Annotation:Jack of Diamonds (1)

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JACK OF DIAMONDS [1]. AKA and see "Wake Up Susan (1)." Old-Time, Texas Style; Breakdown. USA; Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia. A Major. Standard or AEac# tunings (fiddle). AABB (Brody, Thede): AABCDD (Phillips). A showcase tune in Texas and contest-style fiddling. As such, there are a wide variety of versions, often with idiosyncratic strains. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. See also the ancestral "Mason's Apron," which it resembles even more than "Wake Up Susan (1)." The first strain is shared with many other tunes (see "annotation:Wake Up Susan (1)").

Source for notated version: Frank McCraw (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede]: Benny Thomasson (Texas) [Brody, Phillips]; Cyril Stinnett (Mo.) [Phillips]. West Virginia fiddler Ernie Carpenter learned his version from Wallace Pritchard.

Printed sources: Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 142. Fiddler Magazine, vol. 11, No. 3, Fall 2004; p. 46. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 120. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; p. 51.

Recorded sources: Augusta Heritage Records 003, Ernie Carpenter - "Elk River Blues: Traditional Tunes From Braxton County, W.Va." County 724, Benny Thomasson- "Country Fiddling." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association 002, Taylor McBaine - "Boone County Fiddler." Rural Records RRCF 251, Curly Fox (1970). Voyager 301, Dwayne Youngblood- "Fiddle Jam Session." Voyager 309, Benny and Jerry Thomasson- "The Weiser Reunion: A Jam Session" (1993). Voyager 319-S, Ace Sewell- "Southwest Fiddlin.'"

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