Annotation:Peacock Rag

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PEACOCK RAG. AKA and see "Starlight Clog," "Nightingale (2) (The)," "Mason-Dixon Schottische (The)," "Parkersburg Landing," "Limber Neck Blues." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Country Blues or Rag. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Lowinger): AABB (Brody, Christeson, Phillips): AA’BB’ (Beisswenger & McCann, Silberberg). Popularized by, and often attributed to, Arthur Smith [1] (Tenn.) {1929-30}.

Fiddlin' Arthur Smith

According to a story told by Jim Nelson (Fiddle-L 4.1.10) a cousin of Smith’s, a fiddler by the name of Clay Smith (Fairview Heights, Ill., although originally from middle Tennessee), learned the tune from the playing of Wade Ray, a popular radio fiddler on KMOX in St. Louis in the 1930s and 40s. Clay told Nelson that he played the tune for Arthur Smith at a family get-together back in Tennessee, and that soon after that Smith recorded it for Bluebird Records. Originally “Peacock Rag” may have been a turn of the century ragtime composition which made its way into the old-time repertoire (Dr. Charles Wolfe/B. Poss). East Kentucky fiddler Ed Hayley knew the tune as "Parkersburg Landing," while Mississippi musicians Narmour and Smith recorded it as "Limber Neck Blues."

Source for notated version: Chubby Wise [Brody]: Gus Vandergriff (Pulaski County, Missouri) [Christeson]; Glenn Rickman (1901-1982, Hurley, Missouri) [Beisswenger & McCann].

Printed sources: Beisswenger & McCann (Ozarks Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 112. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; p. 215. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; p. 152. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; p. 24. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2), 1995; p. 97. Silberberg (93 Tunes I Didn’t Learn at the Tractor Tavern), 2004; p. 34.

Recorded sources: American Heritage 1, Herman Johnson - "Champion Fiddling." County 547, Arthur Smith - "Fiddlin' Arthur Smith and His Dixie-Liners, vol. 2" (1978). Folkways Records FW31007, The McGee Brothers and Arthur Smith - "Milk 'Em in the Evening Blues" (1968). Gusto 104, Chubby Wise - "30 Fiddler's Greatest Hits." Montgomery Ward 8892 (78 RPM), Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners (1940). New World NW 226, Arthur Smith - "That’s My Rabbit, My Dog Caught It: Traditional Southern Instrumental Styles" (1978).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear Arthur Smith & the Dixieliners' recording on youtube.com [3]

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