Pete’s Word

My New Mexico friends Bruce Thompson and Wayne Shrubsall recently conducted a workshop dealing with string band music and the differences between old time anbd bluegrass music. They’ve given me permission to share their notes from this event, which are hereby posted for your edification.

The Difference Between Bluegrass and Old Time Music
Toby Adobe & Moby Adobe

BANJO:
An OT banjo is open-backed, with an old towel (probably never washed) stuffed in the back to dampen sound. A BG banjo has a resonator to make it louder.
An OT banjo weighs 5 pounds, towel included. A BG banjo weighs 40 pounds.
A BG banjo player has had spinal fusion surgery on all his vertebrae, and therefore stands very straight. If an OT banjo player stands, he slouches.
An OT banjo player can lose 3 right-hand fingers and 2 left-hand fingers in an industrial accident without affecting his performance.
A BG banjo needs 24 frets. An OT banjo needs no more than 5, and some don’t need any.
A BG banjo player puts jewelry on his fingertips to play. An OT banjo player puts super glue on his fingernails to strengthen them. Never shake hands with an OT banjo player while he’s fussing with his nails.

FIDDLE:
A BG fiddle is tuned GDAE. An OT fiddle can be in a hundred different tunings.
OT fiddlers seldom use more than two fingers of their left hand, and uses tunings that maximize the number of open strings played. BG fiddlers study 7th position fingering patterns with Isaac Stern, and take pride in never playing an open string.
An OT fiddle player can make dogs howl & incapacitate people suffering from sciatic nerve damage
“A good OT fiddle player?” now there’s an oxymoron
An OT fiddle player only uses a quarter of his bow. The rest is just wasted.
The BG fiddler paid $10,000 for his fiddle at the Violin Shop in Nashville. The OT fiddler got his for $15 at a yard sale.

GUITAR:
An OT guitarist knows the major chords in G and C, and owns a capo for A and D. A BG guitarist can play in E-flat without a capo.
The fanciest chord an OT guitarist needs is an A to insert between the G and the D7 chord. A BG guitarist needs to know C#aug+7-4.
OT guitarists stash extra picks under a rubber band around the top of the peghead. BG guitarists would never cover any part of the peghead that might obscure the gilded label of their $3,000 guitar.

MANDOLIN:
It’s possible to have an OT band without a mandolin.
Mandolin players spend half their time tuning their mandolin and the other half of their time playing their mandolin out of tune
OT mandolin players use “A” model instruments (pear shaped) by obscure makers. BG mandolin players use “F” model Gibsons that cost $100 per decibel.

BASS:
A BG band always has a bass. An old OT band doesn’t have a bass, but new time OT bands seem to need one for reasons that are unclear.
A BG bass starts playing with the band on the first note. An OT bass, if present, starts sometime after the rest of the band has run through the tune once depending on his blood alcohol content
A BG bass is polished and shiny. An OT bass is often used as yard furniture.

OTHER INSTRUMENTS
A BG band might have a Dobro. An OT band might have anything that makes noise including: hammered or lap dulcimer, jaw harp, didgeridoo, harmonica, conga, wash tub bass, miscellaneous rattles & shakers, or 1 gallon jug (empty).

INSTRUMENTATION:
All the instruments in an OT band play together all the time. BG bands feature solos on each instrument.
BG bands have carefully mapped-out choreography due to the need to provide solo breaks. If OT band members move around, they tend to run into each other. Because of this problem, OT bands often sit down when performing, while a BG band always stands.
Because they’re sitting, OT bands have the stamina to play for a square or contra dance.
The audience claps after each BG solo break. If anyone claps for an OT band it confuses them, even after the tune is over.

THE MUSIC:
OT songs are about whiskey and food.
BG songs are about God, mother and the girl who did me wrong.
If the girlfriend isn’t murdered by the third verse, it ain’t Bluegrass
OT bands have nonsense names like “Hoss Hair Pullers” “Fruit Jar Drinkers” and “Skillet Lickers”. BG bands have serious gender-specific name like “Bluegrass Boys,” “Foggy Mountain Boys,” and “Clinch Mountain Boys”
The most common OT keys are major and modal (i.e. minor). BG uses major, mixolydian, Dorian and minor keys
A BG band has between 1 and 3 singers who are singing about an octave above their natural vocal range. Some OT bands have no singers at all.
A BG band has a vocal orchestrator who arranges duet, trio and quartet harmonies.
In an OT band, anyone who feels like it can sing or make comments during the performance.
All BG tunes & songs last 3 minutes. OT tunes & songs sometimes last all night.

