Uncle Wade - A Memorial to Wade Ward: Old Time Virginia Banjo Picker, 1892-1971

Wade Ward

This selection of recordings features Wade Ward, a banjo and fiddle player from Independence, Virginia whose repertoire remained close to the tunes he learned in his youth. Clips of interviews with the musician and members of his family augment this collection of recordings from the early 1960s, when Ward was in his early 70s.

*Content Advisory: The title of track 201 contains derogatory language. While it is offensive to us, we have chosen for the song titles to remain as published and interpreted in the time period in which they were written. We believe that to do otherwise would be to change a historical document. The “n word” was commonplace for a time in history, especially during the era of Jim Crow. Its circulation and popularization through blackface minstrelsy became associated with the identity of Black people in a white supremacist society.

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Track Listing

101	Conversation with Granny Porter / Cluck Old Hen	Granny Porter	01:28
102	Western Country / Katy Hill's reminiscences about old time dances / Old Jimmy Sutton (medley)	Wade and Fields Ward	07:43
103	Black Mountain Rag	Wade Ward	02:02
104	Polly Put the Kettle On	Wade Ward	00:55
105	Ida Red	Wade Ward	01:21
106	John Lover is Gone	Wade Ward	02:25
107	Conversation Between Wade Ward and Glen Smith / Arkansas Traveler / Katy Hill's recollections of the Fiddler's Convention	Wade Ward	03:55
108	Foxchase	Wade Ward	01:21
109	Chilly Winds	Wade Ward	01:06
201	Half-Shaved Nigger*	Wade Ward	01:06
202	Old Reuben	Wade Ward	01:12
203	June Apple	Wade Ward	00:55
204	Mississippi Sawyer	Wade Ward	01:25
205	Katy Hill describes Wade learning to play music / Billy in the Lowground	Wade Ward	03:06
206	Nancy Blevins	Wade Ward	01:21
207	Sourwood Mountain	Wade Ward	01:52
208	Chicken Reel	Wade Ward	01:44
209	Ragtime Annie	Wade Ward	02:24
210	Katy Hill's reminiscences about one of Wade's escapades / Sally Goodin'	Katy Hill	03:28
211	Sally Ann	Wade Ward	02:00
212	Old Joe Clark / Katy Hill's reminiscences / Peach Bottom Creek	Wade Ward	04:39
213	Lone Prairie	Wade Ward	00:55