There is this: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=lu5J5UCvUEw&feature=related
On Jan 24, 1:03 pm, Linda <[email protected]> wrote: > Robin, you have said something close to what I have thought, better > than I can. I think in those early days, they handed down tunes, > wrote tunes, etc that came initially from direct experience of the > mother country,..and we ended up with what we call old time music. > > My theory is, many, maybe even most families in the American SE are > descendants of mainly uk people who migrated to the usa very early on, > (talking 1600's and early 1700's). Over the generations in the early > days many folks were isolated and had to invent their fun and that > included their music. The influence may have been the pipes, and > going to fiddle like you say. Folks did not call their music anything > more than music all through the generations. They did not think of > where it came from, it was just a tradition they understood because > they grew up on it and understood it well. > > As each generation passed changes were made, to kinda morph it from > the old country influences. Then that African influence plus gospel > singing and harmonies there, all blended into something. I see > Monroe's Bluegrass as a wonderful, creative fusion of traditions, > resulting in a rich textured music style. > > One can look at the cajuns ...and their music and perhaps say the same > thing but replace pipes for a popular french instrument of an early > day, perhaps one of those old herdigerdies, that make a sound much > like pipes, oddly enough (sorry about the spelling) or a sqeeze box of > some kind or other, meeting with other traditions present or entering > those bayous, beginning early on. Similar thing I reckon. > > Based on something I learned recently, it may be the early radio and > recording businesses that began in the early 1900's that were the > catalyst to fuse the existing traditions into new styles. All that was > needed was a creative guy like Bill Monroe to do it. He would have > lived in the era when radio was big and important in people's lives. > I too am working from hunches based on what my ears and experience > tell me. He likely also got around a bit in his early days touring > with bands. Anyway that is how I see it and am sticking to it unless > some kind of proof otherwise surfaces. When I hear Monroe's music I > can only think..he was listening to what was going on around him, he > used it, but he surely put his own stamp on it. <G> > Linda > > On Jan 24, 10:13 am, Robin Gravina <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I never thought about Scottish music being a big conscious influence on > > Monroe, but what I think, is that Scottish, Irish, Galician and Asturian > > (and probably English) musics come from the pipes: the fiddle was another > > way of expressing the pipe music, in the same way that the fiddle for the > > blues guys was another way of expressing the African stringed instruments. > > What got me thinking about this is the way that Hartford ended a lot of his > > tunes with the exact sound of a bagpipe letting out the air. Also the > > tunings of the pipes have all kinds of non standard pitches which are not > > exactly blue, but are definitely not western classical. > > > So how about American Old Time music being the Scottish pipe memory meets > > the African banjo memory, even if the practitioners just dealt with what > > there was around them and didn't have a genetic musical memory of their > > roots, which would be magical and therefore impossible. > > > As regards hip, there is nothing more driving than those sounds, and I think > > you are on to something when you look at them: music went several ways from > > those roots, but there are surely more ways that it can be taken: the mix is > > so powerful that there must be.. > > > Actually I may be completely wrong: no evidence, just intuition... > > R > > > On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 7:23 PM, mistertaterbug > > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > In response to the public and private emails I've gotten involving the > > > "scottish connection"...I get it. Considering the people that settled > > > the southern and eastern part of the US (and the midwest and...), it > > > is very unlikely that Monroe could escape the influence of the Scots/ > > > Irish. The musical influence runs from there to here, did then and > > > does now. If nothing else, something as simple as our incessant love > > > of going from the root to the flat 7 and back again would give us > > > away, I guess. Oh, and I do guess. I am not a scholar nor historian > > > nor academic. What I am doing is trying to make a legitimate study of > > > that means a great deal to me, something that has been taken for > > > granted for decades mainly because Monroe was always around. Now that > > > he's gone, somebody's got to make sense out of this and help us all > > > understand why it's so hip because it's too hip to let slide. Back to > > > the subject... > > > > All I was saying was that I don't suspect Bill nor anyone else in > > > Rosine, KY ever thought a lot about the roots of their music other > > > than to say that they got such and such a tune from so and so or that > > > "the old folks played it like this and now we play it like this". Oh, > > > I'm sure they thought about it some, but not to the point of sitting > > > down and tracing it back to its' origins. In the interview with Bobby > > > Bare, Bill talked about bluegrass having blues and fiddle music and > > > "sacred numbers" and jazz and Scottish bagpipe...ding, ding, ding, > > > ding, ding....okay, he says it. So what? Far as I can tell, there's > > > really only one tune in Monroe's repertoire that suggests anything > > > about Scotland, and that's "Scotland". Did the Father of Bluegrass > > > actively engage in tracing down the ancestors of the tunes he loved to > > > play, or was that just another bit of information given him by > > > somebody who's opinion he trusted, say somebody like Ralph Rinzler? > > > I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I don't know when Monroe > > > decided his music had Scottish influence in the sound. I do know that > > > in the later years he was prone to write tunes that had titles that > > > showed he was fond of reminiscing, but how far does it go? > > > > Now, I understand too that David Long's suggestion to include Luke > > > Plumb in the Monroe Camp mix is to "A/B" the old and the new, to have > > > Luke play an old Scots/Irish tune in the manner he is so adept at > > > doing and show a modern interpretation, maybe even one of Monroe's > > > tunes. That would be very well worth the price of admission in itself. > > > But I wonder who could tie up all the loose ends there? I'm honestly > > > not educated extensively enough to even know where to begin, much less > > > go indepth. > > > > I don't think there has been any major unraveling of Monroe's > > > bluegrass like there has been of classical and jazz, nobody taking it > > > apart and making a serious study of it. Maybe I'm wrong. Seems to me > > > somebody needs to do it. Or maybe this is just me justifying my own > > > existence and interests again. Whatever. I suppose that this mandolin > > > style, even with all its' links to other sounds/places/times is > > > destined to become another pigeon-holed, underground minority clan. > > > > Tater > > > > On Jan 20, 9:15 pm, Mike Romkey <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Sounds like fun. The Scottish suggestions are appealing. A river runs > > > > through it, Mister Tater, an I ain't talkin' no River Dance! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
