Top of page

Audio Recording Old Joe Clark

Old Joe Clark

About this Item

Title

  • Old Joe Clark

Names

  • Jabbour, Alan (Transcriber)
  • Jabbour, Alan (Collector)
  • Reed, Henry, 1884-1968 (Performer)

Created / Published

  • Reed family home, Glen Lyn, Giles County, Virginia, August 27, 1966

Headings

  • -  Instrumental music
  • -  Fiddle tunes
  • -  Folk music--Appalachian Region
  • -  Breakdowns
  • -  Reels
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Music
  • -  Field recordings
  • -  United States -- Virginia -- Giles County -- Glen Lyn

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Music
  • Field recordings

Notes

  • -  Meter: 4/4
  • -  Strains: 2 (high-low, 4-4)
  • -  Stylistic features: Slurs in bowing.
  • -  Key: A
  • -  Compass: 11
  • -  Rendition: 1r-2r-1r-2r-1
  • -  Phrase Structure: ABAC QRQC (abac abde qrst urde)
  • -  Performed by Henry Reed, fiddle.
  • -  Spoken: ALAN JABBOUR: That's it.
  • -  Recording chronology: 060
  • -  Duration: 1 minute, 9 seconds
  • -  "Old Joe Clark" seems, from the vantage point of the later twentieth century, to be one of the most widely known of all Southern fiddle tunes. Indeed, it is one of those Southern tunes that has to a degree become part of the national repertory. One may hear it in bluegrass jam sessions, old-time fiddle sessions, and country dances throughout the United States. But though it may date back into the nineteenth century, one cannot find sets older than the turn of the century. It is possible that it circulated first in children's tradition and in play-parties--which might account for its playful and sometimes outlandish verses--then erupted into the fiddle and banjo world. Henry Reed's set shares with most old-time fiddlers from the Upper South the movement of the melody to the high octave (A) by the third phrase of the high strain, and the drop of the melody to the lower dominant (E) in the second phrase of the low strain.For other song and instrumental sets, compare Perrow, "Songs and Rhymes from the South," Journal of American Folklore 25, p. 152 ("sung by E. Tenn. Whites, 1905"); Brown, The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore vol. 5, pp. 65-66 (#89 and 990); Bennett, "A Study in Fiddle Tunes from Western North Carolina," p. 72, played by Fiddlin' Bill Hensley, near Asheville, North Carolina; Sharp, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, vol. 2, 259 (#183), Beechgrove, Virginia; Thede, The Fiddle Book, pp. 28-29; Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs, p. 277; Thomas, Devil's Ditties, pp. 106-107. Additional discussion and citations may be found with a Louisiana set in American Fiddle Tunes (Library of Congress, AFS L62).

Medium

  • Audio tape

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1967/007: AFS 13035B04

Source Collection

  • Alan Jabbour duplication project, part 1

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is not aware of any U.S. copyright protection (see Title 17, U.S.C.) or any other restrictions in the material in this collection, except as noted below. Users should keep in mind that the Library of Congress is providing access to these materials strictly for educational and research purposes. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or other holders of rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. See our Legal Notices for additional information and restrictions.

The Center asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain uses of this material.

Photographs in this collection produced by Carl Fleischhauer, Karen Singer Jabbour, and Kit Olson are reproduced here with their permission. Mr. Fleischhauer does not object to additional use of the photos he created provided he is credited as the photographer. Persons contemplating other kinds of uses or use of the other photographers' work should contact the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Credit line

Please cite the source collection title, collection number, and repository, for example:

Alan Jabbour duplication project, part 1 (AFC 1967/007), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Alan Jabbour duplication project, part 2 (AFC 1969/008), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Fiddle tunes of the old frontier: the Henry Reed collection online presentation (AFC 1999/016), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Jabbour, Alan, Alan Jabbour, and Henry Reed. Old Joe Clark. Reed family home, Glen Lyn, Giles County, Virginia, 1966. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000130/.

APA citation style:

Jabbour, A., Jabbour, A. & Reed, H. (1966) Old Joe Clark. Reed family home, Glen Lyn, Giles County, Virginia. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000130/.

MLA citation style:

Jabbour, Alan, Alan Jabbour, and Henry Reed. Old Joe Clark. Reed family home, Glen Lyn, Giles County, Virginia, 1966. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000130/>.