Crazy Creek

It doesn't get much crazier...
Source

This is a modern tune with a tricky melody and a fairly complex chord pattern. The original version was apparantly written by the fiddler Tommy Jackson in the key of A minor but most of the recorded versions are in the key of A major (actually using G major shapes with the capo at the second fret).

Cripple Creek

Source

Most new banjo players start off with Cripple Creek.

A meandering or a crooked stream is referred to as a "cripple" creek. The most famous Cripple Creek is a town in Colorado. Gold was discovered there in 1891 and the mining town that sprang up was considered by some to be the source of the song.

Other musicologists think it must be a much older tune.

Sally Goodin (Goodwin)



Source

A lovely traditional tune - all about the lovely Sally Goodin...

Sally Ann

Source

An old and simple tune - but great fun to play.

Soldier's Joy

 

Source

One of the most popular fiddle tune in history,  “Soldier’s Joy” can be traced to collections published in London and Scandinavia in the middle 1700s. Early versions can be traced to Scotland, and variants found in the French Alps and Newfoundland. The tune was also well known in Ireland.
As is the case with many fiddle tunes, lyrics were added later. In America, “Soldier’s Joy” eventually came to be known as the morphine used by Civil War soldiers when they were injured in battle. A popular lyric for the tune was: “Twenty-five cents for the old morphine, now carry me away from here.”

Country singer Jimmy Driftwood wrote lyrics to "Soldier's Joy" and recorded his version of it in 1957.

Jerusalem Ridge

Source

The Bill Monroe tune about a place near his home. A little strange in its structure but hauntingly beautiful.

Banjo Signal

An actual
banjo signal...
Source

Not a piece of railway engineering but the Don Reno Original!

Whiskey Before Breakfast

Source

...Or even for breakfast! It is not a recommended diet but it is a great tune.

Arkensas Traveller

Source


 

“Arkansas Traveler” was created by American fiddlers in the early 1800s and quickly became one of the most popular fiddle tunes in history.

It was once the official state song but was demoted to historical status because of its unflattering portrait of a countryman content to fiddle in a cabin full of puddles rather than mend his leaking roof.

Davy Crockett - the American folk hero - was also a skilled fiddler and buck dancer and in the late 1700s he became well known as a music star and politician in Fort Nashborough (later renamed Nashville).

Cherokee Shuffle



Source

Cherokee Shuffle is a great traditional tune. I'm not sure where the name came from...