Understanding living music traditions

Subject: Understanding living music traditions
From: Sourdough
Date: 21 Nov 99 - 06:50 PM

I was looking through the Internet for information about the murder of Naomi Wise about a hundred and ninety years ago when she was "deluded by John Lewis's lies". I came across a speech by the director of the Smithsonian (I think they are called now) the Ralph Rinzler Archives. I think there are a lot of people here who would find the history covered in the speech, Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson and others when Ralph R. first located them, as fascinating as I did. There is a lot here that ties to what Frank Hamilton has written about the vigor of primary sources.

I wish I could insert a button here for you to go directly to the site without cutting and pasting but I don't know how to do that. However, someone who goes there and agrees that it is an interesting document might be kind enough to create a button.

Sourdough

http://www.si.edu/folklife/talk13/director.htm

Subject: RE: Understanding living music traditions
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Nov 99 - 07:06 PM

Article on Ralph Rinzler Archives
Very interesting! Thanks!

Subject: RE: Understanding living music traditions
From: Alice
Date: 21 Nov 99 - 07:13 PM

click here

Subject: RE: Understanding living music traditions
From: Frank Hamilton
Date: 22 Nov 99 - 05:24 PM

Great, Alice! Thanks. An important article.

Frank

Subject: RE: Understanding living music traditions
From: Mudjack
Date: 22 Nov 99 - 05:43 PM

Thank you Sourdough... A most interesting and valuable piece of imformation. I can now appreciate the works of Ralp Rinzler and his contributios to the Americana music. Mudjack

Subject: RE: Understanding living music traditions
From: Stewie
Date: 23 Nov 99 - 03:19 AM

Thanks, Stewie.

Subject: RE: Understanding living music traditions
From: Sourdough
Date: 23 Nov 99 - 03:30 AM

How wrong can I be. I thought (was hoping, actually) when I posted this speech text, it would set off an interesting thread by people who have first hand knowledge of the people mentioned.

Well, maybe there's still a chance.

Sourdough

Subject: RE: Understanding living music traditions
From: Frank Hamilton
Date: 23 Nov 99 - 09:23 PM

Don't know what you mean by firsthand knowledge, Sourdough, but I saw Doc Watson for the first time at the home of Alan Lomax on w. 3rd St. in New York City when Doc was playing behind Tom Clarence Ashley. I remember thinking that he was as every bit as good as Ashley and had a very commanding ability for being relegated to the role of accompanist, which he was at that time. I think Alan was recording them there. "East Virginia" and the "Coo Coo Bird" had always been two of my favorites and I think I got interested in the modal banjo tuning through hearing Ashley. If you raise the second string of the five-string banjo, you get a suspended second which doesn't contain a third in the chord and this enables you to sing in major, minor or modal scalar songs. I think Ashley may have been one of the few to employ this tuning extensively. Don't know whether he invented it or not. The frailing style played at the bass of the neck rather than over the middle part of the drum was unique as well. I don't remember hearing too many banjo players do this. Buell Kazee was one. John Cohen was playing in that style in those days (1963 or so). Later, Fred Cockerham and Tommy Jarrel played more intricate melodies using somewhat the same frailing style.

Seems like I recall Doc wearing suspenders, then. Ralph Rinzler played mandolin in the Greenbriar Boys, a folk style bluegrass band.

Frank