Template:Pagina principale/Vetrina: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:17, 4 October 2024

Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).

According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life. He had worked most of his life for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Clarksburg, prior to retiring in 1972 to his home in Braxton County, West Virginia.

He was a regular visitor during his working years to his homeplace on the Elk River, and was witness to the planning and construction of the Sutton Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river during the 1950's and 1960's.

Unfortunately, this resulted in the flooding of his boyhood home and the surrounding area, despite the efforts of himself and neighbors to forestall the project through a lobbyist. He refused the government's initial offer for his land (they didn't offer him anything for his house), and took the case to court.

He was able to gain a marked increase in the money he eventually was paid through this process, although he had to pay legal fees out of his pocket. He stayed in his Elk River homestead while the dam was being constructed, even though most of his neighbors had already left. Workmen blocked the roads in and out of the area, but Carpenter found alternate routes until they too were closed off.

"I was the last person out of there," he said," I went ahead then and tore the old place town and brought it up here. Part of its in this house." Of the tune, he remarked: "I was sittin' here one day, an' I had the blues. I reckon as bad as anybody could, thinkin' about my old homeplace up on the Elk River. I started sawin' on the fiddle an' that's what I came up with."

...more at: Elk River Blues - full Score(s) and Annotations

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{SheetMusic
-|f_track=Cader Idris.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Caret Idris.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=JohnParry.png
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=Sweet Jenny Jones
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Sweet Jenny Jones
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
 |f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/andrewcampling Andrew Campling]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes=Photo of John Parry, c. 1825 - commonly known by his bardic name Bardd Alaw
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=Parry did much to promote and popularize Welsh music in England in both music hall and fashionable society settings, and he was very successful with this air which was immensely popular in 19th century England.
+|f_caption=According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life.
-|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/andrewcampling/cader-idris Soundcloud]
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Sweet Jenny Jones | '''Sweet Jenny Jones''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-The Jenny Jones of the title was said to have been a dairymaid at Pontblyddin Farm, who fell in love with a ploughman named Edward Morgan. Edward went to sea and spent twenty years in the Navy, however, he returned to marry Jenny.
+Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).
-The story entranced actor Charles James Mathews, who visited Wales around 1825 and actually met the Morgans and heard their story first-hand. During his trip he heard a harper play Parry’s melody in the hotel he was staying at in Llangollen, and memorized it, not knowing who composed it.
+According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life. He had worked most of his life for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Clarksburg, prior to retiring in 1972 to his home in Braxton County, West Virginia.
-He was inspired to write a song about the Morgans to the melody, called “Song of Jenny Jones and Ned Morgan,” and performed it for friends in London when he returned. At the end of the evening’s entertainment an elderly gentleman approached him and claimed it was he who originally wrote the tune.
+He was a regular visitor during his working years to his homeplace on the Elk River, and was witness to the planning and construction of the Sutton Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river during the 1950's and 1960's.
-It was called “Cader Idris,” the old man—Bardd Alaw himself—said, and it had won him a prize at the 1804 Eisteddfod. Mathews continued to perform the song which caught on immediately. It struck a romantic chord, and was popular for nearly two decades, enough to generate other ‘Jenny Jones’ songs and parodies.
+Unfortunately, this resulted in the flooding of his boyhood home and the surrounding area, despite the efforts of himself and neighbors to forestall the project through a lobbyist. He refused the government's initial offer for his land (they didn't offer him anything for his house), and took the case to court.
-Figures of Jenny Jones were fashioned in chinaware, horse-brasses, and other items.
+He was able to gain a marked increase in the money he eventually was paid through this process, although he had to pay legal fees out of his pocket. He stayed in his Elk River homestead while the dam was being constructed, even though most of his neighbors had already left.  Workmen blocked the roads in and out of the area, but Carpenter found alternate routes until they too were closed off.
+"I was the last person out of there," he said," I went ahead then and tore the old place town and brought it up here. Part of its in this house." Of the tune, he remarked: "I was sittin' here one day, an' I had the blues. I reckon as bad as anybody could, thinkin' about my old homeplace up on the Elk River. I started sawin' on the fiddle an' that's what I came up with."
 }}