Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED

Subject: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mike Regenstreif
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 05:01 PM

I've just had an e-mail relaying the message that Pete Seeger's banjo was returned to him today.

Mike Regenstreif

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: bflat
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 05:05 PM

That's great news Mike. Are there any details? Is it's condition as good? Thanks for the info.

bflat

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 05:05 PM

What's the W5? MoohTooh (Mooh from elsewhere than home).

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mike Regenstreif
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 05:09 PM

The only info I received was that Pete and Toshi met with someone who returned the banjo to Pete. I don't know if this person was the thief, someone who found it, or some other person. I also don't know the condition.

MR

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Bert
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 06:06 PM

Great news Mike. Thanks for letting us know.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 06:08 PM

Thanks for the news Mike. Now somebody call off Kendall before he blows a headpipe or has an M.I.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mike Regenstreif
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 06:16 PM

In a message that just came in from Mark Moss at Sing Out!: "According to Toshi, someone found it on the side of the road about 2 weeks ago, took it home and went on vacation for two weeks. Upon their return, they heard the news and called the police to return the instrument."

Mike Regenstreif

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Jim the Bart
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 06:32 PM

Hooray

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 06:53 PM

I bet the guy in the car who found it had some CCR on the radio. "Hey, there's a banjo on the right..."

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Jon W.
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:03 PM

mbo, that's just pathetic. Everyone knows the correct words are "hey, there's a bathroom on the right."

Now can anyone tell me why Pete S. lengthened the neck of his banjo instead of merely thickening the strings?

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:05 PM

I don't know, but I've been told a long-necked banjo ain't got no soul...

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:16 PM

this one does

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:19 PM

It's a Led Zeppelin pun, Ken. I didn't expect you'd get it.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Jon W.
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:23 PM

Well I got a long necked banjo recently (not Seeger's) and it's tough to play - the frets are too far apart (this is a former bass player talking, too) and the neck's so long it cramps my left shoulder. I'm gonna build me a banjo with a normal length neck and string it with guitar strings so I can sing to it. (no, not a banjitar neither)

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Amergin
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:27 PM

Good bloody deal!!! Thanks for letting us know!! In other words the piece of shit who took it didn't know what he had. Am so glad such an important piece of history was found....

Amergin

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Cobble
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:27 PM

I love good news.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:29 PM

Re: Using heavy-weight strings instead of using a long neck:

When I had my Ramsey Special built, I talked with Mike Ramsey about making me a long-neck banjo. He discouraged it, although he said he could do it and had enough of the fingerboard material in the right length. He recommended using heavier strings and tuning a whole tonelower, then capoing at the second fret for normal tuning.

I decided to take his advice, and had him make a normal-necked banjo. I strung it with heavy-weight strings, etc. etc. For about four or five days. Never again!

Number one, heavyweight stirngs are hard to find. But also, it's like trying to play steel bridge cables. I couldn't change to mediums fast enough! YMMV.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Áine
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:30 PM

This is great news; but, has anyone heard it confirmed from a news source yet?

And as to why Pete built a long neck banjo -- I heard an interview with a fella from Elderly Instruments on the radio yesterday, and he said that it was because Pete has a baritone voice, and he needed a banjo that would fit his low voice range.

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Jed at Work
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:31 PM

great news. happy for Pete.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 07:55 PM

The point about heavyweight strings is that they can be tuned lower, just like the long-neck. Then, just like the long-neck banjo, you normally operate capo'd to standard tuning except when you need to sing lower. My guess is that P.S. didn't like heavyweight strings any better than I did.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 08:25 PM

Having played a long neck a long time ago the answer I believe lies in its versatility of keys for a vocalist. If you're tuned in D and want to sing using the same pattern in C you simply slip the capo up the neck two frets and retune the fifth string to F or C. I was playing in a band at the time and we changed keys a lot. Because we specialised in 3 or 4 part vocal harmonies we oftimes had to choose weird keys to fit our vocal ranges. The long neck worked just fine, but I'd agree that it was never ergonomically ideal to play up near the nut for extended periods.

Slight change of subject but I installed a vioiln fine tuner for the fifth string on the bridge plate. For speed on re-tuning on stage it was one of the best tricks I ever had, and complemented the extended neck nicely.

