Banjo Solo During A MInstrel Show

[Tim Twiss]

I would like to know what has been revealed about the solo portion of a Minstrel show, when the banjo was played alone. Converse refers to it breifly in his writings. Sounds like it was a  display based on showmanship....Yankee Doodle variations, swinging banjos etc.  I would have liked to have seen this.  

[Dave Culgan]

I wonder a lot about the early minstrel shows too, not just the banjo and other instrumental solos (including flutina ), but the whole thing. As reenactors, my bunch once staged a couple of the minstrel dramatic comedies ("Hard Times" and the next year "The Quack Doctor"). We followed the scripts to the letter including the costume, stage, and prop notes, but these skits were performed stand alone, not as part of a three part show so I now know we weren't presenting it complete. Just producing these skits alone in a history informed way was as much as I could muster.

I would love to have seen the whole thing. My current mental picture of the early minstrel show is derived from the numerous grotesque wood-cut depicitions of minstrels performing, of film footage of Uncle Dave (and others) doing banjo "tricks", and some of the scenes from "Bamboozled". With the expansion of the internet and a growing interest in this period of society maybe a forgotten early minstrel's diary will come into view and give us some more information. Dave Culgan

[Tim Twiss]

I'll try to find that spot in the Converse rem. where he spoke of it...unless somebody has it located. 

[Carl Anderton]

I think we all ponder similar questions.  I mean, here we are, devotees of the banjo as played in 185X, and none of us have ever seen a minstrel show!  A knotty situation to be sure.  My observations, after a fair amount of study:

Banjo skill was important but an engaging stage personality and comedy were vital.  Converse in his reminiscences gives us fairly detailed descriptions of 2 leading players, Rumsey and Butler.  Both would take the stage with a "Good ebenin', white folks!" that immediately endeared themselves to the audience.  Both used the thimble.  "Trick" playing was very much in evidence, especially with Rumsey.

Converse says that Rumsey and Briggs ran neck and neck for the title of "leading banjoist," with Briggs perhaps having a slight edge because of the "pleasing quality of his voice."  So we know that singing was essential during the banjo solo.

Converse himself was criticized in the newspapers for lacking in stage presence, according to Lowell Schreyer in "The Banjo Entertainers," althought the same newspaper later says that he had improved on that account.

Albery Baur in one of his reminiscence articles recalls seeing a minstrel show as a child, with his uncle, and the banjo solo being a big hit with the audience, the performer playing in stroke style, and playing tunes such as "Wait for the Wagon" and "Ring, Ring the Banjo," and being encored many times.

[Bell Banjos]

Interesting for sure, Carl.

(I can't get enough of you and Cuffie)

About 30 years ago I played with a guy who totally understood stage presence and keeping the audience 'up' and we did it for 4 hours straight in the bars. He was a reencarnated minstrel, we were old timers or bluegrassers or folkies or something. Nobody was 'boss' ,  we followed each other's leads and Clyde (the minstrel) never let us down on ANY tune. Now we didn't know any minstrel tunes then, and sure didn't know what a minstrel banjo was, but here we were setting up the gear and in comes Clyde, top hat, tails, wanting to teach us some OLD song on the fly. It was a ball. NOW I get it. Yup, he was a minstrel in another life, he'd do the old footwork, he'd lead the crowd in a sing a long, he'd come up with corny old jokes, he played bones, harmonica, melodeon, and clawhammered anything. One day he hauled a bass drum in and there he was stomping the bass drum, playing his bones and blowing the harmonica. He always took a gig up 50 notches. Last I heard he was playing on a riverboat in Frankenmuth, MI - a big tourist town. Oh, he could play!!! But more than that he entertained. One of these days I'm gonna get a clip on of us playing, though it's been a while.