Edited by Azizi Powell
This is part of an ongoing pancocojams series about African Americans and American folk music.
This post quotes portions of a 2008 tennessee.edu music publication file by Chris LH Durman entitled "African American Old-Time String Band Music: A Selective Discography".
The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.
This entire Pdf is sixteen pages. This pancocojams excerpt doesn't include all of those pages and also doesn't include any of the citations. I encourage you to read that entire essay.
Thanks to by Chris LH Durman for writing this paper and thanks to all those who he quoted.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/12/excerpt-from-2002-sociology-pdf.html for a related pancocojams post entitled "Excerpt From a 2002 Sociology Pdf Entitled "Aesthetic Identity, Race, and American Folk Music" by William G. Roy".
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/03/black-influences-minstrel-influences-on.html for a related 2020 pancocojams post entitled "Black Influences & Minstrel Influences On The Songs That Old Time Music Performer Uncle Dave Macon Sung & Played".
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EXCERPT: AFRICAN AMERICAN OLD-TIME STRING BAND: A SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY"
by Durman, Chris LH, "African American Old-Time String Band Music: A Selective Discography"
(2008). Music Publications and Other
https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=utk_musipubs
[page 797]
Southern old-time string band music, similar to what might be played today for a square dance, represents perhaps the earliest musical collaboration between African American and European American (often Scots Irish) musicians.
[…]
Scots-Irish settlers in the Upland South brought the
violin—more commonly called the fiddle in folk music— and many traditional fiddle tunes with them as they immigrated to the United
States. African Americans brought an instrument modern players would recognize as the gourd banjo, along
with their playing techniques, tunes, songs, and a variety of tuning methods. As Cecelia Conway documents in African
Banjo Echoes in Appalachia:
A Study of Folk Tradition, when musicians from these ethnic groups met in
the Upland South, the elements of old-time string band music came together for the first time.1 Musicians from both groups
entertained audiences by playing music suitable for both listening and dancing. This could be done by a single
musician, but playing in groups lightened the musical load for the individual musician, increased the volume of
the music for the dancers, and, in many cases, proved to be more fun for all.
In the interest of maintaining a clear focus, this essay
deals with African American old-time string band dance music and does not examine groups whose recorded repertoire is primarily
blues, ragtime, jazz, or folk song. It will thus leave unexamined whole genres of music that evolved out
of the same early collaborations between white and black musicians. Also eliminated are many musicians who would
have been
[page 798]
quite capable of playing old-time string band music for a square
dance or, as African Americans were once more likely to say, for a “frolic,” but whose music falls outside of the specific stylistic
tradition under consideration here. Some of these groups that certainly could be considered African American “string
bands,” in the broader sense, include the Mississippi Sheiks, Gus
Cannon’s various ensembles, the Cats and the Fiddle, and the Spirits of Rhythm.
[…]
An excellent introduction to a wide variety of African
American musical styles, including solo banjo and several approaches to the string band, may be found on Deep River of Song: Black
Appalachia (Rounder 11661-1823-2 [1999]). Jimmie Strothers performs a solo banjo version of the classic tune “Cripple
Creek” that he recorded in 1936 while in prison in State Farm, Virginia. This recording also allows listeners to compare two
traditional old-time string bands. The first, recorded in Campaign, Tennessee,
in 1946 features Murphy Gribble on banjo, John Lusk on fiddle, and Albert York
on guitar. The other, recorded in 1942 in Sledge,Mississippi, includes Sid
Hemphill on fiddle and vocals, Lucius Smith on banjo, Will Head playing bass
drum, and Alec Askew on guitar. What makes this band different, however, is
that these musicians also play the traditional African American fife and drum
music still performed in the hill country of Northeast Mississippi and
represented on this disc by "Devil’s Dream.” Alan Lomax writes of this group that
"this area in the hills of Northeast Mississippi has sheltered
ante-bellum black musical traditions as nowhere else in the South. Blind Sid Hemphill and his
friends are now seen as representing the earliest Afro-American string band
styles."2
Whether or not this music truly represents the earliest
black string bands, these recordings of Hemphill and his group of friends, in which the bass drum adds low bass tones while also
supplying a rhythmic element, are certainly unlike the old-time string band music most commonly played today.
