Fred Cockerham (3 November 1905 - July 8, 1980) was an American fiddle and banjo player of American folk music.[1]

Fred Cockerham
Born(1905-11-03)3 November 1905
OriginNorth Carolina, United States
Died8 July 1980(1980-07-08) (aged 74)
GenresAmerican folk
Instrument(s)Fiddle, banjo

Cockerham was one of the seven children of Elias and Betty Jane Cockerham in North Carolina.[1] He was one of the most accomplished of all the Round Peak, North Carolina musicians but is most commonly known as the banjo accompanist to Tommy Jarrell. He played the fiddle in a more modern style than Jarrell, but played the fretless banjo in an old clawhammer style much like that of his old mentor, Charley Lowe.[1]

Discography

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Year Title Label Number Notes
1965 Clawhammer Banjo: Old Time Banjo and Fiddle Tunes County 701 reissued on County CD 2716, Clawhammer Banjo Vol 1 (2002) with extra tracks
1968 Down to the Cider Mill County 713 with Tommy Jarrell & Oscar Jenkins. This and the two below LPs were reissued with the exception of several tracks on 2 County CDs - 2734 & 2735 (2004) [2]
1970 Back Home in the Blue Ridge County 723
1973 Stay All Night and Don't Go Home County 741
1975 High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina Rounder 0028 recorded by John Cohen in 1965, reissued on Rounder CD 028 (1995) with 11 additional tracks
1976 Music from Round Peak Heritage 10 with Tommy Jarrell, Mac Snow et al.[3]
1978 Under the Double Eagle Snowflake 103 Fred's solo fiddle album
Southern Clawhammer Kicking Mule KM 213 several solo banjo tracks recorded by Ray Alden
1992 Best Fiddle-Banjo Duets County CD 2702 with Tommy Jarrell, duets now on the 2 County CDs 2734-2735 plus field recordings from the collection of Ray Alden & Dave Spilkia (out-of-print)
2004 Fred Cockerham Field Recorders' Collective FRC 101 recorded by Ray Alden
2008 Round Peak Volume 1 Field Recorders' Collective FRC 109 recorded by Ray Alden
Round Peak Volume 2 Field Recorders' Collective FRC 110 recorded by Ray Alden

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ray Alden. "Fred Cockerham". The Field Recorders' Collective. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  2. ^ own vinyl and CD copies
  3. ^ own vinyl copy