For enthusiasts of early banjo

090403 Next Friday Tune

How about doing a tune where the banjo part doesn't seem to go well with the vocal? There are three that come to mind - Gal with the Blue Dress On, Picayune Butler, and Jenny Get Your Hoe Cake. I have a devil of a time trying to sing the tune while playing the published lines, so I alter things to make the song work for me. I'd be curious to see how people do these.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Twiss on March 28, 2009 at 5:21pm

John, are you talking about "Jenny" as it appears in the Rice Book? I took my first serious glance at this arrangment. It seems quite difficult. I would love to see an attempt at this, but that figure in cut time at the tempo I have normally heard the tune seems awkward to impossible. What am I missing here? Can somebody play and sing this as written?
What is your source for "Gal"?
Picayune from Rice, or something else?

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Permalink Reply by Carl Anderton on March 28, 2009 at 11:39pm

Root Hog or Die from Rice is a good one, and a very popular Civil War tune.

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Permalink Reply by John Masciale on March 29, 2009 at 1:28am

I was talking about Jenny and Picayune in Rice. I've always felt that Jenny as written in Rice was impossible to sing to. I was wondering if I was the only one who thought so. Picayune is a challenge as well. I've modified what I do with it. I have a hard time singing to something that seems to have no resemblence between the melody line and the accompaniment (on piano it is not unusual to have the right hand doing one thing and the left something else, look at Chopin's Revolutionary Etude), but with vocals it seems much harder.

Gal is looking at the Briggs version versus the sheet music that I've seen. They are much closer however than some of the stuff in Rice.

Root Hog or Die is an interesting choice. Bobby Horton sings a version in Home Spun Songs of the Southern Confederacy that is different than what is in Rice. Normally a civil war sing uses the same melody with changed lyrics. Horton's melody is not even close to what is here.

I'm willing to give this one a shot.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Twiss on March 29, 2009 at 10:03am

I may sit this one out, but watch with anticipation. My learning curve for a vocal tune is much longer, especially with the weird stuff in the Rice Book. I have to say that many of those seem like banjo solos. I just can't comprehend some of the interval clashes on the strong beats as sounding good. I hope to hear why these are good arrangements.

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Permalink Reply by John Masciale on March 29, 2009 at 11:28am

Actually, I'm not particularly eager to try this. I agree with you that these seem more like banjo solos. I'd rather try something like playing the solo accompanying a singer, and then playing and singing the tune so that it can be done simultaneously.

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Permalink Reply by Carl Anderton on March 29, 2009 at 12:43pm

So we're back at square one. What shall our Friday night tune be?

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Permalink Reply by Carl Anderton on March 29, 2009 at 12:47pm

Tim Twiss said:

I just can't comprehend some of the interval clashes on the strong beats as sounding good. I hope to hear why these are good arrangements.

Listen to Joe Ayers' recorded versions of the Rice vocal tunes. The clashing intervals pass by very quickly, and are what they would have called a "characteristic" effect. I think it sounds really neat, and is unique to the minstrel style.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Twiss on March 29, 2009 at 1:02pm

I'll listen more carefully. Is he true to the arrangements?
I still can't see the "Jenny" arrangement working very well...unless there is some tempo variation I've never considered.
I wonder about Ayer's background singers on "Root Hog". What do you think about that last phrase in the tune and the way they harmonized it?