Deering - Posted - 01/19/2009:  07:17:54

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Been trying to play along with some of the old Trio stuff, what is ole dave doing with right hand, is it a mix of clawhammer and scruggs style?

Banjo75 - Posted - 01/19/2009:  07:20:54

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could he be playing similar to "Seegar" style? Perhaps up-pick with index finger, brush, thumb?

"If there is a human race here in a hundred years, banjo is going to be one of the main reasons." - Pete Seeger

stanger - Posted - 01/19/2009:  08:06:55

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Hi, Deering....
I could never tell for sure just what Guard did. His style definitely evolved in his time with the Trio.

One of the things that makes the music so hard for me to decipher is Bob Shane also played the banjo- a plectrum. While the Trio recorded in the era before multi-tracking was common, it could have been done. So Bob may have played a rhythm track and Dave could have played lead licks and solos over Bob's track. Another complication was the addition of other musicians in the studio; the Trio commonly used at least 2 other musicians on a lot of their later studio recordings- Glenn Campbell on guitar and 12-string guitar and Dave (Buck) Wheat on bass.

Campbell was never credited, and he also plays the banjo, 3-finger style. Buck Wheat became the 4th member over the last couple of years Dave Guard was with them; he toured in addition to his studio work, and was pictured on one Trio album cover.

In some songs, especially The Coast of California, most of the song is played in what sounds to me like the Seeger strum with picks. There is a banjo solo that's played in 3-finger style, and then it's back to the Seeger strum. I don't know if Guard ever used the clawhammer down stroke- the Seeger strum with picks can sound very close to the frailing stroke, but tends to be a smoother sound and less punchy. When it's well done, though, it can sound very, very close to frailing.

Guard's 3-finger style tended to have a non-Scruggs roll. It was a more syncopated, simpler 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2-3 rolls which often started with the thumb on the 5th string. In contrast, Scruggs most often used 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2 timing, which puts it solidly into 4/4 time and creates a continuous flow of notes. Guard often had to break his rolls to make them fit into 4/4.

Good topic! Dave Guard was the first banjo player a lot of kids first heard back then, and his style is a reflection of how little 3-finger information existed outside of the South in the late 50's.

regards,
Stanger




The pen is mightier than the pigs.

krayzeemick - Posted - 01/19/2009:  11:11:30

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Dave G. commonly used a two finger method with lots of pinches that kinda sounded like frailing a little.
There are plenty of videos on youtube that show him playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJU_aSOKFpQ

Slick Salmon - Posted - 01/19/2009:  12:47:59

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George Grove says that he tries to play in that style. He has instructional material at http://www.homespuntapes.com/shop/c....aspx?ID=157

reese158 - Posted - 01/19/2009:  17:49:36

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Peter Curry wrote a book called Pure Dave: An Analysis of Dave Guard's Banjo Playing. It is available from Elderly Instruments.

In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it.
-Ernst Fischer.

John Allison - Posted - 01/20/2009:  07:26:31

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Lyle,

As Slick says, George Grove has a fine DVD out titled "Banjo Arrangements of the Kingston Trio. He does a pretty good job of copying the sound and style of Dave G. and calls much of that style "false frails" with a "toggle note". You would have to get the DVD to understand what he meant by his terms. At any rate, it is a great addition to a K Trio fan's library. (www.homespun.com)

Froggie
"Courage is Fear that has said its prayers.

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Edited by - John Allison on 01/21/2009 06:09:56

Dan Sparkman - Posted - 01/20/2009:  13:36:18

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I've been trying to figure out "You're Gonna Miss Me" (a rip-off of Charlie Poole) for a long time. I think Dave Guard did it in Bb7, leaving the 5th string untuned. I think he used a lot of different styles.

David "Buck" Wheat got credit on the "Go'in Places" LP, among other places. He has(?) a site on myspace.com.

