He began performing at medicine shows in the Southern Appalachian region as early as 1911, and gained initial fame in 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.
Clarence 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 McMurry 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 George was an adulterer, and 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 favour of "Ashley".
From his birth, Tom was surrounded by musicians. His grandfather bought him a banjo when he was eight years old, and his mother and aunts taught him to play folk songs and ballads. He also learned a number of songs and techniques from itinerant lumberjacks and railroad workers lodging at his grandfather's boarding house. In 1911, Tom joined a medicine show that happened to be passing through Mountain City. He played banjo and guitar, and also performed blackface comedy. Tom would play with medicine shows every summer until the early 1940s. During winters, he organized local concerts at rural schools. He would also play for money at coal camps and rayon mills, often accompanied by influential Johnson County fiddler G. B. Grayson.
Tom made his first recordings for Gennett Records in February 1928 with the Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers, which then consisted of Ashley on banjo or guitar, Garley Foster on harmonica, and Clarence Green on fiddle.[3] Later that year, with the help of Victor producer Ralph Peer, Ashley made several recordings with the Carolina Tar Heels, which consisted of Tom on guitar and vocals, his friend Dock Walsh on banjo, and Gwen or Garley Foster on harmonica. In 1929, Columbia Records recruited Ashley to make his first solo recordings, as will as to record with a trio called "Byrd Moore and His Hot Shots." In the early 1930s, Ashley again recorded with the Blue Ridge Entertainers, this time for the American Record Corporation. The final recordings from his early era were a series of duets with harmonica player Gwen Foster in 1933.
The effects of the Great Depression made money scarce throughout the early 1930s. Not only was Ashley no longer recruited to make records, it was virtually impossible to earn money playing at coal camps or on street corners. The Depression (along with government regulations) also greatly reduced the crowds that showed up at medicine shows. Ashley briefly worked as a coal miner in West Virginia, and did odd jobs back in Shouns to support his wife, Hettie, and their two children. In 1937, he established a trucking business in Mountain City that hauled furniture and crops to various cities around the region. Throughout the following decade, Ashley performed as a comedian with the Stanley Brothers. He also formed a local string band, the Tennessee Merrymakers.
During the folk music revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s, urban ethnomusicologists rediscovered Ashley's music. By this time, Ashley was well-known in folk music circles due in large part to Harry Smith's 1951 Anthology of American Folk Music, which included some of Ashley's early recordings. In 1960 Ralph Rinzler met Ashley at the Old Time Fiddler's Convention in Union Grove, North Carolina. He eventually persuaded him to start playing banjo again and to record his repertoire of songs. Over the next few years Ashley and his friends Doc Watson, Clint Howard, and Fred Price played at numerous urban folk festivals, including the Chicago Folk Festival in 1962 and the Newport Folk Festival in 1963. They also made two records for Folkways Records. A compilation of the two records plus other recordings are available on Original Folkways Recordings: 1960-1962.
Ashley continued touring the folk circuit throughout the mid-1960s. He appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York and played at dozens of venues in California. In 1966, Ashley and Reidsville, North Carolina guitarist Tex Isley toured England. A second tour of England was planned for 1967, but Ashley grew ill and discovered he had cancer before he departed. He died in 1967, at the Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Ashley learned much of his repertoire from his grandfather and aunts and itinerant musicians lodging at his grandfather's boarding house in the early 1900s. His unique G-modal banjo tuning style, which he called "sawmill" (gDGCD from fifth string to the first), was likely taught to him by family members. He recorded several songs derived from English or Irish ballads that were passed down through generations in Appalachia, the most well-known of which included "Coo Coo Bird" (which he learned from his mother), "House Carpenter", and "Rude and Rambling Man". Other recordings included the murder ballads "Naomi Wise", "Little Sadie", and "John Hardy", and the folk songs "Frankie Silvers" and "Greenback Dollar". A strong African-American influence can be heard on Ashley's renderings of "Dark Holler", "Haunted Road Blues", and "Corrina, Corrina". In 1933, Ashley made the first known recording of "House of the Rising Sun", which he claimed he learned from his grandfather, Enoch. During the folk revival years in the 1960s, Ashley and his band helped to popularize the Southern hymn, "Amazing Grace."
