"Rock the Cradle Joe" is an old-time breakdown in D Major. The parts are played AABB. Most modern versions of the tune come from the playing of J.W. “Babe” Spangler (1882-1970) of Meadows of Dan, Virginia, who recorded it privately in the late 1940’s, accompanied by his brother Dudley on guitar. The banjo tablature is from John Letscher. This version is from Franklin George of Ivydale, West Virginia. This version can be heard on the Slippery Hill site and on the Milnes/Lee-Hammond CD Hell Up Coal Holler. It is considered more like the original than the tune in current circulation. It was printed in Brody's Fiddler’s Fakebook (1983), Johnson's The Kitchen Musician No. 2: Occasional Collection of Old-Timey Fiddle Tunes for Hammer Dulcimer, Fiddle, etc. (1982) (revised 1988 & 2003), Kuntz's Ragged but Right (1987), Silberberg's Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern (2002), Sing Out, vol. 36, No. 2, (August 1991), Songer's Portland Collection (1997) and Spadaro's 10 Cents a Dance (1980;). It was recorded by James Leva and Bruce Molsky on An Anthology (1977), The Old Virginia Fiddlers on Old Time Fiddle, Patrick County, Va., Rare Recordings 1948-49 (1977), Plank Road String Band on Vocal and Instrumental Blend (1978) and David Winston on Southern Clawhammer Banjo (1979).