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Anthony Boadle - Posted - 04/01/2014: 02:04:11
Have you ever considered just how esoteric banjo tone and playing is? We (well, most of us) spend countless hours and dollars tinkering, modifying, upgrading and adjusting.
Obsessed with tone, playability, appearance and anything else we can think of. Then we take it to a bar, pub or session and proudly 'play and display'.......and I can guarantee that 99 percent of the crowd wouldn't know the difference between a basic Goodtime and a top-of-the-range Gibson etc.
How well I recall, many years ago, sitting in my local pub deftly picking (IMO) a fine rendition of Blackberry Blossom on my much-modified Earl Scruggs GDL. At the end of the night, a young lady walked over and said "Hey, I really loved the squealy pig song!" I thanked her even though I had no idea what she was talking about. It took a while to sink in.
Squealy pig? Remember that scene in Duelling Banjos when Ned Beatty is forced to 'squeal like a pig'? So, her train of thought... a banjo noise....heard that before...must be that movie....what was it called...can't remember....that guy had to squeal like a pig....oh yeah....squealy pig song.....
My heart was heavy driving home that night.
PS: A few months later a guy came up and asked if 'that was a banjo or a mandolin?' Laugh or cry....your choice.
mike gregory - Posted - 04/01/2014: 06:16:30
If one was to draw a pie chart, with 360 degrees repersenting the entire of the population of the earth, the very large wedge representing those who have HEARD a banjo would be huge, thanks to only two basic facts:
The banjo originated in Africa so even areas without many TV sets might have a local player, AND
Thanks to reruns of Beverly Hillbillies, that theme song is being played somewhere on the planet, several times a day.
But the wedge showing those who know the difference between the tenor, plectrum, five-string, banjoitar, banjo/uke and banjo/mandolin would be a lot narrower.
As to representing those who KNOW about the difference between a 1970 Kay and a 1970 Harmony Resotone, that would be a very narrow wedge
And those who CARE about the difference--- has science developed a penpoint fine enough to draw that thin a wedge?
Paul R - Posted - 04/01/2014: 08:56:41
True enough, Anthony, but most people wouldn't know the difference between a Les Paul and a Stratocaster. Take comfort in the fact that the young woman said that she "really loved" the "squealy pig" tune. She could have not said anything.
When people make comments, and I have the time, I try to give them a bit of info, to educate them a bit. Sometimes, if I'm stopping somewhere and I have my banjo with me, I'll take it out just to show them. They may not be converted, but they'll be a little more understanding.
People don't concern themselves with much outside their sphere of interest. I'm a cyclist, and most people wouldn't know the difference between a club member's carbon fibre Cervelo and my steel Cinelli. There was the woman many years back who thought that the garbage truck just took your garbage - and that was that, not even any knowledge about garbage dumps. Look at how many people sell old banjos on eBay, calling them "Remo" banjos! Sometimes it's amazing what people don't know.
Anthony Boadle - Posted - 04/01/2014: 09:16:43
Good comments, well made. But there's always an exception to prove the rule. The other night, a door-to-door salesman called...he was selling the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The sum of all human knowledge. I turned him away, explaining that I didn't need the books.
My wife knows everything already.
chuckv97 - Posted - 04/01/2014: 09:19:07
Jethro (Max Baer Jr.) ,I heard , never got much acting work after the "Hillbillies". He was too type-cast, no one would take him seriously anymore in another role. Earl's banjo on that theme song has brought the sound to billions now, but for most folks it comes with baggage- same with "Deliverance" ,and "Bonnie and Clyde". I think Steve Martin is doing yeoman's service for the banjo, promoting it,playing with bluegrass people on TV ,etc. That might bring it along,out of the old stereotypical images . I thought the Dixie Chicks also advanced it's image .and Mumford and Sons - whatever you think of the banjo playing style. Long live our weird and wonderful instrument!
Boyd Freeman - Posted - 04/01/2014: 11:41:10
What I have always like about playing the banjo, is the fact that several times in my life, I have wished I could play better !! Every now and then, I find someone I hear play, and then I wish they could !! It's that roller coaster ride effect !!!
