Who re-enacts and how - Minstrel Banjo2024-03-28T21:53:03Zhttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/forum/topics/who-reenacts-and-how?commentId=2477478%3AComment%3A25552&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI got pulled into the outer o…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-04-14:2477478:Comment:316412011-04-14T17:29:42.724ZAndy Chasehttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/anchase
<p>I got pulled into the outer orbit of reenacting through a series of happy coincidences; I'd been exploring stroke style for a couple of months when I was introduced to bones player extraoirdinaire Steve Brown (I'm not sure what the odds of two musicians playing mid-19th century instruments in a small town in New England are, but they must be pretty long.) We were jamming at the local farmer's market when someone overheard us and said "Hey, you guys should totally perform at the Civil War…</p>
<p>I got pulled into the outer orbit of reenacting through a series of happy coincidences; I'd been exploring stroke style for a couple of months when I was introduced to bones player extraoirdinaire Steve Brown (I'm not sure what the odds of two musicians playing mid-19th century instruments in a small town in New England are, but they must be pretty long.) We were jamming at the local farmer's market when someone overheard us and said "Hey, you guys should totally perform at the Civil War reenactment that's coming up next month!" She put us in touch with the organizer, who listened to us play a few tunes and hired us to play a gig for the reenactors!</p>
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<p>I pulled together a passable civilian outfit and spent the day wandering about the camp, totally unprepared with a backstory as to who I was supposed to be (I still need to work on that.) It was a lot of fun, and it was while at that event that I met the Commander of a nearby camp of the Sons of Union Veterans, which I joined along with a friend. SUVCW aren't reenactors, exactly, although a lot of the members do have uniforms as I saw at an event that was held at the Charlestown MA Navy Yard last week.</p>
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<p>So, I've only been to one re-enactment so far, and am looking forward to checking out another one or two this year... I'm still feeling my way around attitudes and etiquette. I should probably seek out a company with a civilian unit to help me learn the ropes. I'd like to give the soldiering thing a try someday, although I'm a bit ambivalent about how serious some people can be about their pretend armies; I know there's real historic significance at work, but for me a weekend in the field had better be more fun than not. More than anything, though, I really should focus on my technique and repertoire.</p> I don't re-enact at all. I th…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-03-16:2477478:Comment:255522011-03-16T02:44:56.282ZTim Twisshttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/TimTwiss
I don't re-enact at all. I thought I was going to when I first started. Now I just wear the clothes because they are so comfortable. I did, however, end up becoming more obsessed with the music than I thought I was going to be.
I don't re-enact at all. I thought I was going to when I first started. Now I just wear the clothes because they are so comfortable. I did, however, end up becoming more obsessed with the music than I thought I was going to be. I always sing the cinnamon se…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-02-17:2477478:Comment:223372011-02-17T22:27:38.301ZScott Househttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/ScottHouse
<p>I always sing the cinnamon seed lyrics. </p>
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<p>Then there is also</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Dar's Buckwheat cake an Injun batter,</p>
<p>De Darkies git fat, Ol massa gits fatter"</p>
<p>I always sing the cinnamon seed lyrics. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then there is also</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Dar's Buckwheat cake an Injun batter,</p>
<p>De Darkies git fat, Ol massa gits fatter"</p> Never heard those lyrivs , t…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-02-17:2477478:Comment:218072011-02-17T14:39:52.413ZSteve Jeterhttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/SteveJeter
<p> Never heard those lyrivs , those are interesting.</p>
<p> I would not play Buffet , Soggy Bottom boys etc. I dont know much on banjo,,, but I know a bunch of songs on french harp. I do play Foster songs ,,, which would not be correct for Texas INd . period. But my hyprocisy ,, only goes so far.</p>
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<p> Never heard those lyrivs , those are interesting.</p>
<p> I would not play Buffet , Soggy Bottom boys etc. I dont know much on banjo,,, but I know a bunch of songs on french harp. I do play Foster songs ,,, which would not be correct for Texas INd . period. But my hyprocisy ,, only goes so far.</p>
<p> </p> For that matter, how many sin…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-02-17:2477478:Comment:221412011-02-17T13:08:12.518ZCharles Edward Leehttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/CharlesEdwardLee
<p>For that matter, how many sing the lyrics:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I wish I was in the land of cotton, cinnamon seed and sandy bottom;</p>
<p>Look away, &tc.</p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">Then away down South in fields of cotton, vinegar shoes & paper stockings,</span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">Look away &tc....</span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;"> …</span></p>
