Old Joe Clark

“Old Joe Clark” is a well-known American fiddle tune and folk song. A 1970 Kentucky historical marker identifies the title character as Joe Clark, a local mountaineer born in 1839, though there are multiple conflicting claims about Joe Clark’s identity. The tune likely dates to the 19th century, but no printed version is known before 1900, and the earliest published text, collected in Virginia, appeared in 1918. The earliest known reference appears in E. C. Perrow’s “Songs and Rhymes from the South,” published in the Journal of American Folklore (1912), collected during Perrow’s 1905 fieldwork. The tune likely originated in late 19th or early 20th century, possibly circulating first as a children’s song or play-party tune before becoming a fiddle standard with approximately 90 verses across various versions.

What is a play-party? A play-party was a type of social gathering popular in rural America, especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s, that was essentially a compromise between dancing and religious restrictions.