Regards, John

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 08:29 PM

Possible explanations:
The one from the person with a nasty sense of humor is, guy stole it, then realized it was a banjo, and dumped it.
Guy realised it was easily identifiable and dumped it.
Guy thought it was abandoned when it wasn't and picked it up.
Guy stole it, but had a concience that kept bugging him, so he returned it.
Guy bought it knowing full well what it was. Didn't want to explain that, and just returned it, saying it had "fallen off a truck."
There are loads of others. It's interesting to speculate, but I'm just really glad Pete got it back. Sometimes things really do turn out OK...

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Barbara
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 10:17 PM

Hooray! So glad he got it back.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 11:17 PM

hmmm....wonder if it was in tune..

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 11:18 PM

Well its still a banjo fergawdsakes Bill.........

Spaw

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: CamiSu
Date: 21 Aug 00 - 11:52 PM

Sigh.... Phew! And maybe the guy did buy it so he could return it!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 03:49 AM

Hope this is true, good news
RtS

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: jeffp
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 08:29 AM

Glad to hear it. Pete must be overjoyed to have his friend back.

jeffp

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: SINSULL
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 09:05 AM

It wasn't stolen, was it? Like the baby in another thread, it was left on the roof of the car and fell to the side of the road. Well, I am still glad it is back where it belongs.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 09:26 AM

You are right (for a change) Mbo, I didnt get it. Now, would you like to engage in a little contest to see who gets what? You will have to come out of your narrow focus Raucous and Roll circle to play..put 'em up put 'em up!!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Mbo_at_ECU
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 09:51 AM

Narrow focus? Geez, every one from here to East Jebip knows "Black Dog" by Zeppelin! And the line also pops up in countless blues songs...but you wouldn't know much about that..you'd have to come out of your narrow focus of old geezers folkies.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Brendy
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 09:54 AM

Delighted.

B.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 10:12 AM

Seeger Reunited With Missing Banjo

ROSENDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- Pete Seeger can strum again: His 55-year-old banjo, which disappeared earlier this month, has been found.

Gary Schneeweiss Jr. was driving home from visiting his father when he noticed the green banjo case beside the road on Aug. 8, the same day it was reported missing, according to Rosendale police.

On the case was Seeger's name and a phone number.

''I got a call yesterday from this young man who found it,'' said Toshi Seeger, Seeger's wife, said Monday. She said he had tried to call them earlier but ''the lines had been out of service for the last two weeks.''

Schneeweiss, 31, returned the banjo to the Seegers on Monday afternoon when he met the couple at a bookstore in Poughkeepsie. The Seegers gave the self-employed painter a $500 reward.

Schneeweiss, who did not know the folk-legend status of the banjo owner, said he didn't expect a reward and just wanted to return the instrument to ''whoever Pete was.''

''I saw Pete Seeger's name on the case, but it was just another name to me,'' he said. ''It's all a shock to me. I still don't really know who he is.''

The long-neck banjo was made by Seeger in 1945 and can be heard on such recordings as ''Where Have All the Flowers Gone.''

Seeger, a longtime activist, had said the instrument was believed stolen from his car during a trip to a political rally in Rosendale. But his wife said it was possible her husband left the banjo on top of his car and drove off, sending the instrument tumbling to the roadside.

The missing banjo had generated international intrigue and even a hoax appearance on an Internet auction site.

''Everyone has been calling us saying that they've seen the banjo all over the place,'' Rosendale Police Chief Jim Rowe said. ''The only thing that irritates us is that it was found the day it was lost.''

Seeger, 81, started his career 62 years ago. In 1940, he formed the Almanac singers, which another folk icon, Woody Guthrie, joined a year later. He reached commercial success in the 1950s with the group the Weavers.

Besides ''Where Have All the Flowers Gone,'' Seeger wrote or co-wrote ''If I Had a Hammer,'' ''Turn, Turn, Turn,'' and ''Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.''

He was credited with popularizing ''We Shall Overcome,'' which he printed in his publication ''People's Song,'' in 1948. He later said his only contribution to the anthem of the civil rights movement was changing the second word from ''will'' to ''shall,'' which he said ''opens up the mouth better.''

