Old Joe Clark

played on banjo and self recorded by "Banjo" Bill Cornett in Knott County, Kentucky [1960s]

Banjo Bill Cornett (1890-c 1959) was a folk singer and banjo player who lived in Knott County, Kentucky He ran a country store near Hindman, the Knott County seat and was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1956 As a legislator, he campaigned successfully to improve pension benefits for the elderly On at least one occasion he made his case on the House floor by singing his composition "the Old Age Pension Blues" He had an extensive memory collection of traditional songs and tunes some of which he lists on this recording He also composed songs many of which recounted actual tragic events such as a 1928 hotel fire in Hazard and a drunken driver unknowingly running over his two children

Sound Music

Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College

SC-CD-122-01-17

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2013