PERSONALITIES & STAGE PRESENCE:
BG band members wear uniforms, such as blue polyester suits and gray Stetson hats. OT bands wear jeans, sandals, work shirts and caps from seed companies.
Both the Stetsons and seed caps cover bald spots.
Chicks in BG bands have big hair and Kevlar undergarments. Chicks in OT bands jiggle nicely under their overalls.
A BG band tells terrible jokes while tuning. An OT band tells terrible jokes without bothering to tune.
BG band members never smile. OT band members will smile if you give them a drink.
You can get fired from a BG band for being obviously drunk on stage.
BG musicians eat barbecue ribs. OT musicians eat tofu.
BG musicians have high frequency hearing loss from standing near the banjo player. OT musicians have high frequency hear loss from standing near the fiddler.

FESTIVALS:
A BG band travels in an old converted Greyhound bus that idles all weekend with the air conditioner running full blast, and fumigates the county with diesel exhaust. The band’s name and Inspirational Statement are painted on both the side and front of the bus in script lettering.
An OT band travels in a rusted-out 1965 VW microbus that blows an engine in North Nowhere, Nebraska. It’s pretty evident that their vehicles don’t have air conditioning.
BG bumper stickers are in red, white and blue and have stars and/or stripes on them. OT bumper stickers don’t make any sense (e.g. “Gid is My Co-Pilot”)
BG musicians stay on the bus or at the nearest Motel 6. OT musicians camp in the parking lot.

In yesterday’s New York Times, Paul Krugman writes about the effect of the digital revolution on the music, art, and publishing business:

“. . . In 1994, one of those gurus, Esther Dyson, made a striking prediction: that the ease with which digital content can be copied and disseminated would eventually force businesses to sell the results of creative activity cheaply, or even give it away. Whatever the product — software, books, music, movies — the cost of creation would have to be recouped indirectly: businesses would have to ‘distribute intellectual property free in order to sell services and relationships.’

“For example, she described how some software companies gave their product away but earned fees for installation and servicing. But her most compelling illustration of how you can make money by giving stuff away was that of the Grateful Dead, who encouraged people to tape live performances because ‘enough of the people who copy and listen to Grateful Dead tapes end up paying for hats, T-shirts and performance tickets. In the new era, the ancillary market is the market.’”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Certainly, the digital revolution poses a challenge for those of us who try to make a living selling our music.  CDs still sell at shows, but even with exceptional reviews, radio air play, etc., sales at stores and on-line have dinmished during the past five years.  Much of our music is now available for download at sites like I-Tunes, but it’s really too early to tell whether this will become a viable alternative to packaged CDs.  As to “accessories”, well, we do have Hen Cackle Caps, Very Lonesome Boys T-Shirts and other amazing items for sale on-line, and they are making a difference in the world of fashion, especially with the recent passing of one of our greatest competitiors, Yves Saint Laurent.

But there are other challeneges the digital world poses to all of us, and we intend to explore some of these in the following weeks, as time permits.  Our next attempt will be to explore the differences between the analog and digital worlds, and what specifically this means to music and musicians who make it.

 Bruce “Utah” Phillips

On Sat, 24 May 2008 18:39:32 -0400, Ken Irwin wrote:

>This is being forwarded from the Folk Alliance list
>
>Dear All,
>
>I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I got the news
>from our mutual friend Haywire Brack, that Bruce ‘U. Utah’
>Phillips passed away last night in his sleep, ending a roughly
>ten year bout with congestive heart failure.  Other than
>those bare facts, not much is known.

Well, we know he was an individual, willing to stand up for causes he
felt were just and to defend others who were attacked. We know he
was a fine performer and song writer, with a real talent for the
turning of a phrase and the lilt of a melody. We know he placed people
and ideals first, before the almighty dollar. We know he offered his
best and that he complained little about the debillitating illness
he suffered for the past ten years.

He did what he could. He did it elegantly, with love and with grace.

When I used to call him & he wasn’t home, his phone machine
offered the following message: “Woof! woof! woof-woof-woof!, woof!” <tone….>

May you rest in peace Bruce, and may I see you on the next north-bound freight.

