TOTW (OT) 08/07/2015 - Old Kentucky Whiskey
I’ve chosen Old Kentucky Whiskey for this installment of TOTW. Garry Harrison collected the tune from Illinois Fiddler Noah Beavers and published it in his state compilation book Dear Old Illinois.
Harrison’s notes are sparse: “Noah Beavers (1897-1990) Elkville, recorded October 11, 1975. Mr. Beavers spent his working life as a coal miner around Elkville. His fiddle style was interesting. He mostly favored pieces of medium density but used an array of rhythmic bow ornaments that gave his renditions a sound that was both intricate and driving." Beavers is listed as a source for 22 other tunes in the book.
The tune has a modest internet presence. Here’s the excerpt from the Traditional Tune Archive:
KENTUCKY WHISKEY. Old‑Time, Breakdown. A Major. AEae tuning. AABB. The name Kentucky is derived from the Iroquois phrase kenta ke, meaning ‘grass land’ (Matthews, 1972). Kuntz, Private Collection. Front Hall Records FHR‑037, Mark Graham ‑ "Natural Selections" (1987). Rounder CD0403, The Freight Hoppers - “Where’d You Come From, Where’d You Go?”
A snippet of The Freight Hoppers’ high energy version, with Frank Lee on banjo is here: Freight Hoppers. Lee published a banjo tab of the tune in the November 1998 issue of Banjo Newsletter.
Another string band version is here: Loosely Wound String Band
The banjo player’s microphone was dead so this ended up being recorded as a double fiddle version which the band attributes to Art Stamper: New Hot Pants
Stamper’s version is preserved in the Berea College DLA archive here: Art Stamper
Chirps Smith, in a 2012 Fiddle Hangout post, had this to say about Stamper: “The tune was collected in Southern IL from a fiddler named Noah Beavers. He lived in Elkville IL. His family came to IL from KY. It's #173 in Dear Old Illinois. The Indian Creek Delta Boys (the band I started out with) recorded it, as did the Volo Bogtrotters and both Garry Harrison and myself have played it a lot. Art may have heard it from us maybe. I know that I played some tunes with him on a couple of occasions. What a fine fiddler and person he was.”
Two regular contributors to TOTW have posted fine banjo interpretations of the tune.
vrteach (Erich Schroeder) has a clawhammer version here: Erich
And Don Borchett has a three finger version here: Don
Tabs for Old Kentucky Whiskey can be found at Lyle Konigsberg’s site @ Lyle's Tabs and at Ken Torke’s site @ Tater Joes.
Kentucky is famous for two types of whiskey: Bourbon and Moonshine. Bourbon is manufactured and taxed under government license and protection in the Bluegrass Region of the state using modern production techniques, equipment, and quality control procedures. The product is aged in charred oak barrels and marketed around the world. You can read more about Bourbon here: Wikipedia Bourbon.
Moonshine is an untaxed product, illegally manufactured with questionable ingredients, sanitation practices, and quality control measures. Moonshine is produced throughout the state but the majority comes from the eastern mountain region and is immediately consumed locally or transported to the nearest big industrial city and sold to the mountain Diaspora. You can read more about moonshine here: Wikipedia Moonshine.
The triad of Southern mountaineers, banjos, and moonshine is a stereotype promoted in the popular media for more than 100 years. This photograph from Virginia is dated 1915: Photo
An article on the cultural history of moonshine is here: Kentucky Moonshine. Despite what this article infers moonshine was never accepted by the entire mountain population. Communities and families were, and continue to be, divided on the subject.
My grandfather kept a mason jar of ‘shine “hidden” behind some family photos on a mantle in the living room for the 30 years I knew him. He always put a chunk of peppermint candy in it for flavor. It took him about five years to finish the quart one sip at a time and then he would visit the local producer and procure another jar.
My grandmother was a member of the local Hard Shell Church whose congregation was staunchly prohibitionist. She always pretended not to notice the jar and it was a rule in my family that no one ever mentioned it. My grandfather preceded my grandmother in death by 10 years but after she passed my mother found the jar still there on the shelf, about half full.
Researching and writing this narrative proved to be a challenge because of the meager background information available. I thank Debbie and Jim for contributing material to this effort. Members are encouraged to post observations, opinions, performances and tabs contributing to this thread. I am especially interested in the tune’s history and biographical information about Mr. Beavers.