Annotation:Home Brew Rag (1)

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HOME BREW RAG [1]. Old-Time, Country Rag. USA; north Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri. F Major (Phillips/1995): F Major ('A' part) & B Flat Major ('B' part) {Beisswenger & McCann, Phillips/1989}. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Phillips/1995): AB (Beisswenger & McCann, Phillips/1989). Most sources trace to Lowe Stokes (1898-1983), a north Georgia fiddler who was a member of the famous Skillet Lickers but who also fronted his own bands and made recordings in his own name. "Home Brew Rag" was originally recorded in Atlanta on Halloween, 1927, and was (with "Unexplained Blues") his first recording as leader, although it featured a jazzy clarinet played by Stranger Malone (his group the North Georgians also included Clayton McMichen and Hoke Rice). Beside Lowe Stokes, Gutherie Meade (Country Music Sources, 2002) finds early 78 RPM recordings of the tune by the McClung Brothers & Cleve Chaffin (1929), and by Kentucky fiddler Doc Roberts (1934). Missouri fiddler H.K. Silvey called the tune "Fruit Jar Rag." The are lyrics to the melody (sung by the Roanoke String Band, for one), that begin:

Well, I've never been drunk but about one time,
And it think it was on home brew;
If you drink any brew yourself,
You know just what it'll do.
Think I'll go home now
And make me a barrel or two.
Ick-poo, home brew,
You know just what it'll do.

Source for notated version: Lowe Stokes and His North Georgians [Phillips/1995]; H.K. Silvey (b. 1924, late of Theodosia, Mo.), who had it from his uncle, Jess Silvey, who learned it from Stokes' recording [Beisswenger & McCann].

Printed sources: Beisswenger & McCann (Ozark Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 129. The Devil's Box, Winter, 1983; p. 24. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; p. 22. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; p. 64.

Recorded sources: Columbia 15241-D (78 RPM), Lowe Stokes and His North Georgians (1927). Document DOCD 8045, "Lowe Stokes, vol. 1: 1927-1930" (reissue). Gennett 7240 (78 RPM), 1930, Tweedy Brothers (three W.Va. brothers, Charles, Harry, and George, who played twin fiddles and piano). OKeh 45393 (78 RPM), Roanoke String Band (1929). Rounder 0437, H.K. Silvey - "Traditional Fiddle Music of the Ozarks, vol. 3: Down in the Border Counties" (2000. Various artists).

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

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