-Pete
http://www.BlueGrassWest.com

I just returned from a weekend at UCLA, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Ash Grove, a seminal music club in Hollywood. The LA Times has had several related articles, and I’m sure more information will be released over the next month. While there, I moderated a workshop titled “Hillbilly Fever”, on the Ash Grove and its very considerable influence on old time, folk, and bluegrass music in Southern California. We invited Mike Seeger, Tom and Patrick Sauber, Herb Peterson, Phil Borof, LeRoy McNees, and Roland White to come play and talk about their Ash Grove memories. I also hosted a bluegrass jam session with a lot of LA pickers and guest Roland White, former leader of the Kentucky Colonels.

Peter with Roland White and LeRoy McNees of the Kentucky Colonels. Photos by my friend Rita Weill Byxbe.

I imagine there are many people now a days that have never spent any time going through a major library’s card catalog.  Perhaps that’s a good thing.  I wiled away hours and whole days of my life in the UCSB library, researching bibliographies and such stuff back in the 60s when others were out playing poker, surfing, burning banks, and indulging other creative recreations.

Nevertheless, I grew to enjoy finding odds and ends in those immense card catalogs, finding things I hadn’t a clue existed anywhere in God’s creation. Things that made one stop and ponder, such as “The Barbed Wire Collector’s Journal”, complete with photos, descriptions, history,  and discussion of eighteen-inch strands of barbed (or bobbed) wire. I began to realise that for every topic I could think of, and some that I couldn’t, there existed a depth of knowledge that a card catalog could reveal to the unwary browser.

One of this country’s greatest treasures is the Library Of Congress, based -of course!- in Washington DC. I have friends back east that regularly take advantage of its facilities. I have managed one vist about 16 years ago and was sorry. Sorry because I was overwhelmed by all that great material - especially in its Folklore Dept. - which was unavailable to me on a regular basis, based as I am on the Left Coast. Now, computers and digital databases have replaced card catalogs and the ‘net has made it possible for all Americans to share some of the wonderful resources of what is now called the American Folklife Center. In the just-arrived Summer 2007 issue of the AFC News (as we know, the people in Washington work, live, and move in glacial terms) comes an article that announces the old card catalog once in use there has been digitized and made available on-line! What a great find and resource for thos eof us who still listen to the amazing collection of field recordings stored in the archives there.

CLICK HERE to enter the card catalog, and have fun browsing.

Today I was web browsing in order to put off finishing my taxes, and happened upon a great site authored by an old friend, Frank Ford.  He is one of the owners / founders of a fine music store in Palo Alto, Gryphon Stringed Instruments.  Frank also happens to be a fine luthier with a lot of useful hints on instrument upkeep, etc.

CLICK HERE   for short articles on:

An Introduction to Instrument Finishes
Advice on Cleaning Your Instrument
Illustrated Glossary
Vinyl is Your ENEMY
Troubleshooting and Repair
Playability and Setup
Structural Problems
Checking Action at the Nut
Looking at Cracks
Tune Up Your Gears
Loose Parts Can Rattle and Buzz
Looking at Frets.
Loose Screws? Fix ‘em Yourself
A Closer Look at Nuts
Buzz Diagnosis
Raising Nonadjustable Mandolin Bridges
Truss Rod Adjustment
Making a New Nut
Make Your Own Loop End Strings
Fixing Loose Tuner Bushings
Scooping the Fingerboard End
Mounting a New Fingerrest
Rebuilding a Collapsed Top
Refretting (F-5)

Whew!  You see what I mean…  I suppose the web is full of places with a closer look at nuts, but this one’s my favorite!  Check it out when you have some time, or a problem with one of your instruments.

From today’s edition of Wired (a digital news site):

“Having failed to stop piracy by suing internet users, the music industry is for the first time seriously considering a file sharing surcharge that internet service providers would collect from users.

“In recent months, some of the major labels have warmed to a pitch by Jim Griffin, one of the idea’s chief proponents, to seek an extra fee on broadband connections and to use the money to compensate rights holders for music that’s shared online. Griffin, who consults on digital strategy for three of the four majors, will argue his case at what promises to be a heated discussion Friday at South by Southwest.”

