Annotation:White River Stomp
X:1 T:White River Stomp S:Jack Cawley's Oklahoma Ridge Runners M:C| L:1/8 D:Victor 23521 (78 RPM), Jack Cawley's Hurricane Ridge Runners (1931) F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/white-river-stomp Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:F (A,/B,/|C)DEF- FA2c|d2^c=c- cAA,B,|CDEF- FGAB|c2=B_B- B4| CDEF- FGA2|+slide+[e4e4]d4|cdcB- BAG2|A6 ((3G,A,B,| C)DEF- FA2c|d2^c=c- cAA,B,|CDEF- FGAB|c2=B_B- B4| CDEF- FGA2|+slide+[e4e4]d4| fcfd- dcA2|F6|| |:O(_E|=E2)c2E2c2|Ec2d c2(E2|F2)A2F2A2|FA2B A2(_E2| =E2)c2E2c2|Ec2d c2(E2|F2)A2F2A2|FA2B A2(e2| f)efa- aeg2|{e}fedc- cA_B=B|ca2c ae2g2|f8!fine!|| (ab3) g4|egec- c4|agaf- fgfc|dcAG- G4| +slide+b4 g4|egec- c4|agaf- fgfc|dcAG- G4O:||
WHITE RIVER STOMP. American; Country Rag (4/4 time) or Set Dance. F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA’B (Perlman): AA'BCC (Phillips): AA'BCD (Messer). The tune was first recorded by Jack Cawley's Oklahoma Ridge Runners for Victor Records in 1931. Cawley was originally from Texas, but moved across the border to the Oklahoma town of Bonham around 1914. It was picked up by the highly influential Canadian radio and TV fiddler Don Messer and his band, who popularized it in that country. See also the related "Oklahoma Rag" and "Beaumont Rag" (it shares two parts with the latter tune). In fact, the now-popular "Beaumont Rag" was recorded by the Texas-based Smith's Garage Fiddle Band in 1928, predating the Ridge Runner's recording. Which of the similar tunes was actually composed first is unknown, but it does indicate the meldoic and rhythmic material was in ciculation among fiddlers in the Texas/Oklahoma area in the late 1920's.
The title perhaps refers to the White River in Arkansas and Missouri. Originating in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas, it arcs northwards through southern Missouri before turning back into Arkansas, flowing southeast to its mouth at the Mississippi River.
