I play the banjo and I am proud of it

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: Rasener
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 12:00 PM

It may please you to know that secretly I like the banjo as long as its played well and this is the master.
Banjiman is a bit too young to remember him :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzqiLf503qQ&feature=related

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: SINSULL
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 11:17 AM

Can't believe I have to say this again: "Banjo players are sexier."
Think John Hartford.

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 11:13 AM

Don't do youtube but I've been playing banjo since '71. All old time all the time. Banjo playing carries no stigma in WV.

Russ (Permanent GUEST and banjo player)

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: greg stephens
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 11:08 AM

Here, I hope, is Matt Milton's link .
Are you sure that's you, Matt? It looks more like Barney McKenna, or possibly Dick Miles.

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: Mavis Enderby
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 10:57 AM

OK - here's mine: Scarborough Fair on an old Savana 5 string.

Pete.

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: greg stephens
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 10:47 AM

(my last post went wrong. Hope a kindly clone will remove it, plus this bit in brackets)

Thanks for contributions, all. A portrait of God's own instrument (and its devotess)is starting to coalesce out of the ether.
Guy Woolf asks what kind we all play. Mine is an old John Grey, with a nice old brass resonator which your can't really see of course.The neck needs a bit of remedial work I think.
Here it is again, not so manic this time, relaxing in my local, the Greyhound in Penkhull, playing the Jenny Lind Polka.
(For the benefit of Guy Woolf, Penkhull is in Stoke-on-Trent, home of pottery!).

You may notice that things are slightly out of focus. This tends to happen in English pubs during the latter part of the evening. The three musicians in the middle are the Boat Band; the bearded and pony-tailed fiddler who occasionally appears on the right is Flos Headford, who was passing through that night.

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: GUEST,matt milton
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 10:40 AM

bah, I never seem to be able to make hyperlinks clickable on here... guess you'll have to cut'n'paste...

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: GUEST,matt milton
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 10:37 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXnrD-w-5-o

Here is me singing and playing the banjo while wearing a false beard and an aran polo neck.

I grant you, that doesn't exactly do much to further the 'Take Banjoists Seriously' campaign. Still, it was a fun night...

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: The Sandman
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 10:26 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7D_Ml6OrN0 blarney pilgrim played on a vega little wonder tenor banjo with no resonator.

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: greg stephens
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 10:23 AM

Thanks for contributions, all. A portrait of the inbstrument and its devotess)is starting to coalesce out of the ether. Guy asks what kind we all play. Mine is an old John Grey, with a nice old brass resonator which your can't really see of course.The neck meeds a bit of remedial work I think.
Here it is again, not so manic this time, sitting in my local, the Greyhound in Penkhull, playing

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: greg stephens
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 09:41 AM

To leave five-strings for a bit, how about the man who exploded the tenor banjo into life in Ireland and Britain? The legendary Barney McKenna.
It's worth listening to the whole track, Barney takes a long time to come in, but when he does you can see how a master starts a solo, the ould ham. The whole track also gives plenty of opportunities to hear some fine Peter Sellars-style exhortatory shouts.

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: Guy Wolff
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 09:37 AM

Greg and all above . Why not also add what make of banjo you are playing if you feel like it ?? Here is a classic Clarence Tom Ashley song :The COO COO . I am using a Mike Ramsey With a Dobson neck . its tuned in a sawmill or G sus 4 tuning gDGCD .I am playing 'clawhammer Banjo "   All the best Guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBs5tp294OM

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: The Sandman
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 08:56 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4prAIh_wcU
tenor banjo this time

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: theleveller
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 08:53 AM

I know I make jokes about banjos but it was the first instrument I learned to play. Here's a short clip of one of my favourite banjo players (Eric Wisseberg) playing one of my favourite pieces (Flop Eared Mule). I actually used to play this once upon a time - only much slower!

Flop Eared Mule

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: The Sandman
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 08:29 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xssNhhNCvNk

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: The Sandman
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 08:26 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa0KBosXB34

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: The Sandman
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 08:23 AM

well, I havent been playing long but I am enjoying myself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDIs_50cLyU

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 08:01 AM

Reading the title of this thread,I knew it was posted by someone from England. :-) The banjo is a well-loved instrument in the U.S.
My wife and I were at Sandy Paton's memorial yesterday and a couple from Scotland did a song, with the wife accompanying them on banjo. Apparently playing banjo doesn't make you a second class citizen in Scotland.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Roy Harris again after a lapse of thirty years. I was pretty sure it was him when I saw him, but just to make absolutely sure, I said, "Say something in English." I could have said, "Do you like banjo?" but knowing Roy, I'm sure he'd have said "Yes."

Jerry

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: greg stephens
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 07:57 AM

Great stuff, keep them coming. Now for a real treat here is Eddie Peabody playing St Louis Blues .
I particularly like the rising sense of anticipation, as you wonder what contribution is going to made by the shapely-legged lovelies.

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: Will Fly
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 07:19 AM

Banjos yes! Here's another specimen of the tenor banjo:

Will Fly - "The Little Beggarman"

Playing one of these for 40+ years has been invaluable experience now I've got my new tenor guitar - and it got me started on mandolin and, more recently, violin.

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: Banjiman
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 07:10 AM

BTW Greg. Love your video..... great stuff.

Subject: RE: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: Banjiman
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 06:57 AM

Yay!

Me losing out to the fiddler, Blind Summat! play some Old Time tunes. on my 5 string.

Subject: I play the banjo and I am proud of it
From: greg stephens
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 06:42 AM

I am sick of people making jokes about banjos. Or indeed banjoes, opinions differe on that plural point. Anyway, the angels played banjos in heaven, and if your bible says otherwise you've got the wrong translation. So, to redress the balance, I would like to invite all banjo-playing Mudcatters to supply links to shots of themselves playing banjoes. Or indeed, to clips of favourite banjo-playes.
Here is me playing the tenor banjo

Just banjo-players links please. To avoid thread drift, bodhran players can start their own thread in the BS(non-musical) section. Ditto shaky eggs.