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: jeffp
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 10:43 AM

Thanks for posting the AP article, kat. It's good to have confirmation.

jeffp

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Ron Olesko
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:03 AM

I have to say one thing - all of us, myself included, jumped to the conclusion that this instrument was stolen. There is a very real possibility that Pete inadvertently left the banjo on the top of his car and drove off.

I guess it is a lesson to us all to not make assumptions until the facts are out - and rely on the media for facts (again myself included!)

The great news is that the banjo is back where it belongs! I like happy endings.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Ron Olesko
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:17 AM

oops.... I meant to say we shouldn't count on the media for getting us all the facts!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:42 AM

In the first place, I question that "Everybody knows etc.." Obviously, everybody does not know. I didnt. The last I knew, this was a folk and blues site, and, IMO Led Zepplin is neither, and has no place here.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:46 AM

Zeppelin is blues rock, ergo...

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:56 AM

Zepplin is noise to me

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:57 AM

So is some native west African music, but it's still folk.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:59 AM

I live in the USA, not Africa

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:02 PM

Oh, so now Mudcat is a site for America/British Isles/English language folk and blues?

BTW Zeppelin were British.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:05 PM

what the hell is your point?

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:09 PM

you started off with an asshole statement that you borrowed from some rock punk that the long neck banjo aint got no soul, now you want to split hairs. Get a hobby man

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:14 PM

Point is gramps, I hope I cack before I become a bitter music bigot like you.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:15 PM

Led Zeppelin, punk? HA HA HA! That's the best one I've heard all day!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:21 PM

Geeziz!!! The two of you both need laid. This is like watching a boxing match where the opponents are in two different rings firing away jabs and uppercuts into the air!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:39 PM

Thank you kid, I really am a music bigot! I love music, thats why I cant stand rock & roll. You'll have to excuse me, I have an appointment for a tolerence transfusion!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:40 PM

fyo 'spaw I AM getting laid!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Ron Olesko
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:40 PM

You guys should take this out into the schoolyard after the last bell rings.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 12:46 PM

Only kendall can get laid AND type at the same time.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Luther
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 01:08 PM

Actually, the way I heard it Pete's banjo was stolen by Muslim extremist eco-terrorists. Clinton has vowed to "send a strong message", and cruise missiles and stealth bombers are attacking hospitals, pharmaceutical factories, and refugee camps in the Sudan, Cuba, and East Liverpool, Ohio.

film at 11.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 01:17 PM

I have to agree on the East Liverpool target selection. For reasons left best unspoken, I used to be there a lot.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Jeri
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 01:27 PM

OK, run down so far

Zeppelin is noise: Kendall - 1 pt
Zeppelin is rock: Mbo - 1pt
Mbo brings West African folk music into it for no apparent reason: foul
Kendall refers to statement by "rock punk." Mbo misreads as "punk rock" or "punk rocker." - Mbo: -1 pt.
Kendall is getting laid: 10 points.

At the time of this writing, Pete still has his banjo.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 01:37 PM

Yo Kendall, I played some Metallica for harpgirl and SHE liked it! So now!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 01:40 PM

Meebo puts one in below the belt...10 point deduction/major foul

Spaw

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 01:44 PM

I think you need to recount the points, Jeri.

Kendall is all about folk Stuff. Rock to him is noise. I illustrated a point that some kinds of folk music can be construed as noise. And since, as everyone is so bleeding mad to announce that Mudcat is about folk. West African folk music IS folk. And have you or kendall ever played in a West African music ensemble with authentic instruments? I have. And it merits mentioning on a folk site.

ALSO, "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin was

NOT

written by some rock punk. The song is a collection of classic blues line. SO the correct statement would be "some blues punk". Kendall's negative point, NOT mine.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 02:00 PM

enough kid, this is not the place for a one on one.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Melani
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 03:46 PM

Glad to hear he got it back.

My father, in a fit of inventiveness, once tried to make a bass banjo. It had an 18-inch head and a giutar neck, and was untunable. Sounded something like a snare drum. Then he tried to make a polypropilene acoutsic guitar, but that's another story.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Melani
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 03:48 PM

Glad to hear he got it back.

