Minstrel Banjo

For enthusiasts of early banjo

Anyone feel like reviving the Tune Of The Week?

We pick one....post music, tabs, videos etc. Discuss it.

Anyone up for it?

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Absolutely!

Sounds good.  As a newish player I can always use tips, and info about early banjo music.

Oh good. Well, we should pick one and get at it. We can post dots and tabs and discuss it during the week and then have people post versions.

Something perhaps, from the Yellow Converse? Perhaps one that it a vocal tune and also appears in other books? O Lud Gals or Nebber Do To Gib It Up?

So, for TOTW ( Tune of the Week ) what about Alabama Joe? This might be good for a number of reasons. First...it is right up front in the Briggs Book. Second, there is a lyric version with sheet music. We could not only play the Briggs...but discuss the lyrics and how Briggs adapted it. There are also things in the Weidlich book to look at...how he interpreted the original Briggs version to tab and what his fingering choices meant. The tune also has a historical context by virtue of the source it was lifted from. All in all, this can have participation on many levels and enrich our genre. We can post lots of playing. Remember....NOT a contest. It is group sharing and learning.

And I'll just start I guess, to set a precedent of just chiming in with thoughts in this forum topic.

In my ignorance, when I first started...I did not know that Alabama Joe and many others were songs with words.

The lyrics to which may be found here: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/amss:@field(DOCID+@lit(as100140))
(You'll have to copy and paste the entire address - for some reason the whole address didn't get highlighted.)

That video pints out the ingenius borrowing that went on...transforming familiar material into something brand new.

Can anybody reference "Alabama Joe" on an early playbill?

In the Mahar Book "Behind the Burnt Cork Mask" he references song text frequency in playbills by date. Alabama Joe is near the top  with 7 references between 1843-1848,  none from 1849-1853, and 4 between 184? and 1860. This sort of places it in context with the earliest stuff....and the revival of the earlier style in the late 50's.

Tried to cut/paste this but couldn't figure out how.  I hope the attachment worked.

Attachments:

Well, that didn't work.  Even if you pulled up my attachment, you can't click on the websites, so....I give up.

Foiled by technology, once again!

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