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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=Silver Spire.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Silver Spire.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=Killoran.jpg
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=The Silver Spire
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Silver_Spire_(The)
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
 |f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/musiqueaneuf Musique à Neuf]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes=Paddy Killoran.
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=The "Silver Spire" title for the tune developed sometime in the intervening years between then and Sligo fiddler Paddy Killoran's 1930 recording of the melody with the new title.
+|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/musiqueaneuf/silver-spire Soundcloud]
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Silver_Spire_(The) | '''The Silver Spire''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-AKA and see “[[Bennett's Favorite]],” "[[Great Eastern Reel]]," "[[Grondeuse (1) (La)]]," "[[John Brennan's Reel (1)]]," "Nelson's Chase]]," "[[Scups Come]]." Irish, Reel (whole or cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (most versions): AA'BB' (Taylor/Crack). The reel was printed by blackface minstrel banjoist James Buckley in 1860 as "[[Bennett's Favorite]]" and in '''Ryan's Mammoth Collection''' (1883) as "[[Great Eastern Reel]]." Nearly simultaneously with the '''Ryan's Mammoth''' issue, the tune was published under the title "[[Scups Come]]" in Laybourn's '''Köhlers' Violin Repository Book 2''' (1881-1885).  All these were predated by its entry into Book 1 (1851, p. 7) of the music manuscript collection of Bellport, Long Island, shipbuilder and fiddler [[biography:Isaac Homan | ]], who called it "[[Nelson's Chase]]."
+Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).
-<br>
-<br>
-The "Silver Spire" title for the tune developed sometime in the intervening years between then and Sligo fiddler Paddy Killoran's 1930 recording of the melody with the new title. Donegal fiddler Tommy Peoples’ and Sligo fiddler Paddy Kiloran (1904-1965, recorded in the early 1930's in a medley paired with "[[Farrell O'Gara]]") versions are highly regarded, as is that of the Ballinakill Ceili Band (recorded on a 78 RPM) in which the melody is played as a hornpipe. Since no earlier record of the name “Silver Spire” occurs earlier than 1931 Killoran recording, it may be speculated that it was a tune that had become detached from its name, and the Killoran, Sweeney or the record company decided to call it after the then-current New York City engineering marvel, The Empire State Building, completed that same year, or its rival skyscraper the Chrysler Building, completed in 1930 (the Chrysler even has a silver spire adorning its top). Other suggestions are that the title is a corruption of the similar title of another Irish reel, “[[Silver Spear (The)]],” which migrated to the older “Great Eastern” tune.
+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."
 }}