Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???

Subject: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 11 Aug 15 - 05:17 PM

yes.... that Duane Eddy !!!

Watched the 1961 Western "A Thunder of Drums" on the weekend..

Typical for the era gimmick casting of a current pop artist in a background support role.
Literally in the background - strumming guitar during the whisky guzzling 'comic relief' scenes.

Then came the surprise - a party scene where Duane Eddy picked a pretty good banjo tune !!!???

Google lead to me then discovering his 1960 LP "Songs of Our Heritage"


... and here it is if you fancy a listen....

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 10:02 AM

Too bad, punkie. I clicked and got "This video is not available."
It sounded like fun.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 12:23 PM

Just checked - from the UK at least, it's still there.. all 11 tracks.


Maybe this link instead ?

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: PHJim
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 02:22 PM

It's no great loss not hearing Duane Eddy play a rudimentary version of Cripple Creek. Interesting that he also mucks with the banjo, but at a very elementary level.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: The Sandman
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 03:25 PM

I love it all these xperts on the banjo, deciding what is rudimentary.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 03:31 PM

Agreed, Schweik.

I went to youtube myself and managed to hear 'In the Pines,' one of my favorite songs. It's odd that the banjo songs are blocked when other, copyrighted works by Duane Eddy seem to be available.

thanks for the tip

Which do you prefer, punkie or PFR, because I don't feel like typing 'punkfolkrocker' every time.

In return you can call me lna for short

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 03:49 PM

Thing is I've never liked the name "punkfolkrocker"...

it was only ever meant to be an off the cuff one shot joke name
to wind up some intolerant self righteous old misery
who was annoying me on one of the first days I ever came to mudcat...

Trouble is I seem to have got stuck with it,
and any attempts to create new trial IDs never fitted so well either....


so... PFR seems to be the least uncomfortable variation....


Yeah... and as I come from a long ago 'punk ethic' background of effective short sharp utilitarian minimalist music & art making..

what's so wrong with rudimentary...????

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 06:29 PM

"In The Pines" is probably the traditional song (I won't bother to listen to it thanks). If this is the case then it is in Public Domain and explains why you can still hear that and not the copyrighted material.

I did listen to a part of the banjo track and it is rudimentary no question about it.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: cnd
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 08:19 PM

When I clicked you link it didn't work for some reason, but I when I searched it on Youtube myself I could watch it just fine. It did surprise me he played banjo. I do enjoy Eddy's instrumental work... Some good stuff.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: Mr Red
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 03:29 AM

Duane Eddy was a revelation in his time, with a gimmick he could use. And Musicians grow tired of trotting out the same old thing, particularly as a day job. Try spotting actorrrrrs having a go at playing an instrument.

Context is all, if it was a film with incidental music, in a comic episode, how much effort do the film makers need to put into it compared to the story line? How big a budget do they have?

Those two links above. I would say Cripple Creek was a good fist at it, nothing less than I would expect of a "name". Mind you it doesn't say there who was playing what, and the guitar licks sound like him, did he multitrack the flute as well? Riddle Song is a choice of style not skill IMNSHO. These are Trad Folk and easy listening surely.

On "In The Pines" lpdiscography claims :
Duane Eddy, Corky Casey, Donnie Owens - guitar
Tyler Wheeler - bass
Al Casey - banjo
James Troxel - drums
Lawrence Knechtel - vibes
James Horn - flute/sax
Recorded:
Jan/1960, Audio Recorders of Arizona, Phoenix

So do we judge the wrong Banjoista?

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: Will Fly
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 04:21 AM

Al Casey on banjo? Good heavens - quite a long way from playing with Louis Jordan! Still - a gig's a gig...

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,punfolkrocker
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 04:34 AM

well spotted Mr Red...

it is all about historical cultural context...

A long forgotten LP from 1960 - a prominent rock n roller dabbles with 'heritage folk'

Predating the early 60s Folk and folk rock fashion cash in explosion !!!???

The music scene of 50 years ago is fascinating for it's LP oddities and curiosities..
Eoterica and exotica flourished in the easy listening industry.

From such a long time ago, with such poor documentation, and an industry dependant on a skilled pool of session players...

Who should we believe played what at which sessions now....

What is the most reliable source of info - wiki..??? LP sleeve notes typed up by an office lackey to hit a printers deadline...???



What I can't find online is the actual scene from "A Thunder of Drums"
where Duane Eddy is filmed playing / sync miming the banjo.

Because originally all I really wanted to know was if anyone here could ID the tune.

The best source I've found so far is this

http://www.duaneeddycircle.com/Duane%20in%20films.htm

"A THUNDER OF DRUMS (1961) Duane plays Trooper Tully in classic Cavalry-verus-Indians film.
Duane plays guitar & banjo during the film, including the self-composed "Fort Canby Dance", "Water From a Bad Well" and "Portrait of Camden Yates."

...so if anyone here watches westerns on TCM...????

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,matt milton
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 04:39 AM

In calling the banjo playing rudimentary, you're not really comparing like with like. Banjo's being used liked a lead guitar here, mostly playing single-note lead lines over 60s-sounding jazz arrangements. It's clearly not even attempting to be proper trad banjo playing.

