The good Reverend tears it up with a tune that bears more than a superficial resemblance to Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag. He makes it look so easy…

This is from a newly released compilation of Reverend Gary Davis performances. You can learn more about it here: http://guitarvideos.com/dvd/13111dvd.htm

Ernest Thompson cut this side for Columbia (and their cut-price Harmony label) on September 9th, 1924, in New York. The Harmony release is under a pseudonym (as was the convention for cut-price labels), the label credits the performance to ‘Ernest Johnson’.

The song is often credited to A.P. Carter, though this recording and others (Ernest Stoneman and Henry Whitter’s versions, for example) predate the Carter’s recording by several years. It has become one of the more widely-recorded tunes in the old-timer repertoire, with versions recorded by the aforementioned artists, as well as:

• Asa Martin
• The Light Crust Doughboys
• The Delmore Brothers
• Riley Puckett
• The Shelton Brothers
• Claude Davis
• Richard Burnett
• Daphne Burns
• McFarland & Gardner
• The Monroe Brothers
• Holland Puckett
• The Red Fox Chasers
• George Reneau
• Billy Vest

Courtesy of Archive.org