My father, in a fit of inventiveness, once tried to make a bass banjo. It had an 18-inch head and a guitar neck, and was untunable. Sounded something like a snare drum. Then he tried to make a polypropilene acoustic guitar, but that's another story.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Peter T.
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 03:58 PM

I thought the Internet was supposed to be full of people who equate sex with typing -- I confess it makes no sense to me. Frankly, I never liked typing that much, though the carriage returns and the little bell did make one think. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, I speak of the Paleolithic typewriter.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Guy Wolff
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 04:59 PM

I am so happy to hear the good news on Pete Seeger's banjo.. I think the long neck was to be able to play in E with blues guys??? Is that true???Great joy sould be left in this thread and thats all I think is apropreate here, or at least staying on the subject of Pete's banjo.. All the best to thoughs of good will...

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 05:03 PM

I remember the Jurassic typewriter, one that had a tab key guaranteed to send a cup of coffee across three desks and into the filing cabinet.... It had a gradient of about 1:4, with about 5 inches difference in height between the top and bottom rows. It also had fractions, something that has failed to make it through the succeeding ages....

LTS who really wants her 1/2 and 1/4 key back....

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: harpgirl
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:06 PM

...kendoll, deah...you are a magnet for oedipal challenges! You need expensive treatments....

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: JedMarum
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:09 PM

good news here, to be sure, but the best news I've heard is that our favorite Mainiac IS getting laid!! Good for you, Pete - Way to go Kendall!

;-)

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: SINSULL
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:53 PM

Children! I am not sure how I got stuck in the back seat with you brats but I am fed up! Knock it off! Mbo, show a little respect. You can learn a lot from Kendall. And Kendall, zip up your GD pants. This is neither the time nor the place.

Pete Seeger got his banjo back. We are here to celebrate. And if you two don't cut it out (and if Pete leaves it on the roof again), I am going to beat you both senseless with it.

In lieu of that, I am going to scream "Kumbaya" at the top of my lungs from here to Florida and back until you agree to respect each others opinions.

Mbo,I just finished expounding on your "A" student status, brilliant talent both in writing and performing, your native intelligence and sensitivity to a certain young lady. And now this! And Kendall!!!Have you not read the news about the spread of HIV among internet users? What are you thinking man? And besides, several of us thought you were saving yourself for us.

FFFEEEELLLLIINNGGSSS! WHOAOHOH FFFEEELLLIIINNNGGGSSSS WHOA OH OH>
OOOPPS, that's not folk or blues is it?

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 22 Aug 00 - 11:58 PM

Mary! Go to the JC thread! We made up, as usual! 3 cheers for my favorite sparring partner!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: DougR
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 01:17 AM

Kendall, you are a lucky man. DougR

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Banjer
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 06:14 AM

SSinsull, you can sing 'Kumbya' anywhere you want except here in Florida. It seems a an eight year old girl wanted to sing that song at a recent talent show in Sarasota but was not allowed by the show's organizers because it contained the word 'Lord'. Isn't that the most ridiculous thing ever? After much protest from her family and others the organizers finally gave in and said she could do the song on a future show. Oh don't get me started on the narrow mindedness of fools...........

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Gary T
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 08:38 AM

It may seem silly, Banjer, but as I understand it they were following the stated rules of the show, which prohibited religious songs. "Kumbaya" is a religious song, the title being a phonetic rendering of "come by here" as spoken in some African (I think) accent. The song essentially says "We're singing, praying, etc., Lord, so come into our midst."

I would presume they prohibited religious songs so as to avoid offending people's sensibilities, which some of the more strident religious songs could do. Now, "Kumbaya" is about as mild as religious songs get, but if you make rules, it behooves you to stick to them. Unfortunately, that doesn't guarantee that no one will get offended--in this case, some were peeved that the song was disallowed.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 08:45 AM

Re: Kumbaya.
Would that be West Indian rather than African? W.I. lilt is very similar to Welsh and "Come here" in a Cardiff accent, sounds vey like "come by yere" or "Kumbaya" as written phonetically.
(Personal opinion based on (1)close contacts with Girl Guides [Girl Scouts] in my youth(hehe) (2) 3 years living in Cardiff (4) A fortnight's visit in St Lucia. (5)My well-displayed ignorance on folk song matters)
RtS

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 09:21 AM

Sorry folks, I was way out of line this time. A wise person once said "Never spoil an apology with an excuse." So, I'm not going to.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 09:23 AM

How much do you charge for therapy harpgirl? I hope I can afford it!!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: catspaw49
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 09:35 AM

Down Spaw.....Down............No,no,no.........Don't go there.........

