Old Joe Clark
"Old Joe Clark" is one of the most widely known Southern fiddle tunes and a fixture at bluegrass and old-time jams. It's named after a real Kentucky man, and its silly, ever-changing verses have run to about 90 stanzas.
- Named after
- Joseph Clark (1839–1885), a Kentucky mountaineer who was murdered
- Earliest print
- None known before 1900
- First recording
- 1924, Cowan Powers and his Family Band
- Key and mode
- A Mixolydian (A major with a flattened 7th)
- Used for
- Jams, square and contra dances, first tunes for fiddle and banjo
History
The song refers to a real person, Joseph Clark of Kentucky (1839–1885). Its verses are playful and often absurd, which suggests it first spread as a children's play-party song. It was popular with eastern Kentucky soldiers during and after the First World War. The earliest recording is from 1924, when Cowan Powers and his Family Band made it one of their best sellers that year. By the late 20th century it was part of the national repertoire, played at jams and dances across the United States.
Why it sounds the way it does
The tune is in A, but it uses the Mixolydian mode: an A major scale with a G natural instead of G sharp. That flattened seventh gives the tune its bright but slightly "mountain" sound, and there are hints of blues in the flattened third and fifth. On chords, the flat seventh shows up as a G major chord inside an A tune.
Chords in A
A part (verse): | A | A | A | E | | A | A | G E | A | B part (chorus): | A | A | G | G | | A | A | G E | A |
Each part is usually played twice (AABB). Banjo players tune to open A (or capo 2 in open G); fiddlers play in standard tuning or AEAE cross-tuning.
More: contra dancing · the Red Clay Ramblers · all folk songs