Bisbonian - Posted - 04/25/2009:  21:57:14

I guess we're running out of "first timers", so you have to put up with another obscure tune from me.

Back sometime more than three years ago, I was collecting banjo tunes in mp3 form all over the web, to try and learn to play them. I found one that I really liked the sound of it, but didn't get around to learning until very recently. I'm not sure where I found it...there used to be a site called Banjo Addiction, and I think it might have been there. The only identification I had saved along with it on my computer was the file name, "avanpelt." I had no idea what that meant.

More recently, I downloaded Tom Brad and Alice's album called "We'll Die in the Pigpen Fighting", and there it was! They called it Arnold Van Pelt's Tune. "A. Van Pelt." Now it made some sense. They played it somewhat differently, especially the B part, and of course it had fiddle and guitar as well as banjo.

I decided to learn the banjo version I already had, and was surprised to find how easy it was to learn. I wish I had done it years ago (because I could play it much better by now...you'll see.) Since I don't know who recorded the version I learned from, or even where I got it, I'm not sure I should post it on the BHO, for copyright concerns. So, here is my version that is pretty much the same (with a few goofs...I ran out of time to get it right, and my recording setup still leaves a lot to be desired.) http://www.banjohangout.org/myhango...asp?id=18058

Again I'm not sure of the copyright implications of posting the TB&A version, but you can find it (like I did) on emusic : http://www.emusic.com/album/Tom-Bra...1087438.html , or any number of other places online.

Then I found yet another version, first on YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qnQHUV9h-s , and found out that he is also a BHO member, (I believe he is edavidt). He says he learned it from the Tom, Brad and Alice version, and it is much closer to that than the one I heard first. He plays it in A, (as are the other versions) on a short scale banjo, and that is what I did as well.

I still didn't have any sort of history for the tune, so on the advice of J-Walk, I contacted John Beland, of the Arthritis Brothers, and he had the liner notes from the actual TB&A album. According to the notes: "Brad [Leftwich] became friends with Arnold Van Pelt in 1984 at the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshops in Elkins, West Virginia. A musical companion of Woody Simmons from way back, Arnold, who lived in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania, was 80 years old at the time, and no longer played fiddle. A few months later, a cassette tape arrived in the mail, labeled "Fiddlin' by Arnold W. Van Pelt." It included a number of tunes masterfully played by Arnold and Woody, dubbed from home disk recordings they had made a long time ago. Arnold knew no name for this tune; he passed away not long after, and Brad calls it "Arnold Van Pelt's Tune" in his memory."

So, in Arnold's memory, I present his tune as the Tune of the Week, and look forward to hearing some other folks honor him as well.

"When Banjos are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have Banjos."

Edited by - Bisbonian on 04/25/2009 22:13:49

J-Walk - Posted - 04/26/2009:  15:16:35

Man, that is a great tune! I didn't pay much attention when Bisbonian originally asked me about it, but now that it's a Tune of the Week I checked it out. It's quickly turning into one of my favorites.

If you don't want to buy the complete "We'll Die in the Pigpen Fighting" album, you can get the single track at Amazon for 99-cents. They play it at a fairly rapid clip, so you'll want to slow it down to about 65% to figure it out. The banjo is in standard A tuning. There's only one kind of tricky -- a few notes you play up the neck. And that's optional, of course (you can play it an octave lower).

wormpicker - Posted - 04/26/2009:  16:59:43

Nice tune and nice job, Bisbonian! I have that TB&A album. Maybe I'll slow it down and try it out on my fiddle. You missed a fun Pickin in the Park session today with J-Walk, Banjo Brad, and me. You need to get down here one of these weekends and join us.

Paul

Obsession is a great substitute for talent. -Steve Martin

BANJOJUDY - Posted - 04/26/2009:  18:13:38

Great tune - I have the Tom, Brad and Alice version. Been listening to it throughout the day. Will play along later.

Thanks for alerting us to this one.

Judy

********************************************************************''
The YOUTUBE videos of the Really Big Banjo Show
are now available (23 of them) for your viewing and
listening pleasure. Check them out. Go to YOUTUBE and
look for "banjojudy" and you''ll see the files. I made a
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Bisbonian - Posted - 04/26/2009:  20:35:32

Hey wormpicker...I am dying to get down there and play in the park with you guys. I did the next best thing, today, though, and went to the Santa Cruz Jam, and picked in Oceanview park all afternoon, and into the evening. A couple of real good fiddle players in the Old Time circle again...one who has made his own fiddle. He also made a banjo, and I played it for much of the time today...very nice plunky openback. We had a new, younger guy coem down from Boulder Creek joining us this time, mostly on guitar, but also some fiddle. He also sings, which is a good addition to our old time bunch.

