stigandr5 - Posted - 01/31/2014:  12:24:38

Greetings everyone--Happy Chinese New Year!

I had many grandiose plans for this week's tune, but  I had a wrench thrown into my plans:

Don't shake hands with table saws, friends. Luckily (very, very luckily), no tendons were severed and I should make a 100% recovery. I am a lucky guy & grateful. This injury did, however, influence the songs I could comfortably perform with corndog fingers.

Me and my girlfriend went to a record store last weekend, and she picked out a Doc & Merle album ("Lonesome Road"). On one side was "Look Up, Look Down That Lonesome Road"--one of my favorites. A few days later when she put it on for me to listen to, I had heard that Pete Seeger had died. Listening to this song and reading an article about the passing of such a musical giant created a very beautiful, very bittersweet experience.

Seeing me a bit blue, my girlfriend asked me if I'd teach her a new song on the banjo. I asked if she wanted to learn the one that was playing, and she said sure. Sitting down with her, I realized I could play a simple arrangement using just the ring finger of my left hand and 2-finger thumb-lead with the right. It was good therapy. Cathartic. And happily no one else has done this song for TOTW thus far.

The earliest version I know of comes from Gaither Carlton, which is probably where Doc learned it.

Then of course there's Doc & Merle's version:

youtube.com/watch?v=SmDpRWodMsc

I even found a video of the Avett Brothers covering it:

youtube.com/watch?v=qzBcOLATtK0

​As for its origins, I am afraid I have more questions than answers. There is a popular song from the late '20s called "The Lonesome Road" with music by Nathaniel Shilkret and words by Gene Austin. While this song does share certain lyrical snatches, the two seem distinct to my ear. You can be the judge, as I was unable to turn up anything conclusive linking them:

Anyway, I think this song is among the purest gems of lovely melancholy ever wrought in melody and verse. Attached is my version, and I hope you all will share yours as well. ¡Enjoy!

-N.A.

Edited by - stigandr5 on 02/06/2014 05:16:38

VIDEO: "Look Down That Lonesome Road" N.A. Wendte 2-Finger Banjo (click to view)

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 01/31/2014:  12:31:44

Now this is truly above and beyond the call of duty in the service of TOTW (OT) interests.  This gets you more than just a plain old fashioned Purple Heart.  There's an Oak Leaf Cluster in it for you.  Hope you recover quickly,

V/R,

Lew

vrteach - Posted - 01/31/2014:  13:16:41

Very nice. Take care of your fingers.

Are you using your oven to warm the kitchen?

vrteach - Posted - 01/31/2014:  13:28:59

I'm really bad at remembering lyrics, so I tend to search mudcat. Here's what I found.

LONESOME ROAD

Look up, look down that lonesome road
Hang down your little head and cry my love,
Hang down your head and cry

The best of friends must part some day
And why not you and I my love,
And why not you and I

The longest train I ever did see
Was on that Georgia line my love,
Was on that Georgia line

The only girl I've ever loved
Is on that train and gone my love,
Is on that train and gone

The darkest night I ever saw
Was the night I left my home love,
Was the night I left my home

I never thought when we first met
This awful day would come my love,
This awful day would come.

**repeat first two verses again**"

This variation I found on a 1977 United Artists recording of
Doc & Merle Watson titled ""Lonesome Road"".

mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=9875

bhniko - Posted - 01/31/2014:  13:41:36

Enjoyed the post and conversations.

stigandr5 - Posted - 01/31/2014:  14:07:23

quote:

---

Originally posted by vrteach

Very nice. Take care of your fingers.



Are you using your oven to warm the kitchen?

---

Thank you; will do. And yes, even in New Orleans the winter has been tenacious.

JanetB - Posted - 01/31/2014:  14:43:25

Nathan, you've really touched us with this.  Anything of Doc Watson's is already spectacular, but you've given it a depth beyond words.  Wishing you a speedy recovery. 

bob gregory - Posted - 02/01/2014:  02:36:50

G'day Nathan, thanks for sharing ! Hope all is good with your hand and you take care mate .

janolov - Posted - 02/01/2014:  08:04:25

Very nice! It is a nice tune and when listening  it is hard to imaging that you have a bandaged finger.

I hope you a fast recovery. I cut my left index finger with a knife  1,5 years ago and it took almost 9 months before I had the full mobility back. I was glad there is a lot of tunes where one do the work with the only middle finger.

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 02/01/2014:  08:05:03

I just got around to listening to your video, Nathan.

Nicely played. 

And you may be onto something: that left hand splint could double as a bottleneck or a capo with some slight design improvements, and then you'd be the first bionic banjo player.

Play hard.  OK, for now, play carefully.