——-
Piracy of music recordings is a huge problem for musicians and record labels. As a musician and a label owner, I am certainly aware of that. No one knows the final outcome of the current fiasco, but past and current efforts of the large corporations in the industry, beginning with the absurd Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the multi-thousand dollar lawsuits of individual file sharers, and other repressive actions have only made matters worse.  This new proposal plans to tax internet service providers a suggested fee of $5 / month per user!  The resultant money - millions of dollars per month - to be divided among the corporate music entities by formulas sinmilar to what ASCAP, BMI, etc. now use to divide royalty payments.

Now, this proposed surcharge would not apply only to those who belong to peer-to-peer file sharing networks, but to all internet users.  Griffin and cohorts claim that 20% of internet users illegally download music files.  So here we have a double-whammy:  most of us do not illegally download music files, yet we would be forced to pay a minimum of $60 a year in fees to cover the supposedly “lost” royalties to the music inductry giants.  At the same time, those of us who attempt to make a living in the music business as small independent artists and labels will, as usual, not see a dime of the surcharge money, since it is the big cats who will be in charge of the distribution.

I would urge anyone affected by this outrageous proposal to keep close track of developments in the next few weeks. This seems just another bold agttempt by the big corporations to rope off music income to themselves.

During the past two or three weeks, PBS has been showing the film “Pete Seeger: The Power Of Song” on its national network. I hope many of you have had a chance to see that, or if not, that you may have a friend who’s recorded it, because it provides a link to how bluegrass first entered a lot of city dwellers’ consciousness.

To a lot of city-dwellers, it was the brilliant, sparkling sound of “Scruggs-Style” banjo picking that first caught our ears, leading us through that low garden door through the barrier wall of pop music into the then-secret place called bluegrass. And it was Pete Seeger, now remembered mainly for his song leading political activism, that first brought Scrugg’s three-fingered banjo technique into our realm in his book “How To Play The Five-String Banjo”. Pete had fallen in love with the sound of a banjo from a 1936 visit to a folk festival in Asheville, North Carolina. There he found Bascom Lamar Lunsford, a local attorney and a complete mountain music fan who helped run the festival and played a mean two-fingered banjo roll himself. Bascom’s recording of “I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground” is still one of my favorite banjo songs, and effectively disproves the adage that thirty lawyers, buried up to the necks at the bottom of the ocean is a good start.
Read the rest of this entry »

I recently came across a great article, very detailed, on the old King Records label, founded in the 1950s by the legendary Syd Nathan. The piece, by Cincinnati music critic and sometimes bluegrass bassist Larry Nager, covers the entirety of the spectrum of musical styles issued by King through the years, from blues, R&B, country, to bluegrass.  The Stanley Brothers’ album pictured above, King 719, Includes Finger-Poppin’ Time and How Mountain Girls Can Love.

Click here for the article’s URL. Once there, you may be asked for a username, e-mail address, and password. Type in anything you like,  but use the password: “yum”. It’s worth the effort!

I hope most of you got a chance to view the PBS American Masters showing of the new bio on Pete Seeger.  It was pretty nice, with glimpses into several facets of Pete’s musical career.  It also contained some rare video footage of old friends of mine, including Fred McDowell

(from Como, Mississippi) and Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers from St. Simon’s Island, Georgia.  If you missed it, watch for re-runs or take the time to rent the DVD, it’s highly recomended.

The first time I met Pete, I was living in Chicago and working at the Field Museum of Natural History - sort of nice going to a job in a Roman Temple located right on the lakefront.  By lucky accident, I had run into an old friend of Pete’s from WW II army days, Robert Parrish and his wife Dorothea, who had a house on Chicago’s north side near my one-room apartment.  Bob was a writer and magician, working with Pete entertaining the troops.  It was in the fall of 1961 that Bob, Dorothea, and I went to a concert billed as a Seeger family reunion, which included Pete, Penny, Peggy and Mike Seeger.  I still remember a night of great music, and being able to talk to Pete afterwards.  It was the Parrishes that told me about the newly-formed Old Town School of Folk Music which apparently is still going strong.  Music is about connections. . .

[Robert Parrish, writer and magician]

Two years later, I again encountered Pete at a folk festival at UC Berkeley, where he condicted workshops and was part of a show at that campus’ Greek Theater. Lots of fine music.

[Pete Seeger at the Greek Theater, Berkeley]