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FRC 310 - John Summers: Master Indiana Fiddler (Recordings from the collection of John Cohen)

by John Summers

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1.
Judge White's Intro 00:36
2.
There Was An Old Soldier With a Wooden Leg 01:30
3.
Bill Cheatham 02:01
4.
Wake Up Susan 02:45
5.
Speed the Plow 01:53
6.
Fields of Erin 02:33
7.
Irish Medley 04:25
8.
Intro of the next 4 tunes 00:25
9.
Grand Hornpipe 02:36
10.
Fisher's Hornpipe 01:48
11.
Waiting for the Lord 03:13
12.
Danny Boy 03:00
13.
Mississippi Sawyer 02:30
14.
Matt Simon's Tune 01:53
15.
Forked Deer 02:05
16.
Arthur Berry 02:28
17.
Grand Opera Reel 03:03
18.
No Corn on Tygard 02:36
19.
Next 2 Tunes intro 00:15
20.
Kingdom Coming in the Year of Jubilo 01:45
21.
Cuckoo's Nest 02:01
22.
Jenny Lind Polka 01:49
23.
Brickyard Joe 02:36
24.
Fine Times at Our House 01:41
25.
Rye Straw
26.
Rye Straw 02:45
27.
Stoney Point
28.
Stoney Point 02:20
29.
Wagoner 01:19
30.
Wagoner
31.
Humoresque
32.
Humoresque 03:28
33.
Old Joe Clark
34.
Old Joe Clark 01:03

about

From the collection of John Cohen – From Judge Dan White’s “O’Leary” Recordings

John Summers (1887-1976) was a farmer and master fiddler from Indiana. His music was respected in his local area and among friends. He played in scores of “Old Fiddling Contests” at fairs and events all over the Midwest, winning first places at almost every single event. You can hear the excellence of 19th Century music carried into his present. It still speaks to our ears today. Here’s how his music got out to the rest of us: in the early 1960s The New Lost City Ramblers were performing at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, and Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary heard us and later, at a dude ranch in Colorado, told their friend Judge Dan White about it. So when he returned to his home in Indiana he made these recordings of his friend John Summers for them, and they gave the tape to me in California the following year. I brought it to my home in New York City, and gave a copy to our neighbor Art Rosenbaum (originally from Indianapolis). On his next trip to Indiana he located and recorded John Summers. He issued some of these on Folkways’ “Fine Times at Our House”, and Mr. Summers’ fame spread to a new, dispersed audience. What you are listening to is the tape Judge White gave the O’Learys, clearly a communication of shared pleasures, friendship and excellent music. – John Cohen

credits

released November 16, 2015

John Summers (fiddle: all tracks) Dan White (all vocal introductions, fiddle: 9-12, 20-21, 29).

Visit www.fieldrecorder.org for more information!

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