<p></p>
<p>For that matter, how many sing the lyrics:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I wish I was in the land of cotton, cinnamon seed and sandy bottom;</p>
<p>Look away, &tc.</p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">Then away down South in fields of cotton, vinegar shoes & paper stockings,</span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">Look away &tc....</span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">Pork and cabbage in the pot, goes in cold and comes out hot;</span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">Look away, &tc.</span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">Vinegar put right on red beet always makes them fit to eat,</span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">Look away, &tc.</span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">I came across those lyrics in one of the Civil War collections in the Tilton Library at Tulane University in New Orleans, and a note with the collection said the lyrics were sung during the Civil War by Confederate soldiers (I believe it said Confederate soldiers of the Trans-Mississippi).</span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font2" style="line-height: 18pt;">In your reenacting circles, do you find most camp musicians stick strictly to antebellum or Civil War songs; or do you have an elegant sufficiency of O Brother Where Art Thou, Flat & Scruggs, Wastin' Away In Margaritaville musical pollution at events? We find far too many of the latter sort, though not at every event we attend.</span></p> Speaking of Dixie's Land... H…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-02-17:2477478:Comment:221392011-02-17T12:31:52.263ZDave Culganhttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/OlDanTucker
Speaking of Dixie's Land... Had some fun with this one during a performance at the UNION League of Philadelphia playing for President Lincoln (as impersonated by Christian Johnson) at his birthday celebration. He requested it, we sang it, and he even danced a little jig. This song is always a universal favorite. I sometimes like to throw in that verse: "Dis world was made in jist 6 days..". How many include the little walk around bit in between verses? We always do play it but have yet to get…
Speaking of Dixie's Land... Had some fun with this one during a performance at the UNION League of Philadelphia playing for President Lincoln (as impersonated by Christian Johnson) at his birthday celebration. He requested it, we sang it, and he even danced a little jig. This song is always a universal favorite. I sometimes like to throw in that verse: "Dis world was made in jist 6 days..". How many include the little walk around bit in between verses? We always do play it but have yet to get up and do any walking around, its hard for a trio to keep the music going and do any dancing around. Dave We have several advantages wh…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-02-17:2477478:Comment:222372011-02-17T04:30:10.281ZCharles Edward Leehttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/CharlesEdwardLee
<p>We have several advantages when it comes to playing Dixie. We live and play in the Deep South (based in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area), and the folks for whom we play are almost - ALMOST - universally disposed toward us playing it. And the three of us in our group are so old that we frankly don't much give a flip any more about what people think...lol. Too, we're in a fairly comfortable position, for we often have the opportunity to educate folks, which is why we don't 'soften' words in…</p>
<p>We have several advantages when it comes to playing Dixie. We live and play in the Deep South (based in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area), and the folks for whom we play are almost - ALMOST - universally disposed toward us playing it. And the three of us in our group are so old that we frankly don't much give a flip any more about what people think...lol. Too, we're in a fairly comfortable position, for we often have the opportunity to educate folks, which is why we don't 'soften' words in period minstrel tunes. We don't say 'people' when the song was written with 'darkey', or substitute other words if a song uses the word 'nigger'. The songs and the era must speak for themselves; and we speak for, and explain them, too, as needed. That being said, we also don't trot out 'Run, Nigger, Run' because ... well, to tell the truth, I'm probably more in need of a good butt-whipping than any man I know, but I still don't go out of my way to earn one. And our intention is never to hurt anyone's feelings or enflame their emotions, but to give them the experience of the 1850s. The language is just part of the age, whether good, bad or indifferent.</p>
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<p>Unquestionably, your mileage and the mileage of many others may vary significantly from ours. We don't get heat over playing Dixie - we get requests for it. In all that we do, we hope to educate folks; and we try to do so by presenting ourselves as the "whole hog, hide and all'.</p>
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<p>We love to play around the campfire, and we love to get folks involved in making music with us - especially kids, since they're generally less reluctant than adults to risk embarrassment and humiliation by trying out an instrument strange to them. Kids are used to not getting things just right the first, or tenth, or twentieth try, while we adults expect things to go right from the very start. Kids are much more fun...lol.</p>
