LyleK - Posted - 03/28/2025:  14:43:29

I was surprised to see that this tune had not made it to the TOTW list by now.  I've been paying this tune for at least 45 years (and boy are my arms tired!).  I learned it so long ago that I don't even remember who I learned it from.  Possibly this tune has made it to the "oh no, not again" list (along with Over the Waterfall, Angeline the Baker, etc.), but every time I've brought it up I get blank stares.  As proof that this is an omnipresent tune, here is but a sampling from YouTube (in no particular order):

Bob Black’s “Ladies on the Steamboat” album (15:25-17:44) (“Bluegrass”)

If you were keeping track, aside from the various fiddle versions, we've got clawhammer, two-finger, Irish tenor, and melodic three-finger.  Incidentally, if you are not familiar with Bob Black's playing (yes, he was one of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys banjo pickers from 1974-1976), I highly recommend Cagley, Black, Schaefer, and Njoes "Friends in Music" CD.

If you search here at banjohangout there are *.mp3s to be found, including one from "SmellyOldFatGuy" (Victor Furtado's father).

My favorite recording is at Slippery Hill:

Doug Phillips (fiddle), Hilary Dirlam (guitar), & Laura Boosinger (clawhammer)

From “Seven Days at the Sawmill” tape cassette

slippery-hill.com/content/stat...-hornpipe

Now we get onto the topic of tablatures, if that's your poison.  They seem to be extremely rare.  There is one clawhammer tab at the hangout by Sidney Nethery.  It is only available as a *.tef file, so you will need  TEFview (a free download) if you do not have tabledit.  There is another tab at the hangout, but it is after Bob Black's melodic three-finger.  There are a few commercial clawhammer tabs (see Zepp's list at zeppmusic.com/banjo/Clawhammer...ndex.html and zeppmusic.com/banjo/Clawhammer...bbrv.html) for the book title abbreviations.

OK, where does the tune come from?  The full(-ish) story, as per usual, comes from tunearch.org: tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:S..._Hornpipe

"Staten Island" appears to be a reference to the British Fort on Staten Island (more on that at: revolutionarywarstatenisland.c.../redoubt/)  As noted at tunearch.org, the first printing of the tune seems to be in 1785 (I've attached a copy).  One unique thing about the tune is that while the tune is in D major (C# & F#), there are some C naturals in the B part.  Curiously, in Ryan's Mammoth Collection those got changed (and perpetuated in Cole's 1000 Fiddle Tunes) to C# (see attached).  This makes the tune very similar to "None So Pretty," which shows up in Thomas Nixon, Jrs. Tune Book, a collection of fife tunes made 1776-1778 (see framinghamhistory.org/framingh...0090b.htm). 

For my recording I've done a dual-track with me playing fiddle and clawhammer.  I mixed it so that there is less fiddle than I would like, but this is the banjohangout, so I guess that is appropriate.  I should have cranked the volume up more than I did.  Oh well.  Honestly, I haven't used this recorder (TASCAM DP-006) in so many years that I thought I wasn't going to have any *.mp3 to post.  It is a simple matter to remix and/or increase the volume, so please let me know if I should do anything to the *.mp3.

I've attached two tabs.  One is not all that similar to what I play, and the other is completely unlike what I play; it is the Ryan's/Cole's with C# throughout.  I've never heard anyone play this version.  Charlie Walden in his YouTube announces that the tune is in Cole's volume and then plays the tune with the C-naturals in the B part.

Edited by - LyleK on 03/28/2025 15:49:57

With C-natural

With C#

Staten Island Hornpipe

Staten Island Hornpipe

 

Noah Cline - Posted - 03/28/2025:  18:53:33

Good choice, Lyle, and nicely presented (I didn't know the full history and age -- thanks for that). I too am surprised that it hadn't been covered yet, thinking it had already. I learned it years ago at a jam, and honestly I don't remember it coming up too often in those that have followed, and believe me, a lot of times we tend to stay in D for the duration and get through quite a few tunes. I actually thought about it the other day while playing my fiddle, thinking of tunes that I hadn't played for a good while, it being one of them.  I liked Mark Gunther's take -- don't think I've heard that one before and quite enjoyed it. 

lapsteel - Posted - 03/29/2025:  05:52:11

There’s a terrific version on the melodic clawhammer LP record:
youtu.be/Pet0FkBMTms?si=3uqiRwu_hJSQPSSh

LyleK - Posted - 03/29/2025:  08:45:40

quote:

---

Originally posted by lapsteel

There’s a terrific version on the melodic clawhammer LP record:

youtu.be/Pet0FkBMTms?si=3uqiRwu_hJSQPSSh

---

Yes!  One that I had certainly missed.  That's Henry Sapoznik, who has a very scaled-back tab of Staten Island Hornpipe in Brody's Banjo Picker's Facebook.  A small part of Sapoznik's biography at henrysapoznik.com/biography reads: "He studied with North Carolina masters Fred Cockerham and Tommy Jarrell during numerous trips to North Carolina with the late Ray Alden.  In 1972, Sapoznik co-founded the New York-area group The Delaware Water Gap String Band, and confirmed his reputation as a noted player in both southern playing styles and classic ragtime banjo." 

Although Sapoznik certainly still plays clawhammer (youtube.com/watch?v=V5AvwYbVGrc), he may be better known now for Yiddish songs and Klezmer on tenor banjo.  The hangout's "banjojudy" has a number of YouTube videos of Sapoznik in this setting.

hweinberg - Posted - 03/29/2025:  15:13:47

And you can still find Hank occasionally playing in jams in the New York area.

JanetB - Posted - 03/29/2025:  17:11:15

A fine selection, Lyle, and fine duet with your banjo and fiddle, and you're right -- this is BHO and the fiddle gets plenty of attention here, so crank up the banjo!  Excellent coverage with mega-talented BHO members included.

I've listened mostly to Bob Black's version over the years and it influenced me now, though I listened mostly to Doug Phillips for my arrangement yesterday.

Has anyone ever ridden the Staten Island Ferry?  It's my best memory of New York and I've wanted to learn the tune for a long time, so thanks for this opportunity.

VIDEO: Staten Island Hornpipe
(click to view)

Staten Island Hornpipe (CH) tab