Not a reference to the western Indian tribe by that name, this tune comes from Clyde Davenport (1921- ) recorded by Jeff Titon in 1990. Clyde grew up near Monticello, Wayne County, south central Kentucky, on the Cumberland Plateau and learned fiddle from father Will Davenport (b. 1876), who learned from a neighbor Will Phipps, born before the Civil War. His smooth style was influenced by Leonard Rutherford, who often played in Monticello on Saturday nights. This tune, with its short, repetitive, syncopated phrases is no doubt from the Black American fiddle tradition. (Titon) Clyde was influenced by Rutherford, who in turn was influenced by Black fiddler Cuje Bertram, also from the Cumberland Plateau. Banjo player Virgil Anderson, one source for Davenport banjo tunes, learned much of his repertory from African Americans. (Titon:) Clyde seems to be the only source for Blackfoot. Davenport is the only fiddler in this collection who played commercially. For a time on a radio station in Muncie, Indiana, Clyde entertained, after which he even quit fiddling for 15 years. When he resumed fiddling, he went back to the old-time music. Since many of the source fiddlers were recorded in advanced years, Davenport's energy and smoothness stands out and makes one want to go back and hear all those other fiddlers in their prime.
