Annotation:Mandolin King Rag

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MANDOLIN KING RAG. Old-Time, Country Rag. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). Composer Larry Hensley (1912-1973), of Monarck, Virginia, was the mandolin and guitar player for the group Walker's Corbin Ramblers, a group from Corbin, Kentucky, led by John V. Walker (1891-1980), an L&N Railroad fireman. Charles Wolfe (Kentucky Country, 1996, p. 40) calls Hensley "a skilled an innovative virtuoso who was among the first in a long line of Kentucky mandolin and guitar soloists." His recording partner for "Mandolin King Rag" was Mack Taylor, also a guitar and mandolin player with Walker's Corbin Ramblers, who later in life lived in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. A more modern version of the rag was later recorded by the Even Dozen Jug Band, featuring David Grisman on mandolin.

Walker's Corbin Ramblers. Hensley and Taylor are on right, top and bottom

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Vocalion 02640 (78 RPM), Hensley & Taylor (1934. Recorded NYC).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Hensley & Taylor's 1934 recording at Slippery Hill [2] and Juneberry 78's [3]

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