Dan Sparkman

mainejohn - Posted - 01/20/2009:  17:11:52

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I seldom look at this forum as I'm not a Scruggs style picker (wish I were), but I was just checking on Stanger to see what he was up to....and here he is...right here on this thread imparting his tremendous knowledge of all things banjo to the rest of us. What a resource! I've always thought Guard's playing to be underrated, and perhaps he's finally getting the recognition he deserves. Like many other northern kids looking for guidance and direction in the late 50's, it was either Pete Seeger or Dave Guard, as there wasn't much else out there to go by, at least for me. Perhaps because Guard wasn't beholden to any particular region or style, he was able to evolve and adapt his playing to what worked best with each situation that presented itself. The Trio's tunes are just plain fun to play along with, whether or not you're spot on with what Dave is doing. No doubt much of the intrigue, at least for me, is nostalgic, as his playing harks back to very special time in my life that is now a half century ago.

Cheers,
John Coleman
Scarborough, Maine

"what this country needs is a good 5 cent cigar...and a decent armrest for a 10 15/16", 28 bracket vintage Vega"

JonT - Posted - 01/21/2009:  13:59:59

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Agree completely with MaineJohn - Guard is quite an underrated player whose playing developed mightily during the years he led the Kingston Trio.

As to what he's doing on those Kingston Trio recordings, it kind of depends on the stage of the band's development. In the early days he was doing a lot of frailing and up-picking - "Darlin' Cory," and "Little Maggie," on the first record, for instance, back when he was playin' that old Stewart. Then he started doing a little double-thumbing, which is what we used to call what's now known as square rolls, in them days. Most of this was, I think, sans picks.

Later he incorporated some fingerwork, with I think bare fingers, that was remarkably like flamenco-guitar finger work (see the break in "Coast of California," on "Goin' Places," and finally he was getting involved in something a lot like hard-core bluegrass pickin' (see "Razors in the Air," and others, complete with finger picks, on "Goin Places." If you listen carefully over a really good system, you can hear picks squeak in various places, and in other places you can also hear the click of fingernails. I think.

I'm not tryin' to start no arguments, here. And I've learned that people can be downright sure about something as seemingly unimportant as whether Dave used picks, or not - and if so, where. The views expressed here are just that - my views, based on lots and lots of curiosity-based listening over the course of a lotta years by a hard-core fan (me), through quality speakers, headphones and ear buds. And yep, I still listen, all of the original Trio's records are on my iPod. I'm probably wrong about some of this, so if your view is different from mine, no worries.

One more thing - Stanger is completely right that Buck Wheat played a lotta guitar on some of those early records - if you hear a classical/flamenco guitar, it's probably Buck. The tune, "The Seine," on I've forgotten which record, for instance, probably is an example. He was jazz-oriented and I think worked for a while with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, a killer vocal trio, and that's where some of those harmonies and chord voicings come from. Sanger is also right about Shane whacking away at a plectrum banjo on some of the Trio's tracks. I seem to remember that he kept it tuned like a guitar onaccounta he didn't know the banjo chords. Apocryphal , maybe. But that was the lore.

As for Glen Campbell, I seem to remember that he was only used after Guard left the band - apparently the others weren't able to match Guard's musicianship (no surprise there, really) and needed to call in talent on the level of Campbell. But apologies ahead of time, I may be completely wrong about this.

All in all, he brought a pretty remarkable and personal style of playing with him. And that, I think is good. It's good to sound like one's own self. And Dave Guard certainly did.

Peace - JonT
http://jfthompson.typepad.com/californiafiles

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Edited by - JonT on 01/21/2009 14:01:14

stanger - Posted - 01/21/2009:  14:38:04

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Thanks, guys...
I think Dave simply hooked onto whatever knowledge he could gather and developed his playing in a way that was comfortable and worked for him.

Back then, it can't be overstated on how little info there was on playing the 5-string banjo, and just how few accomplished players there were. Even in N. Carolina, the real hotbed of the 5-string, a beginner had almost no chance of ever finding a seasoned player, except by the luck of acquaintance and geography. Elsewhere in the rest of the country, it was just ...Good Luck, Kid. Can't help ya.

