Annotation:Nubbin Ridge (1)
X:1 T:Nubbin Ridge [1] S:Owen "Snake" Chapman (Canada, Kentucky) M:C| L:1/8 D:Owen Chapman - "Walnut Gap" (1999) Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:G d2 ef gfga|gdef gage|d2ef gfga|gedB AGEG| DG[GB]d gfga|gdef g2ga|bgag egge|1edBA [G4B4]:|2edBA [G2B2]GE|| |:DB,DE G2GA|[GB]GAG DEFE|DB,DE G2Ad|BAGE DCB,A,| G,B,DF G2G2|[GB]AAG EFGE|DGGA gage|1dBAG G2GE:|2dBAG G2Bc|| P:"variation, 1st strain, 2nd time through" GABd gfga|gdef gage|
NUBBIN RIDGE [1]. American, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). Similar versions of "Nubbin Ridge [1]" were in the repertoire of fiddlers Owen "Snake" Chapman and Kirk McGee. The tune, unrelated to other "Nubbin Ridge" titles, was in the repertory of Kentucky fiddler Owen "Snake" Chapman (1919-2002, Chapman's Hollow, Canada, eastern Ky., near the West Virginia border) and bluegrass/old time fiddler Paul Warren (1918-1978, Hickman County, Tennessee). Mark Wilson, in liner notes to Chapman's "Walnut Gap" recording, states that Chapman learned it from the playing of Floyd Thurston during a Grand Ole Opry broadcast in the 1930's. Kerry Blech notes that Letcher County, Kentucky, banjo player Lee Sexton (b. 1928) also played the same tune as Chapman on his "Whoa Mule" recording (June Appal Recordings JA0051, 1988), and also had learned it from Thurston's playing. Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1848-1931) {Texas, Tennessee} was recorded in a newspaper article as playing the tune in a Clarksville, Tennessee, fiddle contest [Charles Wolfe, A Good Natured Riot], however, Thompson did not record the tune, and which of the "Nubbin Ridge" tunes he played is not known.
"Nubbin Ridge [1]" was supposedly named for a ridge in the community of Little Texas in Williamson County, central Tennessee, however, there is no Nubbin Ridge on topographical maps of the area. There is a Nubbin Ridge in Giles County, south-central Tennessee, but it is not near Little Texas.
For the Marcus Martin/Manco Sneed tune of the same name, see "Nubbin Ridge (2)." Both "Nubbin Ridge" tunes have no relation to the 'raggy' Ozarks tune "Nubbin." However, there are similarities between "Nubbin Ridge [1]" and the Oklahoma tune "Fort Smith (1)."
