I just uploaded an MP3 of me playing the tune Old Joe Clark on a Clarke original.
Old](http://free.gentle.org/users/gospelhymns/Joeclark.mp3%22%3EOld) Joe Clark MP3
Here’s a couple of verses to that song that I learned back in good old hootenanny times.
Old Joe Clark’s a fine old man,
Tell you the reason why,
He keeps good liquor round his house,
Good old rock and rye.
I wouldn’t marry that old school teacher,
Tell you the reason why,
She blows her nose on old corn bread
and calls it punkin pie.
Cho:
Fare you well Old Joe Clark
Fare you well I say,
I’d follow you ten thousand miles
to hear your banjo play.
Steve
Yep. That’s about how the verses go.
Here’s another MP3 I made.
MP3</a](http://free.gentle.org/users/gospel/Hehideth.mp3">MP3</a)>
Walden (#41)
Walden is blue at one time and green at another, even from the same point of view. Lying between the earth and the heavens, it partakes of the color of both. —Thoreau
[ This Message was edited by: walden on 2002-07-09 12:01 ]
Walden, now that you’ve got the microphone problem fixed, you should submit your tunes to Tony Higgins whistletunes@hotmail.com
for posting on the Clips & Snips page http://nwparalegal.com/clipssnip/
Hey, that’s a very haunting type of Old Joe Clark!! I can just see his ghost fading over the hill. I like it. Nothing like the version I grew up with but that’s the beauty of true folk music- it wraps itself around to be whatever folks want it to be- truly of the people.
Here’s a few of the words to this tune that I grew up with in sw VA- (I’ve never heard the words posted above, again the beauty of folk music.)
Old Joe Clark was a fine old man
washed his feet in the fryin’ pan
combed his hair with a wagon wheel
died with a toothache in his heel.
Fair thee well ole Joe Clark
fair thee well I’m gone,
fair thee well ole Joe Clark,
gotta be movin’ on.
This was always played a “music makins” fast, for dancing. Flatfootin’.
My Dad use to play his guitar and sing this to us when we were little, but I can’t remember any more of the words… maybe my brother can.
[ This Message was edited by: cowtime on 2002-07-06 10:02 ]
[ This Message was edited by: cowtime on 2002-07-06 10:04 ]
On 2002-07-06 10:00, cowtime wrote:
Old Joe Clark was a fine old man
washed his feet in the fryin’ pan
combed his hair with a wagon wheel
died with a toothache in his heel.
I thought that was Old Dan Tucker! Were there two people who died with a toothache in their heels?
Obviously the whistle has a potential in old time music that’s not fully realized. I have a tape of Chris Norman playing Liberty on whistle and Bitter Creek on flute.
Steve
Obviously the whistle has a potential in old time music that’s not fully realized. I have a tape of Chris Norman playing Liberty on whistle and Bitter Creek on flute.
Steve
Hey, Steve, I play Old Timey on the whistles all the time, seems to me most Old Timey is a direct descendent of Celtic, so the transition is easy…you should hear “Cripple Creek” with bodhran and whistle with a banjo and mandolin and fiddle and guitar! Sounds great. You can vamp a whistle like a mando, and scamper like a fiddle…the bodhran just makes it fantastic!
They are so closely related, making the transition was a cakewalk! Mostly I play fiddle, mando parts…
Waiting for the Mothership…
[ This Message was edited by: Anna Martinez on 2002-07-06 10:16 ]
Hey, Steve, I play Old Timey on the whistles all the time, seems to me most Old Timey is a direct descendent of Celtic, so the transition is easy…you should hear “Cripple Creek” with bodhran and whistle with a banjo and mandolin and fiddle and guitar!
I’ve tried playing old time stuff on the whistle but I can’t say I’ve been very successful. Several years ago Mike Seeger put out an album called Fresh Oldtime Music or something like that. I don’t really care for a lot of stuff on the album but there’s one really nice track with a deep sounding fretless banjo and whistle and maybe percussion of some sort. The tune is Boatman and it’s certainly my favorite on the album. The whistle goes amazingly well with the fretless banjo.
