Hey Everyone, Can someone confirm that Gus Cannon played banjo with a slide on the recording "Poor Boy Long way From home" and If so, how common was banjo slide playing back in those days?
I have the tab which is in Woody Manns "Bottleneck Blues Guitar Book" and it just seems odd that a banjo tune would be in a bottleneck blues guitar book.
Also, Is the banjo tuned the same as the guitar with the exception of the low D string?
I'm just discovering Gus Cannon and find his music fascinating (what little I heard), Thanks.
He did (might have been a knife or bottleneck, though). It wasn't -- the only other recording on 78 I can think of is Dock Walsh's "Go Bathe in That Beautiful Pool." The banjo is tuned to regular open G as far as I know; the guitar is in standard tuning key of G, but they're tuned down below concert pitch. Also, based on Cannon's voice, that record was put out at slightly the wrong speed. Chris
He did (might have been a knife or bottleneck, though). It wasn't -- the only other recording on 78 I can think of is Dock Walsh's "Go Bathe in That Beautiful Pool." The banjo is tuned to regular open G as far as I know; the guitar is in standard tuning key of G, but they're tuned down below concert pitch. Also, based on Cannon's voice, that record was put out at slightly the wrong speed. Chris
Thanks for your reply banjochris. I just downloaded the Dock Walsh song, interesting. I did notice that Gus Cannon voice sounds completely different on "feather bed" than It does on "Poor Boy..." Slide banjo, you learn something new every day.
Thanks, R.M.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2010, 07:39:04 PM by Ron Mack »
Yeah, UB, he apparently put pennies under the bridge to raise it up. According to the liner notes of the Carolina Tar Heels Folk-Legacy LP, which I was too lazy to clear off the top of the turntable to listen to, he plays "Ain't Gonna Be Treated This A-Way" in his "knife" style on that album from the '60s. Chris
...Slide banjo, you learn something new every day...
From an earlier post:
...decades ago Martin Mull did a parody tune where he played a uke slide style with a baby bottle. In the seventies, I saw Ken Bloom do a slide version of "Sittin' On Top of the World" on an autoharp.
Yeah, UB, he apparently put pennies under the bridge to raise it up. According to the liner notes of the Carolina Tar Heels Folk-Legacy LP, which I was too lazy to clear off the top of the turntable to listen to, he plays "Ain't Gonna Be Treated This A-Way" in his "knife" style on that album from the '60s. Chris
Just listening to it now, also, Walsh made a few prewar recordings of slide banjo: "A precious sweetheart from me is gone", "Bathe in that beautiful pool", and a couple more; unfortunately I haven't Russell's discography handy right now, but there were more.
Just in case you don't know what the "banjo open G" tuning is, it's gDGBD, where the capital letters are the 4 fretted strings, from low to high tone. The "g" is the fifth (drone) string, tuned one octave above the 3rd string "G". You could probably get a similar effect with a guitar tuned to an open G: DGDGBD (low to high as you read from left to right).
Just in case you don't know what the "banjo open G" tuning is, it's gDGBD, where the capital letters are the 4 fretted strings, from low to high tone. The "g" is the fifth (drone) string, tuned one octave above the 3rd string "G". You could probably get a similar effect with a guitar tuned to an open G: DGDGBD (low to high as you read from left to right).
Lyle
Hi Lyle, No, I didn't know the bango tuning. I see that It's spanish tuning without the low D, thanks. Thanks to everyone.
It may have been uncommon in the past, but you sure can't beat it for novelty. I play Robert Johnson's 32-20 Blues with a slide on a 5-string banjo tuned to G that I have set up with high action, and it always invites comment. I am about to start playing Uncle Dave Macon's Keep My Skillet Good & Greasy in D with a slide, based on a recorded version I got from Frank Lee of the Freight Hoppers where he plays it as a slide tune on a 30's National guitar in D. Turns it into a real bluesy number, sliding up to the "time-time-time" refrain. I think my band is about to shoot an actual music video inside a train boxcar, and this tune is on the short list. Though I will play it in on guitar for this project, since my wife wants to play banjo...