Mike, Yessir, that's why. Everybody plays "RHB", "OBS", "FMB", "RT", "FOR", "OTW", "BMR", etc. It really depends, again, on the group one hangs out with as to what's being played and overplayed. I once asked a young feller of oldtime fiddling notoriety if he played "Old Virginia Reel" and he rolled his eyes so hard they nearly scraped the plaster off the ceiling. It's a recent discovery for me, but played to death elsewhere. I mean, no complaints towards anybody's circle of influence. I get it.
David Long told me that he and Luke Plumb played the Irish/American versions of "RHB" back-to-back and it was a hoot and very informative, so I reckon that's a good illustration. I just wonder how a tune becomes so all-fired popular that everybody and his birddog nephew has to learn it. That would be good information to have in case a man wanted a "hit" record. As for "The Merry Blacksmith", has anyone every seen the E.T. Paull sheetmusic cover for it? Killer... Tater On Feb 3, 1:56 pm, Mike Romkey <[email protected]> wrote: > Hey there, Tater. I note that the first tune on the Mandozine > essential bluegrass list is ... wait for it, wait for it ... "Red > Haired Boy"! But maybe that's why you're sick of it. > > I have to say I really like playing "RHB" and mixing up the Irish and > American versions, which come at the melody with two different > attitudes. "Merry Blacksmith" is a nice tune to follow it in an Irish- > style set. > > I really wish there was some official Hillbilly Academy that would > rank the 20 essential tunes. It could be broken into all the different > flavors: bluegrass; newgrass; celtic; gypsy; etc. > > The Fiddler's Fake Book is a pretty good resource -- notes (not tab) > and chords. If you hear something at a jam, chances are you'll find it > in the book. It's also fun to try out different tunes and try to > figure out who the hell would want to play them. There are some real > gems, like "Give the Fiddler A Dram" last night. It'll keep you off > the street. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
