Annotation:Kennedy Rag

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KENNEDY RAG. American, Country Rag. USA, Alabama. F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB. Composed by fiddler Charlie Stripling [1] (1896-1966), who named it for the community of Kennedy in southeastern Lamar County, where he had relocated, but near his birthplace in Pickens County, west Alabama. Kennedy had a population 277 at that time of release of the recording in 1929 on the Vocalion label (a subsidiary of Brunswick Records). The town had just completed construction of the Kennedy High School in 1927, although when it burned in 1984 it was not replaced and students now attend Lamar County schools.

The Stripling Brothers, Charlie Stripling fiddle

"Kennedy Rag", described by Charlie Stripling as a "ragtime breakdown", was one of ten numbers recorded by the brothers in Chicago, Ill., in 1929, based on the success of their initial 1928 Brunswick recording of "Lost Child (The)" and "Black Mountain Rag."

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - Charlie Stripling (Alabama) [Milliner & Koken, Phillips]; Lee Stripling (1921-2009,Seattle), learned from his father Charlie [Silberberg].

Printed sources : - Milliner & Koken (Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), 2011; p. 357. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2), 1995; p. 71. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 82.

Recorded sources : - County 401, The Stripling Brothers -"Lost Child" (1971). Document DOCD 8007, "The Stripling Brothers vol. 1." Vocalion 5382 (78 RPM), Stripling Brothers (Alabama) {1929. Backed with "New Born Blues"}.

See also listing at :
Hear the Stripling Brothers 1929 recording at Slippery Hill [2] and youtube.com [3]
See/hear Lee Striping play the tune on youtube.com [4]

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