Spaw

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 10:41 AM

dont get cute spaw! I dont often leave an opening like that, so enjoy it while you can. Just remember, you are a gentleman!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: JedMarum
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 10:48 AM

If I can be allowed just a bit more thread creep ... Kendall, I've been working on Casey's hat. I will be singing it this week. I've tried it once or twice on audiences, and they loved it, so I figured I'd better learn it better before I lay it on 'em again!

Great song; thanks for the help.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 10:49 AM

Sinsull, please dont infantalize me..I've been around a long time and I'm not stupid (or careless) Besides, at my age, getting laid is a good nights sleep!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 01:15 PM

Point well taken, Kendall. At 60, you have been around a long time. I have never thought of you as stupid and apologize for implying that in my post. And sleep well!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: paddymac
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 01:50 PM

Ever at the fore of the issues of the day, my local rag ran a wire service story today regarding the return of the banjo. It appears that the rightful owner had left it on the top of his car when leaving a gig and it simply fell off along the road. It was then found about an hour later, and taken home by the finder, who then left on vacation. When he returnd from his brief holiday he read about the by-then infamous theft and contacted the rightful owner to return it, for which he was given a $500 reward. I claim no familiarity with the local law, but I suspect the finder was under no legal compulsion to return the instrument. On behalf of 'catters everywhere who prematurely arose in righteous indignation at the supposed dastardly theft of an icon's instrument, may I offer a word of apology to the apparently decent fellow who found and returned the instrument.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: JedMarum
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 01:59 PM

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Arkansas Red
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 02:04 PM

Glad to hear Pete got the "Whyte Laydie" back. That's the name of the Vega banjo body that Pete made the neck for back in the forties. The first man to lengthen Pete's old Orpheum banjo was noted luthier John D'Angelico. Pete felt that the keys he had to sing in caused him to capo up so high that he lost the sound of the bass string, so he decided to lengthen the banjo's neck. The neck he made for the banjo which is the one on it now is made of a wood that is so heavy and dense that it will not float. I think it's called Lingnum Vitae. Pete is happy, Toshi is happy, and all the fans of Pete around the world are happy. Good things still happen.

Arkansas Red Ozark Mountains, Arkansas

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Arkansas Red-Ozark Troubadour
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 02:13 PM

To John in Brisbane: I too use a violin tuner for my fifth string, but if you use the Suzuki fine tuner you will find you do not have to alter your tailpiece. The tuner fits conveniently on the fifth string between the bridge and the tailpiece. Also for fine tuning my acoutstic guitar I have installed the same type tuners at the peghead on the string between the peg and the nut. It works. Good luck-

Arkansas Red-Ozark Troubadour Ozark Mountains, Arkansas

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,Songster Bob
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 02:18 PM

Several points, one or two even on-topic (shock!):

Roger D. Skiffler wrote:

"Re: Kumbaya. Would that be West Indian rather than African? W.I. lilt is very similar to Welsh and "Come here" in a Cardiff accent, sounds vey like "come by yere" or "Kumbaya" as written phonetically."

The song was, as I recall, collected from the Sea Islands off Georgia, where the dialect is called "Gullah." (Hmmm... that doesn't sound right. Is it "Gullah?"). Whatever, the original language of the inhabitants of the Sea Islands was an African one, though I can't remember if it's east or west. Definitely not West Indian, though.

Re: Long-neck banjos vs. heavy strings. Pete made the banjo to get the pitch to match his voice. In 1945-46, there weren't many places to get specific guages of musical strings, so he didn't go the "heavy strings" route. I suspect he had the choice of Gibson, Vega, Black Diamond or nothing, really, and couldn't get anything but one or two guages of guitar strings if he wasn't getting banjo strings. He may also have known that heavy strings wouldn't sound or feel right on a banjo, particularly one played with strings, not picks.

Re: Folk vs. rock music. Rock music has folk elements in it, and some of it is folk-like. Lots of it, of course, is indistinguishable from noise, as is some folk music (especially if you're from outside the folk culture involved -- Pygmy hocketing, Chinese work chants, Nordic fiddling, or delta blues all have some inharmonious or unsettling features, for example, features which Anglo-American folk-fans probably don't like. Ditto rock; ditto ditto [fill in the blank]).

