Topic: 1955 footage of Gid Tanner

[TenBrook]

Hi all,
This may well have been shared already but searching old threads didn't bring it up.

I was googling away trying to find any old footage of fiddlers (I've read here and there about footage being shown at theaters in the '20s of fiddling conventions and have always wondered if any made its way into the digital age. Still searching...). Anyway, I did stumble upon footage of Gid Tanner playing a house party in 1955. It's a short clip of him doing 'Tanner's Boarding House' but it fairly blew my mind.



And here's a link to the original recording of the song:


Enjoy.

Lew

[frailer24]

I have seen this before and was floored by it!

[Lastfirstface]

There's some good footage of old fiddlers on the "Times Ain't Like They Used To Be" DVD and a few more on the various newsreel archives like this one:

http://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A13882

[Johnm]

Thanks for posting that excerpt, Lew.  Two things strike me:  The guitarist has the time flipped--he's arriving at all of the chord changes before the melody instruments do, and I was surprised by how much Gid used a long bow stroke.  He sure didn't sound like he did that very much on the Skillet Licker records.
All best,
Johnm

[frankie]

The tune that he's playing is the same as G-Rag by the Georgia Yellowhammers...  with Andrew Baxter fiddling.

(and Wyzee Special by Wyzee Hamilton)