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Artist
Clarence Ashley
12+ albums
folkcountryamericanabanjobluegrass
about
"Tom" Clarence Ashley (Clarence Earl McCurry, Bristol, Tennessee, September 29, 1895 - Winston-Salem, North Carolina, June 2, 1967) was an American clawhammer banjo player, guitarist and singer. 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 bir
top songs
albums
Anthology Of American Folk Music, Vol. 1A: Ballads
Classic Mountain Songs from Smithsonian Folkways
The Original Folkways Recordings of Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley 1960-1962
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The House Carpenter (2020 Remaster)
Classic Old-Time Music from Smithsonian Folkways
Anthology Of American Folk Music
American Folk Music
House Of The Rising Sun (Original Version 1932)
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Anthology Of American Folk Music Volume 1: Ballads (Disc 1-A)
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My Rough And Rowdy Ways: Early American Rural Music. Badman Balads And Hellraising Songs, Vol. 1
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The Rose & The Briar
American Epic: The Collection