Whiskey Before Breakfast reel

This tune has become a real staple of the Canadian prairie repertoire and is a core tune in the Metis fiddle culture of the northwest. It was made popular in Canada in the 1950s and 60s via the recordings of Andy DeJarlis, a Metis fiddler who enjoyed a recording an broadcasting carreer in Canada.
I think this tune shares a lot of genetic material with "Speed The Plow" and "Roxburgh Castle". I wonder which came first. Yeah, I know…who cares?
Ian

Hi Folks!

Here is a nice variation on the piece. Jeremy said he could not list it and suggested I post it as a comment:

|: D2 G2 GA B2|c2 d2 dc BA|G2 c2 cc B2|1 BB AB AG _GE :|2 BB AG _G2 =G2
|:g2 gg g2 gg|gf e2 d3 z| a2 aa a3a |b c’b a2 g2 z|g2 bg f2 af|e2 ge d2
z2|c2 ec B2
dB|AG _G2 =G2 :|

Enjoy,

Doc Lawlor

Yet another variation,

A,B,DE D2FG|AFBF A2EF|G2BG F2AF|1 EDEF EDB,A,:|2 EDEF D4|
|:F2d2 d2Bc|dcdA BAFA|e4 e2ef|gfed cABc|
d2fd c2ec|BABd BAFD|G2BG F2AF|EDEF D2z2:||

also enjoy!

trevor

Here’a varaition for the first two bars of the second part.
A2 B2 d2 cd|efed cBAc|. David Meredith

Deby Benton Grosjean plays this in a set with North Carolina Breakdown

I’m flumoxed regarding playing this tune on a standard D whistle - AFAIK, such whistles only go down to low D, and this tune *starts* on low A! I know it’s possible, as I’ve heard whistle players do this tune many a time - but I can’t get the hearing of it to come out right… Suggestions appreciated…

Jesse, that low A, start isn’t "required." Most people start on D. Try this on for size:

X: 1
T: Whiskey Before Breakfast
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: D
DEFG AFDF|ABAG FEDF|GABG FGAF|EDEF GFEG|
DEFG AFDF|ABAG FEDF|GABG FGAF|1 EDEF D2 FE:|2 EDEF D3 A||
FABc d2 dc|defg afdf|edef gfef|gfed cABc|
defd cdec|BABc dAFA|GABG FGAF|1 EDEF D3 A :|2 EDEF D2 FE||

And mind that there are lots of opportunities for rolls or crans in here.

Or play it in D on a low A whistle.

I learned that if you play this tune in church you call it "Spirits in the Morning" 🙂

here’s a flute or pipe friendly variation on the 1st part:
(the changes happen to harmonise as well)
FDFG A2 A2 | ABAG FEDF | G2 BG F2AF | EDEF GFEF |
EDFG A2 A2 | ABAG FEDF | G2 BG F2 AF | EDEF D4 :|


This tune has almost a stately gait, c’est assez posé, mesuré… more Classical or litterary, in other words, than the more flowing, off beat Irish style.

..more polite; for strutting or marching (as a figure of dance) rather than tapping about..

You have to hear Andy de Jarlis play this song. it is on youtube. Amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RZ25JBzQR8

play video

Does anyone know which version Reg Bouvette plays on Youtube?

I first heard this setting on a session, it can be also heard on this tutorial video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hTpIYDXkc8

play video

My friend taught me this version of Whiskey Before Breakfast. He found it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hTpIYDXkc8

play video

This seems to be the version most popular here in Sweden. I think it was taught on some folk music in the early 1980s and just spread.

After having several people try to convince me that this os an Irish tune, I did my research a couple years ago and found out that it is a Metis tune. Andy De Jarlis was the first person to publish it and it is unclear whether he actually wrote it, but that is a possibility. It does seem to have achieved some notoriety in Irish American circles.

Definitely not Scottish with that spelling!