Get over it.

Re: Return of Pete's banjo.

Hooray! Now, we dance.

Bob Clayton

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: catspaw49
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 02:24 PM

There are actually several woods that do not float including several of the ebonies. However, the most well known wood that does not float is Natalie Wood.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 03:24 PM

Lignum Vitae is also called "Ironwood". In the days of sail, all the dead eyes were made of this stuff.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: P05139
Date: 23 Aug 00 - 08:50 PM

Mbo, I've just come on to this thread, and I've not really heard of Led Zeppelin apart from that they did the Top Of The Pops theme tune with Bad Man Bad! Maybe I'm just too young...

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Dani
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 10:43 AM

My local public radio station has a great enewsletter, and today included this link to an LA Times article about the banjo's adventure:

http://www.calendarlive.com/went/20000822/tCB00V0465.html

Live there people who don't know Pete? That makes me sad...

Apropos - I saw the fabulous Woody Guthrie exhibit in DC last weekend. Next to me at one station was a woman who called her 10ish son to her, "Honey, come here! Did you know he wrote "This Land is Your Land?!" Son: "What? What song is that?"

Dani

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 10:47 AM

It gets worse Dani. Some people I've met haven't even heard of popular music, let alone folk.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 11:02 AM

And some people don't like opera even the comic ones.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 11:04 AM

That's the REAL travesty, Sins. I love opera!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 03:48 PM

Caterwalling!!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 03:54 PM

Are you two going to start again? This time you are on your own. And arguing about opera of all things! Pull the car over Max and throw them both out.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 04:02 PM

"He's looking at me!!" LOL gotcha Sinsull!!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 04:06 PM

Owww...Dad Max, ken is poking meeeeeeeeeeeeee **whine**. ;-)

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Manitas
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 05:28 PM

There was some discussion of "Kumbaya" on alt.usage.english a while back. The dialect in the song is certainly close to Gullah but so are some other dialects. Apparently Gullah is often considered an African language that just happens to use English words!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GUEST,suckers
Date: 25 Sep 00 - 12:27 PM

you guys are nerds!!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: mousethief
Date: 25 Sep 00 - 12:46 PM

At times the line between "rock" and "blues" gets very thin. Early rock was blues-based, and one of the first recordings hawked under the name "rock" was "Shake, Rattle and Roll" which was a blues song done with a rockabilly -- that is to say, uptempo country swing -- beat.

Led Zep has done a LOT of folk/blues material, e.g. "The Lemon Song" which was a version of "Killing Floor," as well as a very nice rendition "Gallows Pole" with something of a twist ending.

But we all have our blind spots and thoughtless prejudices, don't we? Mine is against Rap, and I'm not a big fan of Heavy Opera either, although the comic stuff (G&S) I rather enjoy. I usually hate The Who, but "Squeezebox" is on my play list, cos it's so country/folky and fun.

Not sure why I said any of this. Anyhow, kudos to Kendall for being man enough to apologize.

Alex
O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: GospelPicker (inactive)
Date: 25 Sep 00 - 12:48 PM

Pete got his banjo back... great!!! EVERYONE ELSE JUST CALM DOWN ABOUT THE OTHER JUNK!!!

LED ZEPPELIN WERE A BUNCH OF SONG-STEALING THIEVES (OOH MY HEAD,(RITCHIE VALENS) LEMON SONG (HOWLIN' WOLF WITH THE LAST VERSE BY ROBERT JOHNSON) AND SO ON... WHO CARES IF ROCK MUSIC IS NOISE OR NOT? A THIEF IS A THIEF NO MATTER WHAT HE STEALS...

GospelPicker @:()[+]

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: Mbo
Date: 25 Sep 00 - 12:55 PM

It's called "The Folk Process."

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: mousethief
Date: 25 Sep 00 - 12:57 PM

Thank you, Mbo. I was about to say that myself.

Alex
O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's banjo -- RETURNED
From: kendall
Date: 26 Sep 00 - 12:35 PM

Bob Dylan stole "WHO'S GONNA BUY YOU RIBBONS" and rewrote it as DONT THINK TWICE.