Annotation:Poor Black Sheep
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POOR BLACK SHEEP. AKA - "Po' Black Sheep." Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBBB or AAB'B'BB. Mike Seegar describes this piece as a 'six-part tune' from the Tennessee African-American duo of Nathan Frazier (fretless banjo) and Frank Patterson (fiddle), who recorded it in 1942 for Professor John Work in his home in Nashville (AFS 06679 A02). Frazier was a street musician and Patterson a veteran of earlier string bands; it is unclear how much the duo had played together before the 1942 recordings. See also the related “Ladies on the Steamboat.”
Source for notated version: Frank Patterson [Phillips].
Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes vol. 1), 1994; p. 185.
Recorded sources: Nonesuch Records, The Carolina Chocolate Drops - "Leaving Eden" (2012). Rounder CD0262, Mike Seeger - "Fresh Oldtime String Band Music" (1988). Spring Fed Records, Frazier & Patterson - "John Work III: Recording Black Culture" (2008).
See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Frazier & Patterson's recording on youtube.com [2] and at Slippery Hill [3]
See/hear versions by Dom Flemons [4] and the Carolina Chocolate Drops [5] on youtube.com.