as an instrumental acoustic duo since then.[3]

Our book that contains the song "Vodka Before Breakfast"

Sources

  1. Fingers Of Steel: "Dana Gruber, Deja-New".
  2. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Whiskey before Breakfast".
  3. DulcimerDownloads: "Dana Gruber".
  4. Image: James Tissot, Tea, oil on wood, 1872. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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