John hits the mark on Guard's influence. The KT were HUGE and nationally played at a time when everyone listened to the radio. Without the Kingston Trio, I'm willing to say Earl Scruggs would have only been known regionally. Dave's up-picking styles were perfect as an introduction into Earl's more complicated stuff.
Dave gave 'em the gravy, Earl served up the meat. Both tasted pretty danged good.

This is an interesting thread to me. The various styles of playing the 5-string have always been entertwined in my mind, but a lot of younger players see great divisions in them. Each style has it's heros, for sure.
regards,
Stanger
regards,
Stanger

The pen is mightier than the pigs.

Basic Strum - Posted - 03/13/2009:  12:38:47

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Picking up (no pun intended) on a comment by an earlier poster, THE authoritative and exhaustive analysis of Dave Guard's banjo techniques can be found in Pete Curry's book, "Pure Dave." In addition to explaining and diagramming how Guard's playing evolved and matured through the years, Curry provides exhaustive chord charts, capo positions, lyrics -- and important insights into Guard's influences as well as back stories on the songs themselves. Similar info on the Bonnie Ship, The Diamond, a song also referenced here, is found in Pete Curry's "Folk Banjo" book, which features comparable analyses of recordings by John Stewart, all three Seegers, Bob Gibson, Erik Darling and many other influential banjo players from the so-called "Folk Era."

Jim E. - Posted - 03/13/2009:  15:36:07

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An interesting thread, and I agree with nearly all of what is written above. I saw Guard perform many times when he was with the Trio and twice in the late '70s when he was traveling around playing small venues with a small group of friends. He was a natural, if unschooled, musician who had a great ear and almost unerringly hit the right note(s). In the early days he did not use finger picks, but he did use them on some tunes late in his tenure with the Trio. He was an adept frailer and even more adept at fusing different styles into wholly original approaches. A good example is the above-referenced 'Coast of California' where, in mid-song, he seamlessly switches from frailing to a guitar-based 3-finger style and back again. When asked how he came up with his banjo parts, he usually responded, "I just hunt and peck". We should all be so good at that! Listen also to his all-too-short intro to 'Buddy Better Get on Down the Line' on the 'String Along' album. It is nothing less than a mini-clinic in highly creative (and technically flawless) banjo playing. As to his influence, I agree that it was substantial; it brought thousands of kids - some of them now quite famous - to banjo playing. Was he more influential than Earl? Hell, I don't know, but I do think that Gibson, Deering, Stelling, and ALL of the other successful banjo manufactures and builders, ought to have a little votive shrine to Dave Guard on their premises. That's the least they owe him.

Chesapeake - Posted - 03/13/2009:  19:20:59

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Stanger scores again with his knowledge (is there anything he DOESN'T know about banjo?), but here's my little take on it, as a KT fan, with a couple of examples, including Dave Guard doing what looks to me like a traditional frailing stroke. I posted this the other day on another forum in response to a different question. (Here I go quoting myself again.)

"... [The Dave Guard/Kinstrong Trio style is] a mix of frailing and three-finger style. The frailing part is arguably louder than traditional frailing because you're wearing picks. All the better to hold your own against the other instruments in the band when playing backup. Also, you can go back and forth between frailing and three-finger style at will, so you can sound like Earl Scruggs on your breaks.

"I think the sound is very appealing. Note how John Stewart takes a Scruggs-like break at 1:00, then switches back to frailing:

“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck0spbwj0Ow

"This technique does involve wearing bluegrass-style picks, which aren't so good for the downstrokes you do when you're frailing the traditional way. The way they get around this is by what they call "fake frailing." That is an adaptation of frailing in which you're always stroking up with the fingers and down with the thumb. To see how it's done, take a look at the Homesput DVD "Banjo Arrangements of the Kingston Trio," taught by current KT banjoist George Grove.

"Here’s a video of the original KT with Dave Guard playing traditional clawhammer.

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onbxAL_iY6E&NR=1”

Basic Strum - Posted - 03/14/2009:  05:05:40

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quote:

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Originally posted by Jim E.

