Henry Reed
(April 28, 1884 - February
8, 1968)
Henry Reed was the youngest of the eight children. The
family was musically-inclined, his father was a musician also, mainly playing
the banjo although he played a little bit of fiddle as well. Henry's uncle and brother Josh also played
the fiddle.
Henry moved around to numerous places in WV and
Southwest Va. during his life, but last settled in Glen Lyn, Va. He never
really attended or participated in many music festivals or fiddlers conventions
outside of the area where he lived. He would occasionally play for local
dances, often with his brother Josh. In
his younger days Henry was also known for his banjo playing, but stopped
playing after he lost his banjo in a 1939 fire. Henry was sometimes accompanied
by his son James on guitar when he was older.
While living in Red Sulphur Springs as a youngster,
he began to try to learn to read sheet music and even managed to pick up a few
songs from sheet music. But he did not
continue to pursue his music-reading as he got older. During his youth was the time when he picked up most of his
tunes, with the majority of the tunes learned from family members, neighbors,
and friends rather than the radio or records. Henry said that his style &
tunes were East Virginian.
Outside of the Reed family, Alan Jabbour is the
foremost authority on Henry Reed's fiddle playing. In 1966 and 1967, Alan
visited with Henry at his home in Glen Lyn on multiple occasions. During most
of these visits, Alan recorded Henry playing numerous tunes on the fiddle (and
harmonica) as well as describing the origins of the tunes. Alan made several
copies of these recordings, one of which he placed in the Library of Congress.
On April 28, 2000 (Henry's birthday), the Library of
Congress made Alan Jabbour's recordings of Henry Reed accessible on-line as
Fiddle Tunes of the Old
Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/reed/
Listen to Henry Reed
playing:
When Henry was visited by Alan Jabbour he didn't recall
the name of this tune, and he only played it with two parts. Henry's son James
did know the title, and played it as a four part tune, he explained that his
father used to play the two extra strains but had omitted them in the
recordings. I was fortunate to know Jim and was taught the four part version
directly from him.
James H. Reed
( February 16, 1925 - April
30, 2012 )