Annotation:Portsmouth (2)

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PORTSMOUTH [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. A West Virginia/Kentucky regional tune recorded by West Virginia fiddler Clark Kessinger, who probably learned the tune as a boy in the Kanawha Valley. It was released by Brunswick Record's Vocalion label (02704-A) in 1929 and although the recording was credited to the "Wright Brothers" on the label, it was a pseudonym for Clark Kessinger (1896-1975) and Luches Kessinger (1906-1944), uncle and nephew. The title refers to the town of Portsmouth, Ohio, on the Ohio River, well-known to Kessinger who played there often.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Brunswick The Kessinger Brothers (1930). Document Records DOCD 8010, "Kessinger Brothers Vol. 1 1928-1929" (1997). Vocalion 02704 (78 RPM), The Wright Brothers (1929).

See also listing at:
Hear the Kessinger Brothers' recording on youtube.com [1]




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