Annotation:Tucker's Old Barn (1)
X:1 T: Tucker's Barn T:Tucker's Old Barn [1] N:From the playing of western N.C. fiddler Gaither Carlton M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/tuckers-barn Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:D AA|ddfA ecec|ddfd e2e(A/B/4c/4|d)dee gfee|[M:3/2]ddBA G2-GG,-G2 (AB/c/| [M:C|]d)dff ecec|ddff- ece((3A/B/c/|d)dee gfee|[M:3/2]ddBA G2-GG,-G2 || (ef|g)gee ddBA|G2GG EDEF|GGBB cBAG|FFAF D2AA| |:FAAA- AdBA|GGBG EDEF|GGBB cBAG|FFAF D2AA:|
TUCKER'S OLD BARN [1]. AKA - "Tucker's Barn." AKA and see "Kitty Puss," "Puncheon Camps" "Old Time Mockingbird." American, Reel (cut time). USA, North Carolina. D Major ('A' part) & G Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The tonality in "Tucker's Old Barn [1]" constantly shifts from D Major to G Major and back. The first strain is irregular in meter, while the second strain is 12 measures long. The tune was in the repertoire of western North Carolina musicians Gaither Carlton and his son-in-law, Doc Watson.
There are a few stories about the title. Tucker's Barn was once the name of a settlement on the north side of Lower Creek, in Caldwell County, near the Watson home in Deep Gap, Watauga County, although it is today known as Lenoir. It was originally settled by the Tucker family around 1765, and their home was a central gathering place for the community, serving as a voting precinct, muster ground, store and a place for “frolics” and celebrations. At least one large 19th century Fourth of July celebration included a drum corps, a march of Revolutionary veterans and speeches by General William Lenoir, Edmund Jones, Parson Miller, the McDowells and a barbecue. It was said the tune title honors the Tucker establishment. In perhaps an elaboration of the same story, Doc Watson recalled that one Tucker built a barn completely out of Black Locust, including locust pegs instead of nails, which is extremely rot-resistant, and that that was the source of the title, which he knew as "Tucker's Old Barn". However, when Carter County, east Tennessee, fiddler Joe Birchfield (1912-2002) was asked if he knew "Tucker's Barn", he and his band the Hilltoppers broke into uncontrollable laughter to the point of tears. When it subsided the interviewer was told that Tucker's Barn was actually a well-known bordello in Elizbethtown, Tennessee, and that most men didn't admit to "knowing" Tucker's Barn.
Asheville, North Carolina, musician Bascom Lamar Lunsford recorded a song called "Tucker's Barn" for the Library of Congress in New York in 1935, accompanying himself on the fiddle.
