11/28/2005 Dear All:
YOU SEE---I told you folks on this website KNOW LOTS about all sorts of things, most especially about this music we all love so much. When you folks decide to talk, you just have all kinds of good information, knowledge, widsom, & thoughts about bluegrass & mountain music! I never read anything here that I don't learn something I didn't know! All of you commenting here are probably correct in your observations. Music must be a little different to each one of us-each of us puts our own "spin" on it, each of us interprets it just a LITTLE BIT differently than anyone else, don't you think? I think what we share is that it touches us all in a way and in a deep, sacred place that no other type music reaches perhaps. When I consider folks you all have mentioned online-Pete Seeger, who did so, so much to bring bluegrass & mountain music to the forefront starting way back before my Daddy died in the 1960's, Bill Monroe, who bought me the very first Barbie doll I ever had when he visited us in Live Oak, Florida in 1964, you know there wasn't a word that could describe Bill's music, when he first started to make "bluegrass music" & when someone invented the word "Bluegrass" for Monroe's music, Webster's Dictionary waited about 10 years before they finally adopted the new word, "Bluegrass" and added it to their dictionary; Ricky Scaggs who brings honor to the entire profession of music and gives many of us an example of good behaviour to follow, not to mention he's got more talent in his little finger than most folks will ever have in their whole bodies, Keith Whitley, so talented from such a young age, George Shuffler, who helped pioneer the Stanley Brothers method of using "2 guitars, not one" to play all the best songs in bluegrass & whose rhythm guitar picking talent probably won't be equalled in our lifetimes, that wonderful Dan Tyminsky who, let me go ahead & say it publicly-when I heard Dan Tyminski as the lead singer of the "Soggy Bottom Boys" singing "Man of Constant Sorrow", I thought they'd found some way of fusing BOTH DADDY & RALPH'S voices together, because Dan sang BOTH boys' parts on that song & I was certain I was listening to some marvel of technology which had found a way to combine Daddy & Ralph's voices singing "Man of Constant Sorrow" because Dan sounded just like the 2 of them together-Allison Krauss, Dan & "OBWAT" have done much for bluegrass & roots & mountain music & will probably do much more. When I think of all these folks & lots more that I can't think of right now, every one of them has made a real, lasting contribution to the kind of music we can hear now, each probably in his/her own different way, interpreting this music in their own way & sharing it with us. I have MANY Joan Baez records-"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", & "Diamonds & Rust" are 2 of my favorite songs in the whole world, Joan has bluegrass/folk music & how it ought to sound down to a science & every time she opens her mouth, what comes out is better than any of us deserve! We have to remember T. Bone Burnett also, he produced "OBWAT", & he's also done "I Walk the Line" which I can't wait to see. And people like Bill Napier, Larry Sparks, Jack Cooke, Chubby Anthony, and so many more that I can't recall-every one of them have made a huge contribution to what we can hear now thank heavans! And all the rest of the greats like Clarence Ashley, Joe Meadows, Johnny Bonds, Bill Savitz (WNER Radio, Live Oak, Florida), Roy Sykes (Daddy played with Roy until Ralph came home from his Army duty), Art Stamper....the list would take me all day to complete, but you all will know more of them than I do. They have all sacrificed much to keep on keeping in this business over the years. I'm so thankful to everyone of you who keep discussing music here, who, just as I do, over the years, do everything you can to buy records, attend shows, join fan clubs, join internet chat groups & do so much to promote bluegrass, mountain, old time roots music. I am thankful to every one of you. Daddy always said without people to listen, nobody would ever sing or make any music, now would they? God Bless you all.... Cordially your friend, Doris S. Bradley Quoting E Bryant Holman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: " " [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: " " " " <<since much of the roots of bluegrass came straight from the british isles " " (ireland, scotland) it's no surprise that so many folks in the uk love it. " " it's kind of a full circle thing. >> " " " " " " I was thinking about that today. My wife has a collection of Celtic revival " " music, and there is no question but that the people who were living in " " Northern England and Southern Scotland and who were crofters, and who then " " went to Ulster and then on to the New World, were singing the popular " " ballads of the day. These ballads were very much a mixture of elements " " whose roots were in part Celtic and in part Saxon, and there may have been " " some elements that might be traced back to other races who were on the " " British Isles before them, like the Picts for instance. In any event, once " " these people reached the New World, they went to live in relative isolation " " from those who were ensconced in the fertile lowlands, where they had their " " plantations and where a lot of the immigrants were actually indentured " " servants (white slaves, in other words), and it was the place of these " " "Scotch Irish" (who actually were not Irish at all, and not always Scots, " " either) to go and settle the frontier and hold it against the Indians " " without expecting any aid from any quarter, and to be self sufficient and " " to get used to being pretty much out of touch with the rest of society. In " " fact, that is how they had already lived back in the homeland, crofting on " " the Scottish Lowlands, and that is why they were chosen to go and do this, " " because it was found that not just anyone could even hope to survive on the " " frontier, as they had already lost plenty of people earlier to the French " " and Spanish and the Indians. So these people brought their music and their " " Bibles, and their swords and muskets, and not much else. I think that a lot " " of these people had also been Jacobites and followers of Bonnie Prince " " Charlie. In any event, they were being exploited because they could not " " control their own destinies, but the one resource that they had was their " " incredible knack for surviving against all odds under the harshest " " conditions, and this gave the British a distinct advantage in holding onto " " their possessions in the New World, and this eventually paid off in spades " " in the game they were playing against the French and Spanish. " " " " I think that if you look at the songs that were being sung which collected " " by Alan Lomax and that were later sung by early folk singers who were " " attempting to preserve and revive this music, you will see them actually " " mention places in England and Scotland, and events and persons there. I " " don't know if any of these songs actually survived in the UK, and it may be " " that the Appalachians was like a place that was almost frozen in time, " " preserving the old songs and many of the mores of culture that were " " displaced by foreign influences, and that might even include the accent " " which was spoken at the period, as it is believed that the way English is " " pronounced now has been considerably altered since Shakespeare's time. " " " " Of course, you cannot say that the "hillbillies" who preceded Bill Monroe " " sounded exactly like him, musically, but in certain respects they did. Just " " as Johnny Cash could not invent enough innovations to make himself sound " " anything different, except in the most superficial sense, than what he was " " - a child of his culture and his people, the same might be said about Bill " " Monroe, only much moreso. Bluegrass is the one musical innovation that best " " preserves the old music which was brought over from the British Isles, in " " my opinion. " " " " Bryant " " " " ----- Original Message ----- " " From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] " " To: [email protected] " " Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2005 8:48 PM " " Subject: RE: BG: Re: Folk Music & Mtn.Bluegrass " " " " " " since much of the roots of bluegrass came straight from the british isles " " (ireland, scotland) it's no surprise that so many folks in the uk love it. " " it's kind of a full circle thing. Bluegrass Bulletin Board brought to you by the fan club of Dr Ralph Stanley & His Clinch Mountain Boys subscribe or unsubscribe at http://drralphstanley.com/