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<p>We take requests from time to time, but can't always do as they ask because we're normally paid to play a minimum number of hours...lol. What songs do you commonly get requests to play? Do you routinely get to play with the same assortment of fellows and instruments from event to event?</p> I dont play Dixie, too many…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-02-16:2477478:Comment:220442011-02-16T19:48:15.239ZSteve Jeterhttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/SteveJeter
I dont play Dixie, too many folk associate it w/ the wrong things. They know the tune . You could probably play the tune to 'Im a Good Ol Rebel,,, and nobody would be the wiser Not that I would
I dont play Dixie, too many folk associate it w/ the wrong things. They know the tune . You could probably play the tune to 'Im a Good Ol Rebel,,, and nobody would be the wiser Not that I would You're correct, sir. The song…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-02-16:2477478:Comment:214262011-02-16T19:26:07.198ZCharles Edward Leehttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/CharlesEdwardLee
<p>You're correct, sir. The song Dixie was a great favorite of the Washington Artillery. As a send-off to the war, Rev. Benjamin Palmer - arguably one of the great lights of Presbyterianism in the 19th century - preached a sermon to them and other militia units gathered in Jackson Square. From there, the first four companies of the Washington Artillery marched to the train station, singing Dixie. Two of the men of the Washington Artillery died on the march to the train station - died of heat…</p>
<p>You're correct, sir. The song Dixie was a great favorite of the Washington Artillery. As a send-off to the war, Rev. Benjamin Palmer - arguably one of the great lights of Presbyterianism in the 19th century - preached a sermon to them and other militia units gathered in Jackson Square. From there, the first four companies of the Washington Artillery marched to the train station, singing Dixie. Two of the men of the Washington Artillery died on the march to the train station - died of heat strokes. (That argues in favor of proper hydration, and having a summer uniform as well as a wool uniform.)</p>
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<p>Carlo Patti was a name well known to the men of the Washington Artillery, of course. Bear in mind that when the invitation was publishedf abroad in the New Orlerans region that the Washington Artillery sought "Gentlemen" to apply for membership, they meant "gentlemen" in every sense of the word. These were men of prominence in commerce, religion and politics. James Burge Walton, for example, owned a wholesale grocery, and was one of the leadiers of the American ("Know Nothing") Party in Louisiana before the war. One of the men who would lead a company of the Washington Artillery later and would be promoted out of the Washington Artillery during the war was Cuthbert Slocum, whose name is still known in racing circles not as one of the founding members of the Metairie Racetrack (the track of which can still be followed in what became first Camp Tracy - named after the Washington Artillery's early commander who later become a Confederate general - and then Metairie Cemetery), but because he imported the first Arabian stallion into America. To join the Washington Artillery, you had to pay a $3 application fee to the Committee of Investigation who would research your background. A secret ballot was then taken, assuming your background was satisfactory; if you had one black ball cast against you, you were rejected from membership.</p>
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<p>Their relatively high profiles in society and commerce is what led men like James Longstreet, for example, to go into a business partnership after the war with William and Edward Owen, both officers of the Washington Artillery who became friends of his during the war.</p>
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<p>On a related topic, I have yet to be able to find a recording of any sort of a song popular with the Washington Artillery during the war titled "You Shan't Have Any Of My Peanuts" (at least that's what I recall its title as being). Have you heard this song?</p>
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<p>I'm also scouting around to find the text and music to a play titled Pocahontas; or Ye Gentle Savage, which was a musical that the Washington Artillery Varieties Company performed in camp. I should that would be fun to perform or to watch, espcially since the female parts were performed by the men in camp. <br/><br/><cite>Dan'l said:</cite></p>
<blockquote><div><p>It's my understanding that the Confederate words for the minstrel tune "Dixie" were first popularized by Carlo Patti in a performance for the Washington Artillery just as the war was imminent. Shortly afterwords Carlo, a well known viloinist and composer at the time, broke with his family and mustered in as a Confederate soldier for a while. His sister Patti was a child singing sensation who had travelled with Carlo through many states and Cuba before the war, whose picture somehow eneded up in the vest pocket of John Wilkes Booth when he was killed after war's end. She apparently sang for Lincoln at one point, and lived well into the recording era. Carl Anderton of this group found some recordings and posted them a couple years ago. But this is to ramble... I've drifted too far from the post topic.</p>
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<p>Dan'l</p>
