Annotation:L and N Rag

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L & N RAG. AKA and see "Sleeping Lulu." Old-Time, Country Rag. USA, Kentucky. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (Phillips). Alex Hood and the Railroad Boys (who recorded the tune in 1930) came from Corbin, Kentucky, an eastern Kentucky railroad hub where many people worked for the lines--in this case the Lousiville & Nashville (L&N) line. Another old-time group, Walker's Corbin Ramblers also made Corbin home at the time (in fact, mandolin player John Walker was a member of both groups). The "L & N Rag" featured the playing of Emory Mills on fiddle, while banjoist Alex Hood and Vocalion A & R man Bill Brown provide commentary on Corbin:

Brown: Old Alex Hood and his Railroad Boys, playing that L&N Rag.

Hood: Yeah, boy. They just down from Corbin.

Brown: That's a good place to be away from, Corbin.

Hood: All right, step on it there now, Alex.

Brown: When I say 'away from Corbin', I mean it's a pretty good town after all. We like it, whether the rest of you folks do or not.

The pair go on to talk about the railroads in Corbin, the L&N "and that old Southland too."

Sources for notated versions: Bill Christopherson & the Lazy Aces (Conn.) [Phillips]; Greg Canote (Seattle) [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; p. 74. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 86.

Recorded sources: Cartunes 105, Bruce Molsky and Bob Carlin - "Take Me as I Am" (2004. Sourced to Alex Hood). County 531, Alex Hood & his Railroad Boys - "Old Time String Band Classics, 1927-1933" (1975). Marimac 9008, The Lazy Aces - "Still Lazy After All These Years" (1986. Learned from the Alex Hood & his Railroad Boys recording). Vocalion 5463 (78 RPM), Alex Hood and the Railroad Boys (1930).

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

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