An interesting thread, and I agree with nearly all of what is written above. I saw Guard perform many times when he was with the Trio and twice in the late '70s when he was traveling around playing small venues with a small group of friends. He was a natural, if unschooled, musician who had a great ear and almost unerringly hit the right note(s). In the early days he did not use finger picks, but he did use them on some tunes late in his tenure with the Trio. He was an adept frailer and even more adept at fusing different styles into wholly original approaches. A good example is the above-referenced 'Coast of California' where, in mid-song, he seamlessly switches from frailing to a guitar-based 3-finger style and back again. When asked how he came up with his banjo parts, he usually responded, "I just hunt and peck". We should all be so good at that! Listen also to his all-too-short intro to 'Buddy Better Get on Down the Line' on the 'String Along' album. It is nothing less than a mini-clinic in highly creative (and technically flawless) banjo playing. As to his influence, I agree that it was substantial; it brought thousands of kids - some of them now quite famous - to banjo playing. Was he more influential than Earl? Hell, I don't know, but I do think that Gibson, Deering, Stelling, and ALL of the other successful banjo manufactures and builders, ought to have a little votive shrine to Dave Guard on their premises. That's the least they owe him.

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This is a really insightful commentary on Dave Guard's playing and influence.

It's interesting that Scruggs is mentioned several times in this thread because Guard called Scruggs HIS favorite banjo player. In fact, as the story goes, in order to quell the demand for encores following the Trio's set at Newport, Guard explained to the audience that he wanted to get off the stage so that he could listen to Scruggs, who followed them on the bill.

Although he tends to get less credit than Guard for his banjo playing, John Stewart was also adept at several styles. While he didn't do much true frailing in the Trio, his earlier recordings with the Cumberland Three and then on the Darwin's Army album in the '90s reveal that he was a quite proficient frailer. In the notes he supplied to accompany his recording of Old Riley for the first 2-CD Seeger tribute, on which he does some nice frailing, he explains how hard he had worked as a young man to master the technique. On the other hand, with all respect to the fellow who feels that John was frailing on the Roving Gambler video, that technique would more accurately have to be described as strumming -- up with the fingers, down with the thumb across the first four strings. You can hear that same technique on many of the tracks of songs the Stewart Trio called their "rousers."

Again, kudos to Jim E and his notion that there should be a Dave Guard grotto at the Deering Works. As someone who was immensely influenced by Guard, Stewart, Seeger, Gibson, Darling as a kid, I've never gotten over the notion that standard-scale banjos, not long-neck banjos, look weird.

Chesapeake - Posted - 03/14/2009:  07:25:14

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quote:

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Originally posted by Basic Strum...with all respect to the fellow who feels that John was frailing on the Roving Gambler video, that technique would more accurately have to be described as strumming -- up with the fingers, down with the thumb across the first four strings. ...

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Hey Basic - What I meant was that John appears to be "fake frailing" - a term I went on to describe, a technique which I presume he learned from Dave Guard.

Btw, welcome to the forum. It's so great to find another fellow KT-Dave Guard-John Stewart-Darwin's Army-longneck banjo fan!

Basic Strum - Posted - 03/14/2009:  08:03:51

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quote:

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Originally posted by Chesapeake

quote:

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Originally posted by Basic Strum...with all respect to the fellow who feels that John was frailing on the Roving Gambler video, that technique would more accurately have to be described as strumming -- up with the fingers, down with the thumb across the first four strings. ...

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Hey Basic - What I meant was that John appears to be "fake frailing" - a term I went on to describe, a technique which I presume he learned from Dave Guard.

Btw, welcome to the forum. It's so great to find another fellow KT-Dave Guard-John Stewart-Darwin's Army-longneck banjo fan!

Thanks for the kind welcome.

I think George Grove is the guy who came up with the term "fake frailing," a concept that rankles me because it smacks of "this is what I call frailing because I can't be bothered to learn REAL frailing." Then again, fake frailing is probably perfectly appropriate for fake folk music.

