It’s Saturday, & as we move into the weekend proper, I expect a number of you are still working on Thursday’s turkey & trimmings: perhaps at the soup & sandwich stages now. Here on Robert Frost’s Banjo, we’re back to our banjo feast with two interesting selections.
Both of today’s songs feature performers whose careers pre-dated the recording industry—their careers stretch back to the days of medicine shows & similar entertainments. Otherwise, however, you might think that Uncle Dave Macon & Papa Charlie Jackson were quite different sorts of musicians playing quite different sorts of music—Uncle Dave Macon is thought of as an old-time “country” musician—he was a charter member of the Grand Ol’ Opry—while Papa Charlie Jackson would be classified as a blues player.
But they both played the banjo—& as we know from many sources, the genre-typing of music that’s a staple of today’s recording industry (& which seems to grow more & more particularized every year) is an anachronism when discussing the actual musicians & types of music played in the actual “old times,” especially prior to World War II. A good discussion of this, particularly in the blues context, can be found in Elijah Wald's fine book, Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson & the Invention of the Blues.
Anyway, from a banjo perspective, both Macon & Jackson were excellent players. Macon’s style—while idiosyncratic—may be a bit more recognizable. He played clawhammer or frailing style, but interestingly, he often interspersed parts that were played with the fingers plucking upward rather than the downward stroke of frailing. These days this is pretty much an "either/or" choice, & a fair number of banjoists play in only way style period, let alone switching styles in mid-song as Macon did.
Papa Charlie Jackson on the other hand, didn’t play the 5-string banjo or its 4-string relatives like the plectrum & tenor banjos. He played a 6-string “banjo guitar.” Tuned like a guitar, but with a banjo head, this instrument was much more common in the 1920s & 30s than nowadays (tho both Gold Tone & Deering continue to make these instruments)—besides Papa Charlie Jackson, the great Johnny St. Cyr from Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five played a guitar banjo; & a couple of musicians whose careers extended later but who had roots in this era also were known for playing the instrument, namely Danny Barker & the Reverend Gary Davis. Even Django Rheinhardt played some guitar-banjo!
Hope you enjoy these two songs (at least marginally “foodie”), & tune in tomorrow morning for two more as the series draws to a conclusion!
1st pic: Papa Charlie Jackson & his banjo-guitar. 2nd pic: Uncle Dave Macon & his 5-string banjo
Happy Thanskgiving! or Happy Thursday, as the case may be. The Banjo Feast continues, & there are two wonderful songs for you today, both featuring banjo & foodie themes: the Carolina Chocolate Drops, with Rhiannon Giddens playing clawhammer-style banjo, give us a sweet version of “Corn Bread & Butter Beans.” Ms Giddens is joined by bandmates Dom Flemons on jug & bones & Justin Robinson on fiddle & vocal. I had the pleasure of seeing the Carolina Chocolate Drops in Chico, CA this autumn, & let me tell you: if you ever get a chance to see them perform, don't miss it.
The second song is Marcy Marxer & Cathy Fink's take on the old-time standard “Kitchen Girl.” The latter song features Marxer on an instrument she helped design, Gold Tone’s cello banjo—also a dream instrument of mine! Ms Marxer & Ms Fink have been performing together for 30 years & they are truly a delight, whether they're playing old-time tunes, children's songs or any of their wonderful experiments betwixt & between! Marxer & Fink are also successful producers who have worked in the studio with artists such as Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, Patsy Montana & many others. & while I always think of them first in terms of the banjo, they're not instrumental monomaniacs—they also perform with various guitars, ukuleles, mandolins, percussion instruments & more. If you’re not familiar with either the Carolina Chocolate Drops (see pic leading off the post) or Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, please take some time to check out their homepages & get to know these extremely talented musicians. In the meantime, enjoy your day & a couple of banjo tunes!
Happy day before Thanksgiving all! Hope your preparations are going swimmingly, & for those of you who are traveling, hope your journeys are safe.
Of course, holidays can be mixed blessings some times—& with that in mind, I thought I’d offer a little something over the next few days to brighten your mornings, or whatever part of the day you may visit Robert Frost’s Banjo. & those who are enjoying a festive holiday—well, this should just brighten up your day a bit more, as it should for our many friends outside the U.S. who are free & clear from the Thanksgiving frenzy.
In an old Peanuts comic strip, Linus once observed that, “The way I see it as soon as a baby is born, he should be issued a banjo.” This, in Linus’ view, would cure existential angst. I tend to agree with Linus on this point—so I’m offering a banjo feast from now thru the weekend—excepting Friday, when we’ll be enjoying Bernie Jungle’s Homegrown Radio appearance. Otherwise, each morning thru Sunday, two banjo songs!
& not just banjo songs: as Thanksgiving is the foodie holiday par excellance, they’ll all be foodie songs too. Today’s selections are the enigmatically named “Rush in the Pepper,” performed by one of my favorite old-time banjoists, Cathy Moore of Banjo Meets World. Tho Ms Moore has a serious day job in a whole other field, she is a very talented player, & there are also some great instructional videos on her blog & her YouTube channel. She brings verve & an uncanny rhythmic sense to the banjo, & I always enjoy listening to her play. I’m sure you’ll feel the same way.
The second video features someone else who was both a performer & a teacher—the late Mike Seeger, who was responsible for bringing so much old-time music to people’s consciousness from the 1950s until his death last year. Seeger was in his own way as much of an apostle of the banjo as his half-brother Pete, & in fact concentrated more than Pete on the real old-timey sound. Mike made much of his mark with the wonderful band, the New Lost City Ramblers, but he was also an accomplished solo artist who excelled on a number of instruments. Mike Seeger is playing one of the first tunes many banjo players learn, “Bile Them Cabbage Down” (“Bile”=”Boil”), but he brings a real artist’s take to the simple tune. He’s also playing a gourd banjo—this is truly vintage sound! Please note that Mr Seeger had some problems tuning the instrument, so the tune itself doesn’t start until around 1:50: take heart, all musicians who’ve ever gone thru that on stage—it happens to the best!
Enjoy! & tune in tomorrow for more of the Banjo Feast!
It’s Saturday, & as we move into the weekend proper, I expect a number of you are still working on Thursday’s turkey & trimmings: perhaps at the soup & sandwich stages now. Here on Robert Frost’s Banjo, we’re back to our banjo feast with two interesting selections.
hile idiosyncratic—may be a bit more recognizable. He played clawhammer or frailing style, but interestingly, he often interspersed parts that were played with the fingers plucking upward rather than the downward stroke of frailing. These days this is pretty much an "either/or" choice, & a fair number of banjoists play in only way style period, let alone switching styles in mid-song as Macon did.
