Annotation:Uncle Joe

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UNCLE JOE. AKA and see "Cake's All Dough," "Mrs. MaLeod of Raasay," "Miss MacLeod's Reel (1)," “Miss McLeod’s Reel (1)/MacLeod’s Reel [1],” “Green Mountain (1),” “Walk Jaw Bone (1),” “Hop High Ladies (the Cakes All Dough),” “Did You Ever See the Devil Uncle Joe?,” “Billy Boy (2).” Old Time, Breakdown. USA; Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Another derivative of the British Isles’ “Miss McCloud’s Reel” and a relative of the folk song “Billy Boy” (Charming Billy). The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, from the playing of Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940’s.

Do ya wanta go to heaven Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe,
Do ya wanta go to heaven Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe,
Do ya wanta go to heaven Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe,
Where the sun don’t shine and the wind don’t blow. ... (Thede)

Don’t you want to go to heaven, Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe!
Don’t you want to go to heaven, by and by?
Don’t you want to go to heaven, Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe!
Where the ‘possum and the sweet potatoes grow up in the sky? ... (Ford)

Source for notated version: Rance Willhite (Jefferson County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; Doc Roberts (1897-1978, Ky.) [Titon].

Printed sources: Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; p. 47. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; p. 100. Titon (Old Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 162, p. 187.

Recorded sources: Conqueror 8136 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts (1931). County 412, “Fiddling Doc Roberts: Old Time Tunes” (1983. Reissue of the 1931 recording). County 510, The Red Fox Chasers (1967). Heritage 25, “Albert Hash and the Whitetop Mountain Band” (1979). Marimac AHS6, Melvin Wine – “Vintage Wine” (1993). Rounder 0058, John Patterson (et al) – “Old Originals” (1978).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]

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