DaveOmega - Posted - 11/15/2009:  08:01:56

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Last night I played a show with a a bunch of different friends and local artists. At the end of the night we decided to have a group jam. We kicked it off with Wagon Wheel. It seems that this song, at least in my area, has become the new "Will The Circle Be Unbroken". Every knows it, almost everyone likes it(even if it does get old). Simple chords, simple song, easy to sing. Just wondering if everyone else has noticed this. It may just be among the younger hippie kids, which seems to be the group that has embraced me. FYI, the other 2 group jam songs we did were "I Shall Be Released" and "Big River". Luckily for me there were 3 guitars, 1 dobro, and me playing the lone banjo so I felt like I was contributing something. Just thought this would be an interesting topic and I hadn't seen it addressed yet.

Dave

I pick for money & I pick for free & I'll pick for you but I pick for me!

( | )===='==[::/
_^KatEyz____^Gumby

mike gregory - Posted - 11/15/2009:  08:17:21

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It's about passionate love, it's got a really simple chord pattern, it pulls in people from the "more likely to prefer rock and/or roll" area of the musical spectrum.
I'm all for it.
I fear that, eventually, some pickers will get aggravated that it is played SO D often, but anything that the people ASK to hear, outranks the stuff I wish they'd prefer to have me do.
As long as they keep asking us to keep on picking, it's all good for us.



Just my Hummel banjo-picker's opinion.

Nosferatu - Posted - 11/15/2009:  08:24:02

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Songs come and go.

Thank you,
"Count" Hugh


"I bent over him, and tried to find any sign of life, but in vain." -- Jonathan Harker, Dracula

minstrelmike - Posted - 11/15/2009:  08:44:25

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Yes, I think Wagon Wheel is one of the tunes that almost anyone one under 30 recognizes.

It is one of those 'ambassador' songs. As proof, read up on the songs folks hate to hear requested. Everything that is popular is an ambassador song, one that folks want to hear you play. FMB, Ballad of Jed and 'Deliverance" are the others so correctly claiming Wagon Wheel is an ambassador tune will probably make most players hate it even more.

That's when as a picker, you have to decide whether you are playing for fun or playing so that others will have fun.

Mike Moxcey
http://moxcey.net/mike/minstrel/index.html

Retropicker - Posted - 11/15/2009:  08:56:30

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Agreed.

____Keep the hay in Bluegrass__________________________

Surveyor - Posted - 11/15/2009:  08:57:31

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I love the song. Can't say that we have played it though. Maybe I will suggest it.

Mr. B

Wind me up and watch me go!

Banjov1 - Posted - 11/15/2009:  09:22:03

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I'm embarrassed to say that I had never heard it before we played it at one the jams I go to. But we've played it a lot since then. I love playing it and it seems like there are a lot of other folks that know this tune and like to play it.

Tony

Unplugged - Posted - 11/15/2009:  09:26:42

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I love doing it in particular because the jam buds who don't normally join in on choruses always jump in on this one. That reason in itself makes it one of my favorites. Sharing music and the love of music.

- Steve

"If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all." - Michelangelo

Docmhc - Posted - 11/15/2009:  09:26:58

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I don't think I've ever heard of it. Anyone have a tab? BHO doesn't have one.

Don

scribefit - Posted - 11/15/2009:  09:42:05

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Harold Streeeter at http://www.lewalt.com/ has a tabledit tab available for a few bucks. My band gets requests for this tune all the time. We like playing this song by Old Crow Medicine show.

Mike

mike gregory - Posted - 11/15/2009:  11:45:11

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For those of you who never heard it, here's one of the better renditions from Y'alltube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gX1EP6mG-E

Pretty much the same chords as
You Ain't Going Nowhere,
and
Dead Skunk In The Middle of the Road.

Nosferatu - Posted - 11/15/2009:  12:23:54

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Rock Me Mama

"Yes, I think Wagon Wheel is one of the tunes that almost anyone one under 30 recognizes." -- Mike Moxcey


I recall the song, in one form or another, BEFORE todays under 30 people were born. It's just back around the "Medicine Wheel" again. Songs come and go.

Check this out, one should always get their due: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2aaojdq3jw

Thank you,
"Count" Hugh


"I bent over him, and tried to find any sign of life, but in vain." -- Jonathan Harker, Dracula

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Edited by - Nosferatu on 11/15/2009 12:42:54

xenophone - Posted - 11/15/2009:  21:27:38

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Thanks for the link Nos. I had no idea that wasn't an OCMS original, and I've gotten the impression that they take full credit for that song? Either way I love that song. On a side note, I saw OCMS a month or two back, and it was probably one of the best shows I've ever been to.

mike gregory - Posted - 11/16/2009:  01:14:12

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And one of the finest features of the HangOut,
is that when something needs considering,
there is the potential of more than forty THOUSAND brains
that can think about it, and remember about it,
and be reminded of things connected to it.

Case in point:
"Wagon Wheel",
a brand new song that's been around for three dozen years.