Today, “old-time” music is played primarily by white
musicians. Perhaps due in part to its flexibility and sheer loudness, the fiddle is the dominant melodic instrument for old–time tunes. The fiddle is
accom
Page 799]
panied by a variety of other stringed instruments such as
banjo (often played in the “clawhammer” or downstroking style), guitar, mandolin (frequently used to double the melody),
and bass. Ukuleles, harmonicas, banjo mandolins, washtub basses, cellos, brass instruments, drums, and a
variety of hand-held percussion instruments have all been introduced into white old-time string bands as well,
but are not common. The typical
instrumental configuration of the white old-time string band of the last
century has remained fairly consistent through the years. From early “hillbilly” recording artists such as the Skillet
Lickers, to early revivalists like the New Lost City Ramblers, to more contemporary revivalists such as the Freight Hoppers, the typical
fiddle/banjo focus (with guitar, bass, and the
less-common use of the mandolin) has remained largely the same.
The African American old-time string band tradition allows
for a much broader definition of the genre. Solo performers are more likely to play for dancers, as might banjo duos,
guitar and fiddle duos, groups comprised of a fiddle and one or more percussionists, or groups comprised of a
banjo and one or more percussionists.
African American solo performers as well as group members are also more likely
to sing than white musicians playing similar dance music and often place more emphasis on the rhythmic
elements of the music.3
[...]
The repertoire of many African American old-time string
bands is also very broad and frequently includes blues, jazz, ragtime, and folk songs in addition to old-time dance tunes. As Howard Armstrong (also
known as
[page 800]
Louie Bluie), member of the Tennessee Chocolate Drops and of
Martin, Bogan, and Armstrong, frequently explained, this broad repertoire
allowed these and similar bands to entertain a wide variety of black and white
audiences of various ethnicities.5 Martin, Bogan, and Armstrong began playing together in the late 1920s and
recorded several sides in the 1930s, as either the Tennessee Chocolate Drops or
Louie Bluie and Ted Bogan, that are now available on Carl Martin (1930–1936)/
Willie “61” Blackwell (1941) (Document DOCD-5229 [1994]).
[…]
In a telephone interview with the author, contemporary
multiinstrumentalist Dom Flemons of the Carolina Chocolate Drops (who recorded Dona Got a Ramblin’ Mind [Music Maker MMCD #76 (2006)]),
and of Sankofa Strings (whose Colored Aristocracy [Music Maker MMCD83]
was released in 2006), observed with regret that, “most black people don’t know
the banjo is their instrument.”6 It is likewise unfortunate that so few African
American bands have been recorded. Waves of new listeners seeking “authentic” music relatively unaffected by commercial
interests or wishing to explore the roots of bluegrass, blues, and country
music frequently discover the old-time string band music of white ensembles,
but have a more difficult time discovering African American old-time string
band music. An informal survey of the attendees (both musicians and listeners) at just about any fiddler’s convention held in Appalachia in recent years will
reveal few, if any, African Americans. This current situation does not reflect
the history of old-time string band music, however, and may not reflect its
future if the recordings by African American old-time string band elders such
as Joe Thompson (Family Tradition [Rounder CD 2161 (1999)]), or
revivalists such as the Carolina Chocolate Drops, or the Ebony Hillbillies (I
Thought You Knew [EH Music EH-CD05 (2007)]) and Sabrina’s Holiday
(EH Music EH-CD04 (2004)]).
[page 801]
spark new interest in the contributions African Americans
have made to the creation and continuity of old-time string band music.
THE CREATION OF A NEW MUSICAL GENRE
The recorded history of African American old-time string
bands begins in the early twentieth century, but the origins of the music began much earlier. While many scholars once
believed that African American contributions to the performance practices and repertoire of old-time string
band music were nonexistent or limited only to inspiring minstrel parody (which, in turn, inspired old-time string
bands) excellent scholarship over the past few decades has shown the essential role blacks have played in the creation of
the genre. As one result of extensive research into the early documents, travel logs, diaries, and newspaper articles that
chronicle early African American folk music, Dena Epstein has disproved the once widespread belief that white minstrels
actually created the banjo and, thus, banjo music.
In Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War,
Epstein traces the evolution of all genres of African American folk music
beginning with the use of African percussion instruments and the “banjar” to
encourage dancing as exercise to maintain the health of slaves onboard slave ships.7 Although the trail of
documents mentioning the music played by the slaves is remarkably thin, reflecting the dominant class’s lack of interest in
and appreciation for any cultural expression of the slaves, Epstein does find many
reports of African Americans playing percussion instruments, banjos, and
violins to entertain themselves and, in time, to entertain whites as well. Reports of
slaves playing the banjo and percussion instruments in the American colonies begin in the mid-eighteenth century, and there are
reports of slaves playing the violin as early as the late seventeenth century.8 Although reports of percussion
ensembles are relatively plentiful prior to their being banned due to fears concerning their potential use as signals
for slave insurrections,9 definitive accounts of African Americans playing the violin and the banjo together in an
ensemble appear later than
might be expected. Beginning in 1774 there are several reports of these
stringed instruments being in proximity to each other, but these early accounts fall short of specifically saying that the instruments
were played together. Some scholars (including Epstein) assume that the banjo and the fiddle were probably played
together at this time, but others are
[page 802]
more cautious in their interpretation of these reports. Conway suggests that
“the difficulty of finding a way to tune the instruments in a harmonious fashion for the first time” may be one reason
why African American fiddle and banjo ensembles are first specifically documented in 1853, decades after reports of
African American banjo and percussion ensembles and violin and percussion ensembles.10
While the musicians on these recordings and most of the songwriters appear to
be European Americans, these recordings are well researched, clearly documenting the source of each tune,
including some that appear to incorporate traditional African American lyrics or music.