Lew

ClayTech - Posted - 02/01/2014:  10:37:22

Nice work. Take care of that finger, and welcome to the stupid machinery accident club! Unfortunately, it is not a very exclusive club. I shattered the tips of my middle and index fingers on my left hand last year, and cut the flexor tendon in the middle finger. 3 months with pins in the fingers, 6 months total to heal the index, 11 months with an additional bone graft and permanent screw to heal the middle.

BlowingRockNC - Posted - 02/01/2014:  12:14:09

What Key is Doc playing this in? Is it Am or something like that. I can put together something that looks a little like Am, Bb, F, and I can't really figure it out. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Tamarack - Posted - 02/01/2014:  12:17:31

Fine song and fine writeup. Wishing you swift healing.

ClayTech is right -- The Stupid Machinery Accident Club is not exclusive. My fingers are unscathed from power tools, but there was that right-angle bruise on my ribcage from a tablesaw kickback.

BlowingRockNC - Posted - 02/01/2014:  12:31:55

quote:

---

Originally posted by BlowingRockNC

What Key is Doc playing this in? Is it Am or something like that. I can put together something that looks a little like Am, Bb, F, and I can't really figure it out. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

---

OK, not Am, but Dm. Probably the Key of Dm. Close?

strokestyle - Posted - 02/01/2014:  17:21:43

Best to a speedy recovery, gallant TOTW!

JanetB - Posted - 02/03/2014:  06:32:24

Originally posted by BlowingRockNC

What Key is Doc playing this in? Is it Am or something like that. I can put together something that looks a little like Am, Bb, F, and I can't really figure it out. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Doc is playing this out of the key of F.  Nathan is in F#, half a note higher.  I get these chords from Doc's playing:

bluejazz - Posted - 02/03/2014:  14:38:29

Man, I am going to post your hospital picture right over my tablesaw.   You are indeed a lucky man.   Heal up.  And use the bandsaw wherever possible :-)

Marc Nerenberg - Posted - 02/03/2014:  15:46:28

Terrific TOTW! I really like that it's a song - y'know, the kind with lyrics!

I often find my favourite arrangements are those in which I play the left hand part with one finger. There's a particular kind of focus to that kind of arrangement - and you have it here. Old Time banjo seems particularly suited to such arrangement; probably the heritage of the instruments pre-fretted days.

That Avett Brothers clip was shot in Montreal. I almost went to that show - but work took me out of town at the time.

As far as I can remember, I've never heard this song before. It sounds like a good one to learn.

BlowingRockNC - Posted - 02/03/2014:  16:46:48

Since first hearing this, I've gotten the words and (with help from here) I've put together what Doc was singing. It's very easy to play and to sing, although it's difficult to get close to the haunting sound that Doc brought to it.

mbliss - Posted - 02/03/2014:  20:16:44

Everything this young man does just amazes and inspires me!

Now wheres my tablesaw......



Seriously, get well Nathan. (And stay warm!)

Thank you so much for contributing and sharing. I love this song. Now I have to go learn it!

(So much for my theory of "how hard can it be, we've all got five fingers!")

Edited by - mbliss on 02/03/2014 20:18:56

banjo bill-e - Posted - 02/04/2014:  07:56:48

I enjoyed this TOTW very much, good job Nathan.

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 02/04/2014:  12:49:46

Here’s Nathan  on a unique banjo, a Youtube video dating from 2011, when he was just a kid:

Wheeling WVA banjo player Bob Heyer has a version on his CD, which is named for the tune, That Lonesome Road:

cdbaby.com/cd/bobheyer

I have this tune in my memory bank, but it departs from the trajectory of the tune so well played by Nathan, to the point that I think I’ve got several tunes fused together here in what must be a jumbled recollection:

When I recall a tune that is on such an eccentric orbit out of sync with the conventional wisdom about the tune I usually blame it on Diller, but I don’t think I ever heard Dwight play this one so here, in this instance I have no one to blame but my own odd recall of the tune.

Thanks, Nathan.

Play hard,

Lew

Edited by - Brooklynbanjoboy on 02/04/2014 12:50:56

stigandr5 - Posted - 02/04/2014:  14:31:56

Hi Lew,

My pleasure, and beautiful playing! That sounds to my ear like "The Blackest Crow," which is also one of my favorites. They're both expressive, melancholy waltzes with some downright heartbreaking lyrical and melodic passages.

-N.A.

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 02/04/2014:  14:36:11

Nathan.

That's it: the Blackest Crow.  Thanks.

JOBOBEDA - Posted - 02/04/2014:  16:18:31

Nathan thanks for the Tune of the week post. I could not believe the fingers , I knew that it had to be a table saw!

I also made the sacrifice to the dreaded table saw, ( just a half inch off of my left thumb). I've spent more time on the table saw than the banjo in the last 30 years, never thought it would happen. Now when I approach the saw I think about playing banjo and pray for no more screw-ups!

Your 2 finger playing is inspiring, I'll look into that group. Stay healthy,

jb