When I decided several months ago that I was going to finally suck it up and learn to frail well, I paired a couple of quotes and printed out signs that I pasted all over the house. (My wife, as you have already guessed, is a saint.) One was Pete Seeger's well-known quote from his book about needing patience to learn frailing, and the other was from the Stewart liner notes I mentioned. He wrote: "The rhythm is a rolling hypnotic flow that, when right is powerful and when wrong is pitiful. Instructions were included in the Seeger book, but it seemed impossible. I practiced frailing for four hours a day."

According to John, he and Dave were learning to frail at the same time. I may be wrong, but I don't think John learned much, if any, banjo technique from Dave. In any event, if I understand what fake frailing is, it's not what John is doing in the video. What he's doing there is just an up and down strumming motion that excludes the 5th string and that every folkie from Seeger on down calls upon at one time or another on songs that need a strong beat in a rhythm that doesn't lend itself to bump-dit-ty. He might as well be strumming a plectrum banjo with a flatpick.

Again, thanks for the howdy-do. I try to not spend much time online or to get
drawn into back-and-forths at forums. If you should reply and I don't respond, it's just because I dropped out -- not that I don't think you have a valid point of view.

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Chesapeake - Posted - 03/14/2009:  08:11:51

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quote:

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Originally posted by Jim E.

An interesting thread, and I agree with nearly all of what is written above. I saw Guard perform many times when he was with the Trio and twice in the late '70s when he was traveling around playing small venues with a small group of friends. He was a natural, if unschooled, musician who had a great ear and almost unerringly hit the right note(s). In the early days he did not use finger picks, but he did use them on some tunes late in his tenure with the Trio. He was an adept frailer and even more adept at fusing different styles into wholly original approaches. A good example is the above-referenced 'Coast of California' where, in mid-song, he seamlessly switches from frailing to a guitar-based 3-finger style and back again. When asked how he came up with his banjo parts, he usually responded, "I just hunt and peck". We should all be so good at that! Listen also to his all-too-short intro to 'Buddy Better Get on Down the Line' on the 'String Along' album. It is nothing less than a mini-clinic in highly creative (and technically flawless) banjo playing. As to his influence, I agree that it was substantial; it brought thousands of kids - some of them now quite famous - to banjo playing. Was he more influential than Earl? Hell, I don't know, but I do think that Gibson, Deering, Stelling, and ALL of the other successful banjo manufactures and builders, ought to have a little votive shrine to Dave Guard on their premises. That's the least they owe him.

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Well said. Even to this day a lot of folks put the KT down because they strove to be (and were) such a commercial success. I think this view overlooks the fact that the KT introduced many, including me, to folk music in the first place. There were other folk-like groups around at the time, but without the KT, it's a good question (in my mind) whether the folk-music revival would have had the impact it did. The KT got me listening to Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, et al., then into bluegrass (and the blues). Eventually, I fulfilled what had become a long-deferred dream, and went out and bought a banjo.

Chesapeake - Posted - 03/14/2009:  08:20:39

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Hi Basic - Re John learning from Dave (or not): I'm just assuming somebody (maybe Bob if not Dave) taught John the KT banjo sound, since John was replacing Dave.

Chesapeake - Posted - 03/14/2009:  16:52:48

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quote:

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Originally posted by Basic Strum
...I try to not spend much time online or to get
drawn into back-and-forths at forums. If you should reply and I don't respond, it's just because I dropped out -- not that I don't think you have a valid point of view.

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I prefer to think it's because you think I've said everything that could possibly be said on the subject.

mainejohn - Posted - 03/15/2009:  17:20:51

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Basic wrote: "
I think George Grove is the guy who came up with the term "fake frailing," a concept that rankles me because it smacks of "this is what I call frailing because I can't be bothered to learn REAL frailing." Then again, fake frailing is probably perfectly appropriate for fake folk music."

I'm not sure, but I suspect the George Grove can also do conventional frailing (without picks), but uses the "fake" method to keep his fingerpicks picks from snagging and/or flying off.