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</blockquote> Unfortunately, I'm not the ma…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-02-16:2477478:Comment:214162011-02-16T02:01:45.553ZCharles Edward Leehttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/CharlesEdwardLee
<p>Unfortunately, I'm not the maker of Chuck Lee banjos - yet...lol. I expect to tackle my first two pretty shortly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As to your supposition thatartillerymen, being better educated than the gravel crunchers, might well have been more apt to be musically literate as well, I think there's a lot in what you said. In fact, we portray the Washington Artillery of New Orleans. As a State of Louisiana militia unit, when James burge Walton was their commnding officer in antebellum days,…</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I'm not the maker of Chuck Lee banjos - yet...lol. I expect to tackle my first two pretty shortly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As to your supposition thatartillerymen, being better educated than the gravel crunchers, might well have been more apt to be musically literate as well, I think there's a lot in what you said. In fact, we portray the Washington Artillery of New Orleans. As a State of Louisiana militia unit, when James burge Walton was their commnding officer in antebellum days, it was their practice to march top his home on the anniversary of his natal day and serenade him with his favorite songs, including light opera. A number of songs were written by members of the Washington Artillery, and one song (Upi-Dee) was dedicated to them. When James Dearing was promoted from private in the Washington Artillery to Captain in charge of Lee's Light Artillery, his messmates made a gift to him of a parlor guitar with a brass tailpiece into which was inscribed his name and the date of his promotion. There is a famous photograph of the Washington Artillery in camp before Shiloh in which one of their fellows is holding a violin. They had their own brass band in antebellum days, and during the war the Washington Artillery Varieties Company produced plays and musical entertainments for their fellow soldiers. While the first four companies of the Washington Artillery were in Virginia, they performed for the entertainment of James Longstreet, Robert E. lee, and President jefferson Davis. During the battle of Franklin I believe it was, they dragged a square piano out of a home and played it during lulls in their firing, sitting right along the railroad tracks - and that piano today sits in Memorial Hall on Camp Street in New Orleans, a fine Confederate museum. So yes - I think you're clearly right to think we would have been well represented musically. Besides, everyone knows that men with superior math skills tend to be good musicians, and vice versa.</p>
<p><br/><br/><cite>Dan'l said:</cite></p>
<blockquote><div><p>Chuck - Are you the maker of Chuck Lee banjos? They are supremely good open-backs.</p>
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<p>In any case thanks for chiming in. We artillerists have one advantage in our impression, that the actual units had access to more wagons and bigger tents than infantry, and didn't have to tote rifles on the march (and if flying artillery everbody had a horse to strap extra stuff onto). That all comes down to being able to carry a guitar or banjo with more ease than an infantryman on the march; a factor when justifying an impression. Second advantage, the average artilleryman tended to be better educated than the average infantryman, as reading and figuring were required in servicing the "piece" (the cannon). So perhaps better educated in reading music as well? - though that's a supposition. </p>
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<p>As for music in camp, minstrel fare was the popular music of the time, but I agree there were likely many other tunes played in camp (including spirituals and chanteys in the folk taradition). In fact I don't think many of the songs played on banjo were the versions printed in the banjo tutors of the day - but I've seen the light now not to make too much of that because it's not important compared to learning the documented methods of play in the tutors, thereby playing the way we <span style="text-decoration: underline;">know</span> some banjo players played.</p>
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<p>I too discovered the RP-1 guitar, mine was $200 new with case. And I have fitted it with Nylgut as well - though for strings 4-6 you may as well replace with metal-wound silk from a "folk guitar" set because that's all the Nylgut sets (or the actual period guitars) have.</p>
<p> I try really hard to maintain a braced three-finger plucking style and not use a plectrum, which were not used at the time. I sometimes have to resort to plectrum for unfamiliar material or to be loud around louder instruments brought into camp. Those darn mandolins, steel-string tone-ring banjos, and dreadnaught guitars don't belong but there they are. Those darn concertinas do belong, but nobody's ever told me they can be played softly by a player who knows how (anyone know this?).</p>
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<p>I've verified the RP-1's various dimensions are all within about 96% of an 1846 Martin, and I've replaced all Phillips screws on the machines with slotted, but can't do much about the tortoise binding or the too-large bridgeplate, which weren't likely though they could have rarely been that way.</p>
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<p>Dan'l</p>
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