Steve
You are RIGHT!!! Old Dan Tucker. I guess that’s what happens when I’m trying to do to many things at once (winery paperwork,horrible! getting ready to leave tomorrow for a week on drumming lessons at the North American Academy of Piping and Druming, plus moved a daughter out on her own last week..)oh well…
Yeah, there’s several of the same verses between them.
Anna Martinez wrote:
Hey, Steve, I play Old Timey on the whistles all the time, seems to me most Old Timey is a direct descendent of Celtic, so the transition is easy…you should hear “Cripple Creek” with bodhran and whistle with a banjo and mandolin and fiddle and guitar! Sounds great. You can vamp a whistle like a mando, and scamper like a fiddle…the bodhran just makes it fantastic!
They are so closely related, making the transition was a cakewalk! Mostly I play fiddle, mando parts…
Here’s a rather Old Timey piece. I’m playing on Clarke tinwhistle, harmonica, and bouzouki.
Walden](http://free.gentle.org/users/gospelhymns/Joitglw.mp3%22%3EWalden) MP3
Walden what key are you playing Old Joe Clark in? I’m at work at the reference desk and can’t open sound files here.
I found the tune at JC’s.
This is interesting, because earlier this afternoon I was looking for another song and saw Old Joe Clark in one of the books, Iwas diving into. Wierd!
MarkB
It was on a D whistle. I picked up the same whistle and played it, and I was in G major. But it seems like I may have been in E minor when I recorded this.
[/quote]
I’ve tried playing old time stuff on the whistle but I can’t say I’ve been very successful. Several years ago Mike Seeger put out an album called Fresh Oldtime Music or something like that. I don’t really care for a lot of stuff on the album but there’s one really nice track with a deep sounding fretless banjo and whistle and maybe percussion of some sort. The tune is Boatman and it’s certainly my favorite on the album. The whistle goes amazingly well with the fretless banjo.
Steve
[/quote]
Hmmm…The Boatmen. I wonder if it is the same one that has words to it. Since you mentioned tune? 
I never thought about playing whistle to that one. The dulcimer club plays it all the time. I will need to give it a go.
Laura
On 2002-07-21 08:32, hillfolk22 wrote:
Hmmm…The Boatmen. I wonder if it is the same one that has words to it. Since you mentioned tune?
I never thought about playing whistle to that one. The dulcimer club plays it all the time. I will need to give it a go.
Laura
[/quote]
I think it is but I don’t know exactly what your dulcimer club plays.
Hi Ho boatman row
Rowin’ down the river on the O-hi-o
It’s a minstrel song. Be sure and get a fretless banjo to go along with it!
Yesterday I heard for the first time a whistle played in a more-or-less authentic bluegrass context at a folk festival. It came off better than I predicted. Quite nice, actually. It was a gospel number. One of those things where everyone on the stage pitches in to do the final number.
Steve
Hey Steve,
Yes, that is the same one.
We like playing and singing it, well, cause, it mentions the O-Hi-O.
A fret-less banjo would be sweet. Are they a wee bit quieter (is that a word? quieter?) then the standard bluegrass banjo?
The club also plays Old Joe Clark, not on a Clarke, no one owns one. It will have to be on a susato or chieftain.
Laura
On 2002-07-22 07:40, hillfolk22 wrote:
Hey Steve,Yes, that is the same one.
We like playing and singing it, well, cause, it mentions the O-Hi-O.A fret-less banjo would be sweet. Are they a wee bit quieter (is that a word? quieter?) then the standard bluegrass banjo?
Laura
Yes, a fretless banjo would be quieter than a bluegrass banjo. A fretless banjo would very probably be an open back banjo. Bluegrassers prefer resonators on their banjos and that makes them louder. Further, the fretless would likely be played clawhammer style without any picks. Picks also make the banjo louder. For a more or less authentic minstrel sound the fretless might also have gut (or nylon) strings and a skin head. I think the banjo on the recording I was talking about had both of these. There is also some nice percussion on the recording.
Steve
I wonder how difficult a fretless banjo would be to play.
http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/banjo.htm
I found this site interesting.
Puts me in mind of the pop can one string instruments.