Cheers,
John Coleman
Scarborough, Maine

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Edited by - mainejohn on 03/15/2009 17:23:23

Basic Strum - Posted - 03/16/2009:  07:01:28

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quote:

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Originally posted by mainejohn

Basic wrote: "
I think George Grove is the guy who came up with the term "fake frailing," a concept that rankles me because it smacks of "this is what I call frailing because I can't be bothered to learn REAL frailing." Then again, fake frailing is probably perfectly appropriate for fake folk music."

I'm not sure, but I suspect the George Grove can also do conventional frailing (without picks), but uses the "fake" method to keep his fingerpicks picks from snagging and/or flying off.

Cheers,
John Coleman

Thanks, John. I didn't intend my comment as a jab at the scope of George Grove's abilities. He's a very proficient player, ditto on guitar. But each of us is a hostage to our memories and their impact on our perceptions, and I've never felt that his approach to either instrument serves the spirit of the original Trio especially well.

A number of years ago, my wife and I went to a KT/SmoBro concert at Wolf Trap, and I was surprised to hear the intro to "Coast of California" because the Trio's repertoire had become very predictable and slick by that time. The good news was that Grove had prevailed on Bob Shane (who sat out that tune, if memory serves) to allow him to reach back into the Guard-era songbook for the song. The bad news was that it was played with the same sort of "taxi's waiting to take us to the airport" sensibility that characterized the group's performances at the time. I don't know if he was doing his "fake frailing" thing on that tune, but I guess I would ask why he would do whatever it was rather than genuine frailing.

I've had the pleasure of meeting and talking at length to George Grove at the Chautauqua Amphitheater and found him to be a pleasant and engaging guy. He was clearly jazzed by the fact that he was playing on the same stage that the Guard Trio had played on in the late 1950s (ref. photo on the back of the "Sold Out" LP), and I know that he of all people appreciates the richness of the heritage Dave Guard began with his creativity and musicianship.

Bill Drellow (Basic Strum)
Bemus Point, NY

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Seansvoice - Posted - 03/16/2009:  14:18:49

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quote:

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Originally posted by stanger

Hi, Deering....
I could never tell for sure just what Guard did. His style definitely evolved in his time with the Trio.

One of the things that makes the music so hard for me to decipher is Bob Shane also played the banjo- a plectrum. While the Trio recorded in the era before multi-tracking was common, it could have been done. So Bob may have played a rhythm track and Dave could have played lead licks and solos over Bob's track. Another complication was the addition of other musicians in the studio; the Trio commonly used at least 2 other musicians on a lot of their later studio recordings- Glenn Campbell on guitar and 12-string guitar and Dave (Buck) Wheat on bass.

Campbell was never credited, and he also plays the banjo, 3-finger style. Buck Wheat became the 4th member over the last couple of years Dave Guard was with them; he toured in addition to his studio work, and was pictured on one Trio album cover.

In some songs, especially The Coast of California, most of the song is played in what sounds to me like the Seeger strum with picks. There is a banjo solo that's played in 3-finger style, and then it's back to the Seeger strum. I don't know if Guard ever used the clawhammer down stroke- the Seeger strum with picks can sound very close to the frailing stroke, but tends to be a smoother sound and less punchy. When it's well done, though, it can sound very, very close to frailing.

Guard's 3-finger style tended to have a non-Scruggs roll. It was a more syncopated, simpler 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2-3 rolls which often started with the thumb on the 5th string. In contrast, Scruggs most often used 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2 timing, which puts it solidly into 4/4 time and creates a continuous flow of notes. Guard often had to break his rolls to make them fit into 4/4.

Good topic! Dave Guard was the first banjo player a lot of kids first heard back then, and his style is a reflection of how little 3-finger information existed outside of the South in the late 50's.

regards,
Stanger




The pen is mightier than the pigs.

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Dave's style was just as the book implies...Pure Dave. I mean, he truly explored the banjo.

One of my favorite pieces to play in guitar shops is "Coast of California"...and everyone ALWAYS says that it sounds "middle-eastern"...I feel a little of that, but more than anything I feel Flamenco...and I DON'T think Dave used picks (other than a thumbpick) on the recording...