The unprecedented popularity of minstrelsy undoubtedly
helped ensure the success of Southern old-time string band music. Beginning with the Virginia Minstrels’ first public performance in 1843
in New York City, minstrelsy swept across the nation and remained hugely popular for the next fifty or more years.
Its popularity contributed to the development
of the burlesque show, musical comedy, and vaudeville.14 Minstrelsy and
old-time string band music developed a close relationship beginning in the earliest days of minstrelsy. Conway argues,
convincingly, that early minstrels and string band musicians borrowed banjo techniques, tuning
[page 803]
methods, some songs, and some tunes from the same source: African American banjoists.15 Still unclear is whether early
minstrels or early string bands worked out the intricacies of tuning the fiddle
and banjo in a complementary manner. If African Americans were indeed the
first to play the fiddle and the banjo together, minstrels would have
borrowed techniques for tuning and playing these instruments together
from them as well. Conway compares methods of tuning the banjo among
African American, minstrel, and white Appalachian musicians and
finds that blacks and white Appalachian musicians share several tuning
methods that the minstrels did not use. This leads her to the
conclusion that white Appalachian musicians learned these tunings directly
from African Americans and not from minstrels.16 In addition to incorporating African American tunes into the
minstrel repertoire, both the minstrels and the early string bands
borrowed heavily from tunes in the Scottish and Irish repertoires.17 Old–time
string bands of both races, in turn, borrowed tunes such as
“Dixie’s Land,” “Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel,” and the hugely popular
“Old Dan Tucker” from the minstrels. Dena Epstein feels that
separating authentic African American folk music from songs written for or
adapted from European sources for the minstrel stage is particularly
difficult because “slaves quickly took up [minstrel] songs and sang what they
learned was expected of them.”18
Approximately ten years after the first documented minstrel performance, African Americans became both minstrels and the acknowledged experts on “plantation” materials, including the music of the slaves.19
As Robert Toll points out in Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth Century America, “Minstrelsy was one of the few opportunities for mobility—geographic, social, and economic—open to nineteenth century Negroes.”20 Toll quotes W. C. Handy, himself a minstrel in the 1890s, "the minstrel show at that time was one of the greatest outlets for talented [Negro] musicians and artists . . . All the best [black] talent of that generation came down the same drain. The composers, the singers, the musicians, the speakers, the stage performers—the minstrel show got them all."21
[page 804]
These African American minstrels added both traditional and new compositions to the music of minstrelsy. For example, one black minstrel songwriter, James A. Bland (1854–1911), composed several hundred songs including “Dem Golden Slippers.” This song is still popular among old-time string musicians and familiar to many as the Golden Grahams cereal jingle.22
As minstrelsy declined in popularity in the late 1890s, African American minstrel performers were forced to retire, move into other forms of popular entertainment such as musical theater or vaudeville, or continue performing in traveling minstrel troupes for primarily black audiences. These traveling troupes “laid the foundation for the professional black entertainment circuits that flourished virtually underground in the twentieth century” and further spread black cultural elements including music and dance that had been embedded in the minstrel shows.23 The waning popularity of minstrelsy coincides with the beginning of the recording industry and with the period during which many of the earliest African American recording artists were learning music and building their diverse repertoires. Early recordings document the ways that geographic diversity and commercial interests were reflected in commercially-released music of the period. Conway theorizes that African American banjo music developed and spread from two geographic areas, the Mississippi Valley and the Upper South, throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While remnants of early folk banjo music still being played in both regions display similarities in tunes or songs and playing styles, regional influences led to divergence: jazz, ragtime, and jug band music developed in the Mississippi Valley while old-time string band music was being standardized in the Upper South. Blues music, although more commonly associated with the Mississippi Valley and the delta, was influential in both areas.24 When commercial recording companies discovered the marketability of “race” records and sent representatives out into the field, they discovered African American musicians playing a wide range of musical styles; however, few of these recordings feature African American old-time string bands playing dance music."...
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