Several notable musicians cite Ashley as an important influence. Country music singer Roy Acuff once toured the medicine show circuit with Ashley, and Ashley probably taught him "House of the Rising Sun" (which Acuff recorded in 1938) and "Greenback Dollar." Folk musician Doc Watson began his recording career with Ashley in 1960 and played in Ashley's band throughout much of the decade. Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia once said in an interview that he learned clawhammer picking from "listening to Clarence Ashley." Other folk musicians influenced by Ashley include Townes Van Zandt, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Jean Ritchie.
The Coo Coo Bird
Clarence Ashley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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 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
'Til the fourth day of July
The song “The Coo-Coo Bird” by Clarence Ashley is a traditional American folk song that tells a simple story of a man who wants to build a cabin on top of a mountain so that he can see his lover, Willie, as he goes by. This is a romantic idea that is reinforced with the use of the word "hmm" which is a sound of contemplation and longing. The lyrics convey the idea of being close to the person you love, even if they aren’t always with you.
The second half of the song talks about the bird called the coo-coo. It is described as a pretty bird that wobbles when it flies. The song suggests that this bird never actually hollers “coo-coo” until the fourth day of July. This is a metaphor for how people, like the bird, may keep their true feelings hidden until a certain time or event.
The final lines of the song go back to the theme of gambling, claiming that the singer has played cards in both England and Spain and is confident that he will win the next round. This line suggests that the singer may be a gambler or has experience traveling to different parts of the world, perhaps for work or pleasure. Overall, the song is a classic example of American folk music that uses simple lyrics, catchy melodies, and a sense of nostalgia to connect with its audience.
Line by Line Meaning
Gonna build me a log cabin
I'm going to construct a cabin using wood logs as building material.
On a mountain so high
The location that I've chosen for building cabin is at a high altitude.
So I can see Willie
I desire to have an elevated place with an unobstructed view of Willie's passing.
As he goes on by
I want to witness Willie's journey.
Oh the coo-coo is a pretty bird
Coo-Coo is a beautiful bird.
She wobbles when she flies
The bird's movement is somewhat unsteady when it is flying.
She never hollers coo-coo
The bird doesn't make its characteristic sound.
'Til the fourth day of July
The bird only makes its sound on the Fourth of July.
I've played cards in England
I have gambling experience in England.
I've played cards in Spain
I have gambling experience in Spain.
I'll bet you ten dollars
I propose a wager of $10.
I'll beat you next game
I'll win the upcoming gambling match.
Jack of diamonds, Jack of diamonds
I have a pair of cards - the Jack of Diamonds.
I've known you from old
I'm familiar with the other player for a long time.
Now you've robbed my poor pockets
The other player has taken all my money from my poor pockets.
Of my silver and my gold
I no longer have any silver or gold coins left after losing the bet.
I'll bet you ten dollars
I propose a wager of $10.
I beat you this game
I won the current gambling match.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: THOMAS CLARENCE ASHLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@danielthompson6207
Born 1895 and we get to watch and listen to him today. What a time to be alive.
@joannehack7588
AMEN
@joannehack7588
I do believe this to be the best video I have ever heard on Facebook. 💐
@435982814
it is precisely video footage such as this that makes me believe youtube to be the most important media technology of the last 50 years. What a pleasure indeed, to witness something of the personality of someone you've heretofore only heard sing and play a banjo, a pleasure which cannot be overemphasized. Thank you so much for posting this video, cannot stop watching it. A mighty, mighty man!
@SteveCournane
Beautiful
@insleepsound
amen interweb brother!
@robkunkel8833
Well said Kevin Galli ghig .... however you spell it. You are right as rain!
@ginomatteucci8756
Kevin Gallaugher q
@ryankieta9770
wew lad
@BertisGuitar
A Greil Marcus quote - “Clarence Ashley was one of the greatest of the old—timey singers—those who, in the first third of the twentieth century, sang as if the new century was a trick that would disappear soon enough…”