This was covered as a TOTW over ten years ago, so I don’t want to repeat too much of the details here https://www.banjohangout.org/archive/302499, but in summary from https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Old_Jake_Gillie:
American, Reel. USA; Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB'AACC. A West-Virginia/Kentucky regional tune (Charles Wolfe, 1997). The tune was recorded on a 78 RPM for Brunswick by Kanawha County, West Virginia, fiddler Clark Kessinger (1896-1975), who probably learned while growing up in the Kanawha Valley (Wolfe, Mountains of Music, 1999). See also the tune under the title "Jake Gilly/Gillie." Other old-time musicians in whose repertoire "Jake Gilly" was include Matokie Slaughter, of Pulaski, Va., best-known as a fine banjo player, but she also played tunes on the fiddle, including the "Gilly" tune. Oscar Wright's "Jake Gillie" (recorded on County LP 717) is also cognate.
This tune has special significance for me, as it’s about the first thing I learned on the banjo. I’d bought the Miles Krassen clawhammer book, and it’s the very first tune in the collection. There’s errors in the transcription in my book with the high parts showing the ‘4’ on the first string, but I didn’t let it discourage me!
Banjo Hangout was a great resource in learning the tune, particularly Bob Lanham (blanham) who had recorded every tune in the Miles Krassen book http://www.banjohangout.org/myhangout/music.asp?id=45862. I spent a lot of time listening to those, so thanks Bob!
It’s only recently that I sought out the source for the Miles Krassen tab - the Oscar Wright version. I was very surprised at the pace it was played at! Here’s a YouTube link to the original recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrZngz9MtVo and here's one from Matokie Slaughter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrJFdAeqS6o.
I went through the process of transcribing the Oscar Wright version as best I could, attached is the tab for the first few variations. He does a nice slide down from the major third in the ‘low’ part that I like very much. I’ve done my best to reproduce the spirit of the original recording, though not quite as fast.
I don’t play a lot of clawhammer these days, I tend to arrange things for finger picking. I've added another rendition very much slower in keeping with how I usually play it. It’s pretty much the same notes as the CH tab, so I didn't transcribe it.
There’s a few other renditions on Slippery Hill, https://www.slippery-hill.com/taxonomy/tune-title/old-jake-gillie but the Oscar Wright arrangement holds a special place for me!
Love to hear some other versions to pick up some more variations!
Nice tune, but I have to admit that if I ever learned it, I certainly don't remember it (tsk-tsk). I find that tunes come and go from my limited memory banks.
A better link for Bob Blanham's recordings of the Krassen tabs is here. It is specific to Krassen's clawhammer book. A nice feature of Krassen's book is that it correlates pretty well with his Appalachian Fiddle book. I was fiddling Henry Reed's idiosyncratic Money Musk the other day and was able to send a clawhammering friend to Krassen's tab. Come to think of it, I whould have told him about Blanham's recording.
quote:
Originally posted by LyleKNice tune, but I have to admit that if I ever learned it, I certainly don't remember it (tsk-tsk). I find that tunes come and go from my limited memory banks.
A better link for Bob Blanham's recordings of the Krassen tabs is here. It is specific to Krassen's clawhammer book. A nice feature of Krassen's book is that it correlates pretty well with his Appalachian Fiddle book. I was fiddling Henry Reed's idiosyncratic Money Musk the other day and was able to send a clawhammering friend to Krassen's tab. Come to think of it, I whould have told him about Blanham's recording.
Very cool, wasn't aware of the bandcamp link. Must have been quite an undertaking!
Hopefully it drives some traffic his way. They're lovely arrangements beautifully played by @blanham
Nice coverage with your additional good suggestion to look for variations, plus the treat of your slower version of Oscar Wright's Old Jake Gillie. I found a couple renditions with variations to work on, and put them together in a medley. First is Dwight Diller's from his "Harvest" CD, though his recording was faster and full of his characteristic rhythm and clucks. (Here he is later, playing slower, and crediting Oscar Wright with the tune: Jake Gilley.) Fiddler Clark Kessinger comes next in the medley, though has the A and B parts reversed, and may have referenced parts from other tunes, as you can read here: Traditional Tune Archive.
I must admit that Miles Krassen's book was one of my best teachers in the 70's when I began learning clawhammer. One thing he wrote on page 18 regarding Old Jack Gillie was that the tune is a variation of 8th of January -- an interesting perspective for listening.
Edited by - JanetB on 05/24/2026 15:19:31
quote:
Originally posted by JanetBNice coverage with your additional good suggestion to look for variations, plus the treat of your slower version of Oscar Wright's Old Jake Gillie. I found a couple renditions with variations to work on, and put them together in a medley. First is Dwight Diller's from his "Harvest" CD, though his recording was faster and full of his characteristic rhythm and clucks. (Here he is later, playing slower, and crediting Oscar Wright with the tune: Jake Gilley.) Fiddler Clark Kessinger comes next in the medley, though has the A and B parts reversed, and may have referenced parts from other tunes, as you can read here: Traditional Tune Archive.
I must admit that Miles Krassen's book was one of my best teachers in the 70's when I began learning clawhammer. One thing he wrote on page 18 regarding Old Jack Gillie was that the tune is a variation of 8th of January -- an interesting perspective for listening.
Lovely work @JanetB, I'll be digging into those arrangements! I'd never really heard the 8th of January comparisons, but definitely noticed a similarity in your second version based on Clark Kessinger's.
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