I had meant to introduce this song there today, but I'm still pretty wiped out from my trip to Dallas, and just never felt (or played) very well today. Maybe next week for the Sanata Clara Valley Fiddlers Assn. Jam. I've got to red-do the recording, too. I can play it much better than this, but I just ran out of time with getting ready for the checkride.

"When Banjos are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have Banjos."

wormpicker - Posted - 04/26/2009:  20:43:03

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bisbonian

Hey wormpicker...I am dying to get down there and play in the park with you guys. I did the next best thing, today, though, and went to the Santa Cruz Jam, and picked in Oceanview park all afternoon, and into the evening.

---

Bisbonian - Posted - 04/26/2009:  21:50:38

When I wrote the post yesterday, I forgot there is a local (Bay Area) band that also plays the song, based on the Tom, Brad, and Alice version. They are called the Black Crown Stringband, and it plays streaming on their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/blackcrownstringband . They were formerly known as the Pilot Lighters, and I think that MySpace page is still around, too...but the same band.

"When Banjos are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have Banjos."

vrteach - Posted - 04/27/2009:  06:43:50

Cool. I have the TB&A cd, but hadn't really paid attention to the this tune. I'm glad you brought this tune to my (and everyone's) attention.

I remember that banjo addiction site, but can't find my links to it. Maybe on my laptop...

Erich -- There''s always room for cello..

http://vrteach.org/banjo/
http://prairiegrapevine.org/
U of Illinois-Springfield Old Time Music

Bisbonian - Posted - 04/27/2009:  08:08:33

That Banjo Addiction site, disappeared a couple years ago, I think. I haven't been able to find it in quite a while. There are some Google cached sites that refer to it, but no remains of the site itself. It could have been from somewhere else, too, but Banjo Addiction seems most likely to me.

"When Banjos are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have Banjos."

dbrandon - Posted - 04/27/2009:  13:13:19

Go here: http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

Search for www.banjoaddiction.com and you can access the mp3.

Edited by - dbrandon on 04/27/2009 13:19:11

Bisbonian - Posted - 04/27/2009:  13:20:27

Sorry, I just get a page trying to sell me the banjoaddiction domain name.

"When Banjos are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have Banjos."

vrteach - Posted - 04/27/2009:  13:39:40

Sure enough, the wayback machine works!

you go to the http://www.archive.org/web/web.php page, and put www.banjoaddiction.com in the search box. Then you can choose the January 22, 2008 version.

Let's see if this will let me put the direct link to the archived version (it's a non-standard url so the BHO form may munge it)

http://web.archive.org/web/20080122185318/http://www.banjoaddiction.com/

Yup, sure enough, it's confused by having a url made up of two urls. There is probably a good security reason for this. So you highlight the text of the line above this, open another browser tab or window, and paste the long url in the address line.

Once on the blue page of the old alt.banjo project, you can follow the clawhammer mp3 link, and there the avanpelt file is...

Erich -- There''s always room for cello..

http://vrteach.org/banjo/
http://prairiegrapevine.org/
U of Illinois-Springfield Old Time Music

Edited by - vrteach on 04/27/2009 13:52:10

Bisbonian - Posted - 04/27/2009:  13:52:22

Incredible. There it is. The Wayback machine gives you a bunch of different dates to chose from; I found it when I went to Feb of 2004. "Avanpelt" is listed on the clawhammer page, played by Stuart Tod and Donald McNeill. Contributed by someone called "babru", which might explain the end of this link to the version of the song I first heard: www.banjoaddiction.com/songs/babru_1.mp3" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/20060210.../babru_1.mp3

Hmmm...for some reason, what I pasted in here did not appear. Should say http://web.archive.org/ and then web/20060210031650 and then /www.banjoaddiction.com/songs/babru_1.mp3

I see whe're both furiously making changes at the same time, trying to get it to work! Looks like you got it. Thanks :) Yup, now anyone can find the tune there.

Further research finds that "babru" has this to say about Stuart Tod:

"Stuart has been playing 5 string banjo since 1994 and clawhammer style since 1996. He has been taught by mainly Dwight Diller but has had courses with Jody Stecher and Tom Sauber. Influenced by a lot of the old timey types especially Wade Ward, Diller and Tom Sauber plus the late Ray Stewart from Aberdeen. Stuart plays a Chanterelle Bacon on the tracks but also has various other banjo’s to annoy the wife with."

So, I guess we know where he got the song.

"When Banjos are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have Banjos."

Edited by - Bisbonian on 04/27/2009 14:10:20

vrteach - Posted - 04/27/2009:  14:09:27

It looks to me as though Stuart Tod may be velocette here on the BHO.

Erich -- There''s always room for cello..

http://vrteach.org/banjo/
http://prairiegrapevine.org/
U of Illinois-Springfield Old Time Music