The Old Joe Clark Lick

I expect that most bluegrass banjo players are familiar with the “Old Joe Clark” lick that many players use. It is the lick in which the first-string melody notes – open/second fret/third fret/second fret/open (the notes D - E - F - E - D) – are embedded in a sequence of rhythm notes that flow without interruption while supporting the melody. The lick has been used to play a 3-finger version of the tune “Old Joe Clark” amd also as a D to G turnaround. I posted the tablature for the lick as "The Old Joe Clark Lick." 

 https://www.hangoutstorage.com/banjohangout.org/storage/tabs/t/tab-the-old-joe-cla-28811-113617922026.tef

What has excited me about the lick since I first heard it in 1963 is the beauty of the right-hand pattern: the first-string E note on the second fret pivots to the fifth string, then the first-string F note pivots to the second string third fret, and then the first-string E note pivots back to the fifth string. The clever use of the middle finger and thumb is shown in the tablature. This picking pattern seems to have crept into the vocabulary of bluegrass banjoists over the past few decades and is often used in other chords (e.g., C chord). 

As noted, I first heard the OJC lick in around 1963. Eric Weissberg employed it to great effect in his version of Old Joe Clark on his landmark album with Marshall Brickman “New Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass.” Also in 1963, Doug Dillard used the lick as a D to G turnaround on the “Backporch Bluegrass” album by the Dillards. Bill Keith used it in his version of “Old Joe Clark” on Bill Baker’s fiddle album, around 1964, and the banjo players (Walter Hensley and Vernon McIntrye Jr.) on Earl Taylor’s 1965 album “Bluegrass Taylor-Made” used it as their default D to G turnaround on most of the tunes and breaks on the album. Soon it seemed everyone was using the OJC lick or variations on it in tunes and breaks.

When I learned the OJC lick in the 1960s I was enchanted by its beauty and logic. Much more recently I have begun to wonder about its origin: who was the banjo genius who created this ubiquitous lick? I asked Bill Keith whether he had come up with it, but he said not and he did not know who did. (He probably thought I was exhibiting extreme banjo nerdiness by even asking the question).  Lacking any other definitive evidence, I assumed that either Weissberg or Dillard created the lick. Recently, however, I have found evidence of it in still earlier recordings. Sonny Osborne used it as rhythmic filler in his original tune “Old Hickory,” recorded in 1962. (See the box set of the Osborne Brothers 1956 - 1968, on Bear Family Records). I also have been delving into the tracks on the Bear Family box set of Jimmy Martin’s recordings. There I discovered J. D. Crowe’s break on the song “Walking Shoes,” recorded in 1960, and it contains the earliest version of the OJC lick that I am aware of, as shown in the tablature. 

In contrast to the more common pattern discussed above, in Crowe’s version of the OJC lick the first-string E note on the second fret pivots to the fifth string, then the first-string F note pivots again to the fifth string, and then the first-string E note pivots back to the fifth string (see the tablature). Although this sequence of rhythm notes is not as sophisticated as the pattern discussed above, it nonetheless achieves the uninterrupted flow of melody notes similar to the Weissberg/Dillard lick. 

To summarize, at this point I am assuming that J. D. Crowe was the banjo genius who created the OJC lick, which later was polished by Sonny Osborne. I will be interested to see whether other banjo nerds point to an even earlier version of the lick, that is, if anyone else on the planet cares! And to be honest,  you have to be a little nuts to obsess about this sort of thing.

Vern Williams Band

Liner notes for "New Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass"

Some comments on "Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Banjo"

5-string banjos: tone ring versus hoop

Did Earl Scruggs Create Bluegrass Music?

Best bluegrass banjo albums

Dave Guard and the Whiskeyhill Singers -- an appreciation

Review of 2 albums by Red Smiley and the Blue Grass Cut-Ups

Bob Gibson's banjo playing

Thoughts about Earl Scruggs's contributions to the banjo

Bill Keith -- an appreciation

One important difference between banjo and guitar

The way to play slow tunes in Scruggs style

the banjo Earl Scruggs is playing in my avatar photo

Decline of Melodic Style?

Whither tablature?