One of the best examples of DG playing clawhammer is "Cindy" in that he sticks to clawhammer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onbxAL_iY6E
For my money, the closest Dave ever got to bluegrass was his solo on the studio version of MTA (he ALWAYS played it different live)...later on Dave got a bit closer on "Razors in the Air" and "Blue Eyed Gal"

As for David "Buck" Wheat, he could play the hell out of the guitar. In fact, he and Dave Guard are duetting on "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies" (with Buckwheat on lead)...Buckwheat even stepped forward forward to play guitar when the Trio did "ladies" at the Santa Monica 1961 show.

It just kills me to read of someone going on an on about how they are a devout student of banjo styles and players...and you mention Dave Guard and they say "who?"

Get a rope!


**************************************************
“Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.”
- George W. Bush

ΙΧΘΥΣ

Seansvoice - Posted - 03/16/2009:  16:06:47

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quote:

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Originally posted by Dan Sparkman

I've been trying to figure out "You're Gonna Miss Me" (a rip-off of Charlie Poole) for a long time. I think Dave Guard did it in Bb7, leaving the 5th string untuned. I think he used a lot of different styles.

David "Buck" Wheat got credit on the "Go'in Places" LP, among other places. He has(?) a site on myspace.com.

Dan Sparkman

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Buck Wheat's Myspace would be a fan site...he passed away in 1985.

By the way, after the Whiskeyhill Singers disbanded, David worked with Bud and Travis (he can be seen in their Hootenanny appearances)...and is the guitarist on Chet Baker's vocal version of "My Funny Valentine"


**************************************************
“Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.”
- George W. Bush

#921;#935;#920;#933;#931;

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Edited by - Seansvoice on 03/16/2009 16:07:48

Seansvoice - Posted - 03/17/2009:  10:46:00

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Here's a partial list of songs on which Bob Shane plays (plectrum) banjo:

Tom Dooley
New York Girls
Hangman
Don't You Weep, Mary
Pay Me My Money Down
The Saints Go Marching In
Coming From The Mountains

And one of my favorites, A Worried Man: Dave Guard plays the arpegios on the intro (which are overdubbed AT LEAST once), Bob is playing the melody of the intro. If you listen carefully around 11 seconds in, you can hear Shane jump synch JUST a little...I don't know if Voyle Gilmore overdubbed Bob's banjo to fatten it, or to cover a mistake...anyway, it is a great track...and it was always a hoot to see the Trio perform it live. On a good night you can on a blue moon see the current lineup do a THREE banjo version that JUST kicks butt!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AUZEdFeVwU

**************************************************
“Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.”
- George W. Bush

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Bronx banjo - Posted - 03/17/2009:  16:18:42

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The first person I heard play the 5 string banjo was Dave Guard. Unfortunately, I was getting into the KT in 1961 when he left the group but to me he was the gateway player to Scruggs and Seeger and I have been a Scruggs clone for many years. I especially liked his break to Bonnie Hielan' Laddie, one of my favorite KT songs. I'm sure he was responsible for getting a lot of people into the 5 string and he should be credited more than he is.

Thomas Ryan - Posted - 03/30/2009:  10:31:32

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Don't post here often but the Trio, Dave, John Stewart & the banjo always gets my attention.
A new album has just been released by the Stewart "crowd" (they know who they are and know I know they know me!) called "Bite My Foot" - with a banjo solo toward the end. It puts to rest any thought that John couldn't frail with the best of 'em -- and I mean, the best. He Knew the instrument.

Seansvoice - Posted - 04/12/2009:  18:39:31

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Here is another insight into DG's style: Check out Dave's tuning for "Shady Grove/Lonesome Traveler" in this 4/26/59 Dinah Shore performance...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qeyfcXg5Ow

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"We know that autumn does not begin with the turning of the leaves but earlier on some forgotten afternoon when a shadow passes over the fields and it is no longer summer." -

Epitaph on NBC Newsman Frank McGee''s tombstone

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