Clarence Ashley
Clarence "Tom" Ashley (September 29, 1895 – June 2, 1967) was an American musician and singer, who played the clawhammer banjo and the guitar. He began performing at medicine shows in the Southern Appalachian region as early as 1911, and gained initial fame during the late 1920s as both a solo recording artist and as a member of various string bands. After his "rediscovery" during the folk revival of the 1960s, Ashley spent the last years of his life playing at folk music concerts, including appearances at Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.
Biography
Early life
Ashley was born Clarence Earl McCurry in Bristol, Tennessee in 1895, the only child of George McCurry and Rose-Belle Ashley. Those who knew George McCurry described him variously as a "one-eyed fiddler, hell-raiser, and big talker." Shortly before Clarence was born, Rose-Belle's father, Enoch Ashley, discovered that his son-in-law George was an adulterer. George was forced to leave town. Rose-Belle moved back in with her father, and around 1900, the family relocated to Shouns, Tennessee, a crossroads just south of Mountain City, where Enoch ran a boarding house. When Clarence was very young, he was nicknamed "Tommy Tiddy Waddy" (after a nursery rhyme) by his grandfather Enoch, and thus became known to friends and acquaintances as 'Tom'. As he was raised by the parents of his mother, the name "McCurry" was dropped in favor of "Ashley".
Podcasts:
Clarence Ashley
ALBUMS
The Original Folkways Recordings of Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley: 1960 Through 1962
Released 1994- Sally Ann
- Richmond Blues
- Old Ruben
- Willie Moore
- Walking Boss
- Shout Lulu
- Skillet Good and Greasy
- Pretty Little Pink
- Run, Jimmie, Run
- Hicks' Farewell
- The Old Man at the Mill
- A Short Life of Trouble
- Brown's Dream
- Footprints in the Snow
- I'm Going Back to Jericho
- Peg and Awl
- Maggie Walker Blues
- God's Gonna Ease My Troublin' Mind
- I Saw a Man at the Close of Day
- Handsome Molly
- John Henry
- Honey Babe Blues
- Wayfaring Pilgrim
Born: 1895-09-29
Died: 1967-06-02
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by Clarence Ashley
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by Clarence Ashley
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by Clarence Ashley
The Coo Coo Bird
by: Clarence AshleyGonna build me a log cabin
on a mountian so high
So I can see Willie
as he goes on by
Um hmm hmm...
Oh the coo-coo is a pretty bird
She wobbles when she flies
She never hollers coo-coo
'Til the fourth day of July
I've played cards in England
I've played cards in Spain
I'll bet you ten dollars
I'll beat you next game
Jack of diamonds, Jack of diamonds
I've known you from old
Now you've robbed my poor pockets
Of my silver and my gold
Um hmm hmm...
I've played cards in England
I've played cards in Spain
I'll bet you ten dollars
I beat you this game
Oh the coo-coo is a pretty bird
She wobbles when she flies
She never hollers coo-coo