Tune ID: Polk River Blues

Subject: Tune ID: Polk River Blues
From: cnd
Date: 28 May 21 - 01:23 AM

I recently bought a collection of records related to the Fiddler's Grove fiddle convention which has been held in Union Grove, NC for decades now.

One of the albums, Harper Van Hoy Presents: Fiddler's Grove Traditional Ole Time & Bluegrass Volume 13 (link) has a song identified as "Polk River Blues," performed by a man named Billy Hurt. The song is a fast fiddle instrumental which seems painfully familiar to me under another name but has so far escaped me.

I think the song starts with your standard arpeggiated/repeated intro, moves to a well-known instrumental song, moves into a rough drag/hit section, and then moves back into the instrumental, before doing a repeated interplay between the intro theme and a second(?) well-known instrumental.

I keep thinking for some reason it's either Watermelon On the Vine or Whistlin' Rufus, but I don't think either of those are quite right. I have the feeling it's a medley of at least two better-known fiddle songs, but I'm awful at identifying tunes, especially fiddle ones.

You can hear it here. Does anyone recognize the tune?

Subject: RE: Tune ID: Polk River Blues
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 28 May 21 - 08:19 AM

I had a friend from WV that lived on the bank of the Poketillo (sp?) river and i think he called the Pokey river blues. He played it quiet a bit slower.

Subject: RE: Tune ID: Polk River Blues
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 May 21 - 09:43 AM

GUEST,Guest, There's a Pocatello River in West Virginia.

Hi, cnd. I don't know if this is of any use, but the fiddle tune in your fist link (titled link) shows on the following YT page as 'Poca River Blues' by Fiddlin' Billy Hurt. So I'm guessing there's a spelling mix up in one or tother.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ_85EKJ4i0

Subject: RE: Tune ID: Polk River Blues
From: cnd
Date: 28 May 21 - 10:50 AM

Ah, excellent searching, #, thanks for finding that! "Poca" seems to be the primary name -- here's a recording by legendary old time fiddler Clark Kessinger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGNRhK_cCiA

From there, I've found that the tune is otherwise usually identified as East Tennessee Blues - that's where that nagging feeling of familiarity came from.

Kessinger is definitely the main origin of the Polk/Poca name -- he helped teach and train a lot of the revivalist fiddlers in the 60s/70s. He claims to have learned the song from fiddler Reese Jarvis, of the duo Jarvis & Justice, who recorded the song in 1929. Listen to their recording here -- note that it doesn't feature the "pizzicato" (what I called the 'rough drag/hit section').

TuneArch has an excellent page on the song, but not much else is out there that I can find.

Subject: RE: Tune ID: Polk River Blues
From: leeneia
Date: 28 May 21 - 12:23 PM

I can't say anything about the entire piece, but at 37 seconds, he is playing a familiar set of notes from 'Boil 'em Cabbage Down' and also from 'Banua' as sung by the Kingston Trio. It probably occurs in other tunes as well.

Subject: RE: Tune ID: Polk River Blues
From: GUEST,#
Date: 28 May 21 - 02:45 PM

leeneia, the following link may be of interest to you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boil_Them_Cabbage_Down

Subject: RE: Tune ID: Polk River Blues
From: cnd
Date: 26 Feb 24 - 09:24 AM

Since there's not another thread on East Tennessee Blues...

I was recently listening to Mountain Ramblers album Mountain Dance Music from the Blue Ridge (County 720) and noticed that track A4, which they call "Carolina Rag" and credit to Crye and Wynwood, is just the East Tennessee Blues.