Annotation:Jack of Diamonds (1)
Tune properties and standard notation
JACK OF DIAMONDS [1]. AKA and see "Fort Worth," "Clinch Mountain," "Wagoner's Lad (The)," "The Cuckoo [5]," "Robi Donadh Gorrach," "Johnnie Armstrong," "Tod(d)lin' Hame," "Bacach," "Hell on the Wabash." 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 Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. See also related tunes "Mason's Apron" and "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.'"