Two YouTube Examples Of African American Fife & Drum Bands (Ed and Lonnie Young Fife & Drum Band And Othar Turner and the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band )

hultonclint, Feb 1, 2009

This is archival (?which) footage of a fife and drum group of Ed and Lonnie Young of Mississippi.  I believe it was recorded by Alan Lomax, sometime between 1959 and the early 60s.  They use a fife made of cane, and drums adapted from military bands.

It is interesting how similar it is, not just in form but also in actual content, to the fife and drum playing of "John Canoe" processional music of Jamaica.  I have put just a quick sample of that from a 1954 recording, at the end.

[My purpose for posting is to draw out this comparison, which would probably not be noticed otherwise (the clip being buried in Martin Scorcese's documentary on Blues), but if it appears to infringe someone's copyright, please contact me.]

EDIT: "This footage was shot during the 1966 Newport Folk Festival, indeed by Alan Lomax. Ed Young plays the fife; Lonnie Young, Sr., the snare; and G.D. Young, the bass drum. Lomax's audio recordings from Newport '66, including those of the Youngs, are available through the online archive of the Association for Cultural Equity (Alan Lomax Archive)." –

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series about African American fife and drum music.

This post showcases two YouTube examples of African American fife and drum music.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/african-other-sources-of-african.html for Part II of this pancocojams series showcases a video of Othar Turner & the rising star fife and drum band. 

That post also presents YouTube comments from several discussion threads about the similariries of African American fife and drum music and certain traditional African music and other traditional music.

Thanks to Ed and Lonnie Young and the other musicians in their band and thanks to Othar Turner and the musicians in his band for their musical legacies. Thanks to all those who are associated with these YouTube examples and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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VIDEO #2

Sam Collins, May 2, 2012

Credited to Othar Turner's Rising Star Fife & Drum Band, Everybody Hollerin' Goat is a collection of haunting, authentic Mississippi-born fife and drum blues from Turner, aged 90 at the time of recording this, his solo debut. A compilation of field recordings and home recordings, it was assembled by Luther Dickinson, the son of the legendary Memphis producer Jim Dickinson.

- by Jason Ankeny

seated photo: in Gravel Springs, Mississippi by William R. Ferris

[…]

Song: Shimmy She Wobble

Artist: Otha Turner and the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band

Album: Everybody Hollerin' Goat

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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.

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