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Jaymz8604 - Posted - 03/24/2012: 18:44:44
Been listening to alot of his playing lately, I really like his style...what's everyone else think of him, or have any favorites of his?
36kk10 - Posted - 03/24/2012: 18:54:08
Black Diamond....!
kmwaters - Posted - 03/24/2012: 19:01:05
Yeah Don left us way to early. Great guy and great player. Black Diamond and Things In Life are my two faves.
OSCAR82AA - Posted - 03/24/2012: 19:09:15
Awesome banjo picker for sure ! " Things in Life" is incredible stuff.
darylearl - Posted - 03/24/2012: 19:10:31
Rockwood Deer Chase (a D-tuning masterpiece). Daryl
From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/24/2012: 19:55:29
I liked his West Virginian Coal Miners Blues album the best. On it he plays Scruggs style and clawhammer. I loved the bluesy sound to his playing. Maybe a person more knowledgeable can define what I am hearing. His lead break on the title song is my favorite.
To me when I hear Dave Evans play I hear some of the same blues or feelings or what every I should call it. It would be interesting for me to hear if any others hear any similarities between Stover and Evans. I love Stover's singing too: a lot of feel and character in it.
Ken
Paul R - Posted - 03/24/2012: 20:04:13
Ditto to "things in Life".
That Rounder album is a gem.
steve davis - Posted - 03/24/2012: 20:12:21
Everything on that album.
Banjov1 - Posted - 03/25/2012: 01:46:07
Rockwood Deer Chase
jimh269b - Posted - 03/25/2012: 04:36:07
don was great banjo picker,i worked with son,and still today i talk to him about two times a week
Tim13 - Posted - 03/25/2012: 05:21:53
What a great little film. I really enjoyed that.
Tim
robbif - Posted - 03/25/2012: 05:28:18
Yes, the film is a beautiful don't-miss!!
KANINJACK - Posted - 03/25/2012: 05:45:21
Things in life is a gem along with black diamond. His Lilly brothers stuff is also great.
From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/25/2012: 07:47:31
Tam,
Thanks for sharing the video. It was great. What a great musician and what a great attitude/philosophy. Made me late for church this morning but it was worth it.
Does anyone know what happened to Don Stover's banjo?
Can anyone tell me what Stover did to give a bluesy sound? It sounds like it is almost a slide and a choke done together and maybe combined with another string like a double stop? I don't know what it is but it sounds great.
Last question: Does anyone know what tone ring was in the banjo made by Paul Tester that Don played. I thought is sounded great.
Thanks,
ken
steve davis - Posted - 03/25/2012: 08:39:05
I was very lucky to see Don MC an 80s Thomas Point Beach festival and spend time at his campsite.
He was so easy with people.
The Old Timer - Posted - 03/25/2012: 13:12:03
I really like the way he hammered home "Done Gone", normally considered a fiddle piece. He also had a nice approach to June Apple, which he recorded with Doc Watson back in the 1960s on Doc's "Nashville" LP. Some of his licks almost sound "chromatic/melodic", but generally he did them the hard way, not as refined as Bill Keith later worked them out. But Bill said some of Don's licks inspired him a bit on the melodic style.
Don played hard with both right and left hands and he wasn't above playing Dobro string bending licks even way down near the nut to get the bluesy sound. I always described his playing as if he was torturing his banjo and making it protest!
Everett Lilly insisted from his time with Flatt & Scruggs that Don needed to "Bust a string sometimes! Knock the walls out!" I guess Don took him up on it!
His Gibson style 6 was crushed/ruined by the airlines. After that he played some Cox banjos. Don worked with John Janzeger too on some pots/tone rings. I'd like to know more about the Paul Tester banjo, I'm not familiar with that. What did it look like?
Don was REAL good to me when I was just a college kid, he helped me "break through the wall" to be able to do drop thumb clawhammer stuff.
arnie fleischer - Posted - 03/25/2012: 13:12:26
A huge influence on my playing, and one of my favorite players, although only 3 of his songs were ever in my repertoire: Black Diamond, White Oak Breakdown and Things in Life. To me, the warmth of Don's personality came through in every note he played. In the late 70s my band opened for him at the Englishtown Music Hall in New Jersey, and I remember how friendly and encouraging he was. The wonderful video Banjo Spirits, linked above, was made shortly before his death, and really captures Don and his music.
