olderisbetter - Posted - 01/13/2009:  21:14:21

i just picked up a record called "instrumental music of the southern appalachians" (tradition records TLP 1007) and it features banjo, fiddle, guitar, dulcimer and harmonica playing. it has some great fiddle and banjo pieces by the great hobart smith and some great guitar pieces by etta baker and a few good dulcimer tunes. i am not too crazy about the harmonica tunes but oh well, you cant have everything. anyways, there are two other banjoists i have never heard of before. the first is boone reid and the other is lacey phillips.
both great banjo players. lacey does a song which is called marching jaybird (or jaybirds march). i think it is played 3 finger style but am not too sure. i would upload it but seeing as it is a piece of vinyl i cant. it is a very good song and has been stuck in my head since i have heard it. has anyone ever heard of lacey phillips? has anyone ever heard this tune or can play it? i am obsessed and i am feeling like a banjo nerd. not that there is anything wrong with that.

i think while all of the musicians are pretty authentic the recording was most likely made in the 60's since, to my knowledge, hobart smith nor etta baker ever recorded prior.

Hunter Robertson - Posted - 01/13/2009:  21:32:46

Yeah, they sounded pretty authentic to me, some of them painfully so! I don't have any more info on those two players, but according to the notes to Hobart Smith's Blue Ridge Legacy CD, Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians came out in '57 and Lomax first recorded him in '42.

Hunter

Old Time Music for Body & Soul - www.hunterrobertson.com

Bill Rogers - Posted - 01/13/2009:  21:43:03

That tune's in the repertoire of Etta Baker's family. I think Lacey Phillips was her uncle. At any rate, you'll get a lot of hits if you google: "Etta Baker" "Jaybird March."

Bill

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 01/13/2009:  21:45:31

I have a pretty extensive record collection and the only tracks I find by Boone Reid or Lacey Phillips are from that that one collection. Two tracks by each of them.
Buying tracks from the Library of Congress is pretty expensive but one you have them you can legally copy and pass on any recordings you get. I've never seen any mention of further tracks by either man, but if you are good at navigating very large web sites, start with the LOC.

Marching Jaybird was pretty popular with banjo players back in the early 60s - I suspect it had been tabbed out from that recording. I didn't play banjo at the time so I didn't pay much attention. I would imagine the tab is still floating around in one form or another.

Download your free copy of Rocket Science Banjo - the Advanced Method For Beginning to Intermediate Clawhammer Players, at:
http://www.rsb.pricklypearmusic.net

Along with the full text in PDF you will also find the four current RSB videos and the "25 EZ Clawhammer tunes. - which are up to about 40 now.

Banjo Brad is still hosting "How To Mold A Mighty Pinky" and some other material at:
http://www.pricklypearmusic.net
A site full of interesting banjo material