Annotation:Poca River Blues

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POCA RIVER BLUES. AKA and see "East Tennessee Blues." Old-Time, Country Rag. USA, West Virginia. An uncommon title for a fairly well-known tune, recorded by Clendenin, Kanawha Valley, West Virginia fiddler Reese Jarvis (1900-1967). Charles Wolfe (Mountains of Music, John Lilly ed., 1999) thinks Kanawha County, West Virginia, fiddler Clark Kessinger (1896-1975) may have learned the tune growing up in the Kanawha Valley. Kessinger re-recorded the tune in the 1970’s, although the liner notes to his album states that he learned “Poca River” from Jarvis. His rendition was much more “bluegrassy” by that time and featured a long pizzicato section. The Poca River is in West Virginia, near Charleston.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Brunswick 358 (78 RPM), Reese Jarvis (1928). County 733, "The Legend of Clark Kessinger" (learned from Reese Jarvis). Folkways 02337, “Clark Kessinger Live at Union Grove.”

See also listing at:
Hear Jarvis & Justice's 1928 recording on youtube.com [1]

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