RWJones1970 - Posted - 03/14/2008:  00:37:51

I was looking on the back of Miles Krassen's Clawhammer banjo book and I saw another interesting publication. It is called John Burke's Book of Old time fiddle Tunes for Banjo. It apparently has 70 tunes on it. Does anyone own this publication on the Hangout? Does anyone have a copy they would like to sell? I would like to purchase a copy but it seems Elderly Instruments doesn't carry it.

J-Walk - Posted - 03/14/2008:  00:45:19

There's a used copy available through Amazon -- for $130!

http://www.amazon.com/Burkss-Old-Ti...p/0825628016

beegee - Posted - 03/14/2008:  00:51:14

I have a copy somewhere that I loaned to someone who photocopied it and put it in a comb binding. if I can find it, i can loan it to you for a while and you can then send it back. I

______________________________
turtle on a fencepost....

RWJones1970 - Posted - 03/14/2008:  01:15:39

Excellent ! Thanks Bob ! I'll do the same and send her back your way with a few goodies as a token of my appreciation !!!

Hunter Robertson - Posted - 03/14/2008:  01:16:11

It's a great book, well worth getting if you can find a copy at a reasonable price. Some people have pointed out a few faults in it on the HO before, measures are pretty arbitrary etc, but I still find it to be one of the best banjo books I've had. It was probably one of the earliest too, besides Pete Seeger's book. (Post Briggs and other minstrels that is. Anybody here know the history of banjo bookery? Maybe Peggy Seeger's came out before it... And Scruggs' I guess?). I have my father's copy tucked away somewhere in tatters.

Art Rosenbaum's books are great as well.

Hunter


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

Bill Rogers - Posted - 03/14/2008:  01:41:43

Peggy's book was well ahead of Burke's.... His is an interesting book, but idiosyncratic. I think it goes through unnecessary twists and turns (notably in tunings) to play some tunes. John Burke, incidentally, was fiddling with a Seattle bluegrass band when their website was last updated just over a year ago. My understanding is that his banjo playing was cut short by an injury that did not affect his fiddling.

Bill

Hunter Robertson - Posted - 03/14/2008:  09:54:09

A little poking around shows up at least Peggy's and Billy Faier's books as having come out before it, and a couple from Mel Bay.

Idiosyncratic indeed! That's probably why I like it so well. A tune is just a bunch of notes unless someone breathes some life into it, which he did nicely. There are some more or less faithful transcriptions of the greats and a bunch of his takes on tunes. It's not a Cole's 1001 Tunes. Except for one tune in aCGCD I don't recall any peculiar tunings, though it's true that it can get confusing with his listing a tune's source as A and then tabbing it in G, especially to a beginner. And sometimes the key he's worked a tune out in is completely different from the source. I don't play that melodically much any more (and some of the tunes were always too much so for me. "When do I get to hit the fifth string!?") but I'm a better player for having had it. The introduction is well worth reading too.

Hunter

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

Bill Rogers - Posted - 03/14/2008:  11:01:17

See "Blackberry Blossom."

Bill