Kentucky5 - Posted - 11/16/2009:  05:55:01

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It was the first tunes that I was able to make up my own rolls for, and it all fits playing with other people so I was proud of that.

"You can see the fields of bluegrass where I roam"

The KIDD - Posted - 11/16/2009:  06:45:50

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Yeah Dave , the same thing has happened here.I play a THUR nite Jam at Griffs in Charleston WV.Hippies, the Old ,Young, White Collar, Blue Collar alike go CRAZY when we kick into it..One of my students, 68, who goes to that open mic wanted to learn this so we broke it down creating breaks and backup specifically for him.Its not one Id normally teach for BG banjo BUT, theres some nice bouncy H and PO action you can get goin in this. Yeah , Big River is a goodern too, hadnt done the other.Its its a good beginner tune cause the chord progreassion is the same for vrs ,chrs, and brk.

http://www.myspace.com/johnkuhnbluegrass

Thurber Mingus - Posted - 11/16/2009:  07:14:57

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Interesting... internet sources say the chorus was written by Dylan but the verses were later written by on of the OCMS (Ketch Secor)!
Great song

Viper - Posted - 11/16/2009:  09:48:39

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OCMS credits Dylan in their liner notes for the song. Dylan got part of his song from Arthur Big Boy Crudup's "Rock Me, Mama."

__________________________________________________________
Right way or wrong way, I just want to play the banjo SOME way.

Wykowski - Posted - 11/16/2009:  10:59:55

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just another annoying request

banjo ron - Posted - 11/16/2009:  19:45:59

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I remember the first time I heard 'Wagon Wheel' on Allegheny Mountain Radio while driving thru the mountains in Highland County, Virginia. This was several years ago, when the song was brand new and OCMS was just beginning to get popular. I felt like there was something special about the song & It made such an impression on me I went right out and bought the CD, then later learned to play the song with my friends at jams.

But--never would I believe a few years later that same song, which I had such a personal connection to, would be so universally accepted by...everyone. I still listen to it, enjoy it, and play it, but I can understand why it's getting--well, old for some (including some of the folks I jam with, who mostly won't do it anymore.)

Sometimes, when things get too popular, a little of the magic seems to go away. The same thing happened with fly fishing, after "the movie" came out. (any banjo-playing fly-fishermen of a certain age will know what i mean.)

But, love it or hate it (and I guess I still luv it) it's bringing Americana music to a whole new crowd of young people.

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Edited by - banjo ron on 11/16/2009 19:49:58

mrbook - Posted - 11/17/2009:  07:48:42

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"I think Wagon Wheel is one of the tunes that almost anyone one under 30 recognizes."

I feel better now. I don't think I've ever heard this tune, but I'm 57.

Regarding "the movie" about fly fishing, the book was one of the best I've ever read, but the movie never got the point.

Bill

MTBanjo - Posted - 11/17/2009:  09:05:06

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Did Docmhc really ask for tab before even hearing the song??...

Yes, OCMS credits Dylan for his part in the song, which was mostly just the chorus. I woudn't have much issue calling it their song, as there are so many songs that take little bits from other songs, like giving a new song a title based on lyrics of another song, etc.

It's one that we play, and we love it, and everyone that hears it seems to love it. I'm not sick of it yet. Certainly one man's "another annoying request" can be one of another's favorite songs. Just depends on your tastes.

Zach

banjo ron - Posted - 11/17/2009:  16:18:35

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Forgot to thank Hugh for the link to the Dylan outtake...while I'd heard the OCMS had lifted some lyrics from him for the song, didn't realize how much--

To MrBook: yes, t'was a great book. One to pick up again one of these days.

uncledelphi - Posted - 11/18/2009:  05:13:07

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quote:

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Originally posted by MTBanjo

Did Docmhc really ask for tab before even hearing the song??...

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Why not? The first time I've ever heard a great many songs was when I played the tab for the first time.

MTBanjo - Posted - 11/18/2009:  06:16:39

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Huh. Interesting. I guess I just usually like a song first, then usually play it with some people to get the chords down and the feel of the song and see what melody notes I can get on my own, then go to tab if I need to, but everybody works in different ways.

I guess it just seems more intuitive to me to ask where I could hear a song people are talking about first, then if I liked it, look for the tab. Doesn't matter though! Don't want to start a tab debate.

It's a very basic roll through the whole song. OCMS doesn't do any fancy banjo stuff.

Zach

timifill - Posted - 11/18/2009:  07:42:17

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When I go to bluegrass events locally, the audiences are certainly usually of the older persuasion. This is not to say that I don't have fun hanging out with them, but in order for bluegrass/mountain/folk/oldtime to thrive, we need bands like Old Crow and songs like Wagon Wheel to keep roping people in. Both times I've seen Old Crow Medicine Show in Philly, they've filled the Electric Factory (a large rock venue) with an enthusiastic young (mostly under 30) crowd that knew all their songs and clearly was having a blast. I hope that many of them use that as a jumping off point and start exploring further and seeking out more bluegrass and old time music.