It sounds very much like Neal Hefti or Henry Mancini arrangements to me.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 04:45 AM

ps...

guilty or not of being a banjo player - there's no disputing Duane Eddy's essential role as an honoured innovator and influence...

Especially for 'us' electric riff bashers...

Though, I don't think I've actually listened to any of his music for at least 40 years;
so I may be pressing 'buy now' on a cheap compilation CD later today...

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 10:19 AM

I would like to hear the tunes that Duane Eddy composed for the film, but I can't find them anywhere on the net. Some copyright thing, I suppose.

PFR, you said, "Because originally all I really wanted to know was if anyone here could ID the tune."

What tune is that?

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 10:43 AM

The tune Duane plays on banjo, fronting a small ensemble, during the party dance scene at the fort;
as overwrought passions come to a head
- the night before an important mission to hunt down a band of renegade 'injuns' ...

I love westerns, good or bad, they have always been my favourite genre...

I've just been to Amazon - 50 greatest hits for £4.10..

and / or 100 tracks boxset for less than 8 quid [including the entire "Songs of Our Heritage" LP]... 😎

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: pdq
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 11:01 AM

Be reasonable folks, especially PJTim.

The other palyers, Al Casey, Larry Knechtel, Jim Horn, were no more than 19 years old at the time this LP was recorded.

All three went on to be studio stalwarts in the LA recording scene.

The older Al Casey was a Black guy who played lead on a 4 string guitar. Odd but good. The younger Al Casey was a kid from Phoenix where this album was recordered.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 01:04 PM

.. perhaps the mudcat virtuoso banjo elite might have a few constructive words of encouragement to spare for this keen young fella...???

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 01:19 PM

This thread has stirred up memories for me. As a kid, I was not a fan of pop music, but I certainly heard of Duane Eddy and heard his music, especially "Raunchy." (I never did learn exactly what 'raunchy' meant.)

At that time (my early teens) I remember hearing a piece of traditional country fiddle on the radio. It was a scratchy violin playing a tune with lots of twiddling ornaments. My reaction was that it was confusing and irritating, and I was glad that music like that was rarely to be heard.

Which takes us to Duane Eddy's 'Heritage' album. I think the people who produced it knew that most of Duane's young fans would feel the way I did. Teenybobbers liked their music melodic and their story lines simple. In making an album of American folk for his fans, he kept it simple so they could understand what they were hearing.

As for me, it was decades before I came to enjoy country fiddle - whether American, Scottish, Irish or in a Beethoven string quartet.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 01:24 PM

PFR, I bet the tune you want to ID is one of three that Duane Eddy wrote: Fort Canby Dance, Water from a Bad Well or Portrait of Camden Yates.

If I had to guess, I'd guess that:

Fort Canby Dance has a lyrical, English-country dance sound,

Water from a Bad Well is a fast fiddle tune, and

Portrait of Camden Yates is a slow air.

I guess you've seen the film. What do you think?

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: cnd
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 06:41 PM

Here's a website you can listen to the first minute of his tunes from the movie on and check which one. The three you listed, PFR:

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/store/MP3/1218/3-23_Water_From_a_Bad_Well.mp3
Ballad of Camden Yates.
Fort Canby Dance

Also, in case none of those were it, he also wrote:

Second Waltz
Two Step

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: cnd
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 06:43 PM

Oops! That first link is supposed to go like this

Water From a Bad Well

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 08:32 PM

Most people of a certain age would probably acknowledge that the finest banjo player who also made it big in the pop world would always be Don Maclean.

No doubt some smarty can do a clicky for one and all to listen to.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 08:44 PM

hmmm, this could become interesting - outing pop artists who are secret banjo players !!!

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,Tony
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 07:49 AM

lpdiscography claim is wrong!


Duane Eddy:Spanish Guitar/Banjo

Vivian "Corki" Casey:Guitar

Donnie Owens:Guitar

Al Casey: Bass

Jimmy Troxel:Drums

Larry Knechtel:Vibes

Jim Horn:Sax/Flute

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 09:24 AM

Cnd, thanks very much for the links to the original music by Duane Eddy. Those are good pieces.

I see I was wrong in my guesses as to what genre the three titles would belong to.

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: PHJim
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 09:38 AM

Here's a link to Don McLean playing banjo.
Don McLean - By The Waters Of Babylon

Subject: RE: Duane Eddy - Trad banjo player ???
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 10:23 AM

CND - yes !!! thank you for those absolutely spot on audio links...

apologise for not noticing them earlier when you posted [ up to my neck in problems with computers and my dear old mum...]

Your links solve everything.

Back 10 - 15 years ago I got deeply into American Alt Country bands like 16 Horsepower & Blanche..

...so 'rudimentary' minimalist plaintive banjo is well in accord with my tastes..

Plus Western movie soundtrack music has always been a solid foundation for me since very early childhood,
dressing up in a cowboy outfit roaming the wild streets and playgrounds of untamed south west England...
[my mum still has the photos...]

Here's a quick theory to chuck at armchair musicologists...

55 years ago a hot innovative young rock & roll guitar player unwittingly invented folk rock and alt country...!!!???😜