From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/25/2012: 16:47:05
quote:
Originally posted by The Old Timer
I really like the way he hammered home "Done Gone", normally considered a fiddle piece. He also had a nice approach to June Apple, which he recorded with Doc Watson back in the 1960s on Doc's "Nashville" LP. Some of his licks almost sound "chromatic/melodic", but generally he did them the hard way, not as refined as Bill Keith later worked them out. But Bill said some of Don's licks inspired him a bit on the melodic style.
Don played hard with both right and left hands and he wasn't above playing Dobro string bending licks even way down near the nut to get the bluesy sound. I always described his playing as if he was torturing his banjo and making it protest!
Everett Lilly insisted from his time with Flatt & Scruggs that Don needed to "Bust a string sometimes! Knock the walls out!" I guess Don took him up on it!
His Gibson style 6 was crushed/ruined by the airlines. After that he played some Cox banjos. Don worked with John Janzeger too on some pots/tone rings. I'd like to know more about the Paul Tester banjo, I'm not familiar with that. What did it look like?
Don was REAL good to me when I was just a college kid, he helped me "break through the wall" to be able to do drop thumb clawhammer stuff.
Dick,
If you look at the 30 minute documentary (http://www.folkstreams.net/film,183) that Tam posted above it, shows the Tester banjo. Don plays it and even talks about it on the show. He says the inlays on the 1st & 3rd frets were his design which he stole from a perfume company. The rest were from an older banjo company whose name was stated but I cannot remember and he had an individualized design for and on the head stock.
Richard Dress also has a Tester banjo and he was kind enough to respond to my questions about it today and this thread. Here is what Richard wrote about Stover's banjo:
"I was around when Paul was building that banjo and Stover would come around. The neck was like a baseball bat and the inlay was copied from perfume bottles per Stover's direction. That was one loud banjo."
Thank you Dick for your comments on Stover's playing style. He has been a long time favorite of mine.
Ken
PS, I think he talks and shows his Tester banjo somewhere around the 9 minute mark.
Edited by - From Greylock to Bean Blossom on 03/25/2012 16:50:34
cabinwood - Posted - 03/25/2012: 18:32:09
Not one of his tunes, but I always liked Don's break on "Bring Back My Blue -Eyed Boy to Me" on Event Records. The tone he got was great, too. Old Timer, I think you told me that was an RB 100. Anyway, I've been a fan of Don's for a long time-one of the greats.
LouZee Picker - Posted - 03/25/2012: 20:33:51
Rockwood Deer Chase & Black Diamond 2 of my favorites also!! I love hearing his banjo on those classic Lilly Brothers records too, what a great player!
Brian
Ukeridge - Posted - 03/26/2012: 07:57:22
I've always wanted to sing Things in Life, but I can't get through it. Chokes me up every time.
Jaymz8604 - Posted - 03/26/2012: 10:52:41
Awesome replies everyone! Keep 'er goin!
Yard Onion - Posted - 03/26/2012: 12:56:12
I have to agree with Rockwood Deer Chase. Love that tune. He has a lot of good tunes!
The Old Timer - Posted - 03/26/2012: 16:59:01
That test banjo in the movie had "sort of" Paramount "bells" inlays! I had never really looked very close at it.
KidfromDeliverance - Posted - 03/26/2012: 17:31:05
Nice to get a Stover thread going. Gotta say pretty much everything on Things in Life, especially Black Diamond, Old Coon Dog, and Old Reuben No. 1. Lots of warmth and energy. Really like Little Annie for the Lilly Brothers (is that him singing?). Need to learn that one, anyway.
Jaymz8604 - Posted - 03/26/2012: 18:22:06
Anyone know of a quick way to hear Don's recordings? All I've found is some old LP's on ebay with no tracklists on the listings....any blog's with his albums uploaded?
denmccar - Posted - 03/27/2012: 08:03:37
I never finish a practice session without working on Black Diamond a bit so that must be my favorite. My wife's favorite is his version of Sunbonnet Mother.
Jaymz8604 - Posted - 03/27/2012: 18:22:36
OK, the "Things In Life" album has blown me away.
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