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RB-1 - Posted - 10/25/2015: 03:48:39
Thank you Tom, for quoting Marc Horowitz.
How bittersweet these words:
'His influence on the development and careers of thousands of musicians has been profound, and I (along with legions of others) will keep his memory alive with stories of his generosity of spirit and by echoing the stylistic nuances we all learned at his knee.'
It's an almost word for word description of how Bill's passing has affected most of us, including me.
I -one of the legions of others- too, would not have been anywhere near the banjo player I'm now, without his presence.
Taking, back in 1975, right after a three set gig, ample time for me as he needed to help this young beginner grasp the fundamentals of his new discoveries.
And how we pondered on this again only last year.
I'll be forever in his debt. Thank you, Bill.
Your friend from the low countries,
Bruno
guitarman8491 - Posted - 10/25/2015: 06:23:41
RIP Bill..you will not be forgotten.
kirbonite - Posted - 10/25/2015: 06:29:32
Thanks Bill. Melodic is my favorite way of playing baNJO. It has made it possible for me to be involved in more things musically than I would have ever been with the banjo. Your achievements are legendary and you will be missed.
burlap - Posted - 10/25/2015: 07:38:07
So long Mr. Keith. I guess Earl needed a picking partner.
captbanjo - Posted - 10/25/2015: 09:50:28
Bill Keith had a big impact on music and an even bigger impact on the banjo!
Much like Earl Scruggs, he never claimed to have invented a banjo style, in this case melodic banjo. And much like Earl, he refined that technique so well that many people use his name when referring to the style.
The music world is a much better place because Bill Keith took part in it.
Wayne
banjofan26 - Posted - 10/25/2015: 10:13:03
This is truly sad. He was one of the greats, with a understanding of the magic that is music.
Ebanjo - Posted - 10/25/2015: 10:43:19
Bill was a fine man as well as a fine banjo player and steel guitarist.
Eric Ellis
Lew H - Posted - 10/25/2015: 12:26:06
You couldn't meet a finer person or a better picker. I want to add to this discussion a mp3 I made a decade or more ago at Suwannee Banjo Camp in north Florida. Some people were picking in the parking lot, and another student named Jones asked Bill to try his custom banjo. Bill did so, picking several tunes. In the middle of this I got out my portable recorder to get the end of one tune and Bill playing Nola. The amazing part to me was that here was a guy I'd never heard make a mistake, playing a song he know but with spots were he didn't quite have it "right." Maybe partly because it wasn't his own banjo, but Bill made mistakes in a couple of spots, paused, sometimes talked, and then ran at those spots with a different lick or picking pattern. Bill was doing all this in front of 4 or 5 people, just being one of us pickers--so unassuming and non-elitist. He was not embarrassed to make those mistakes or to try correction strategies before the group. It was a wonderful event. Aside from this parking lot episode, Bill did wonderful stuff at the faculty concert--Auld Lang Syne (with 4 Keith tuners?), 3 fiddle tunes that have the same first 3 notes (but in different keys). He showed subtle humor, irony, and perfection in those stage performances. Even though I am an OT picker, I value my brief interactions with Bill Keith.
Lumpy - Posted - 10/25/2015: 12:43:27
We'll miss you, Bill. Prayers for his family.
stanleytone - Posted - 10/25/2015: 13:18:24
Can't put into words the contribution Bill Keith made to banjo playing. Better to just to pick up your banjo and play something melodic.
robbif - Posted - 10/25/2015: 13:20:04
Folks,
I'd like to share my tribute to the man I'm honored to call a dear friend.
May he rest in peace.
frobbi.org/billkeith/
Fred
drew-gurbach - Posted - 10/25/2015: 15:08:30
I'm proud to have original Keith Tuners on my banjo. Have considered taking them off because I don't use them anymore for their designed purpose...however, I think they'll stay there in-place for remembrance. RIP.
Bill Rogers - Posted - 10/25/2015: 15:39:21
Like Doc Watson, when Bill came on the scene in the '60s, his playing was simply jaw-dropping. And like Doc's it set a trend. Few have been as influential. A real loss to the banjo community.
JMalmsteen - Posted - 10/25/2015: 16:13:43
Another great banjo player gone. Rest in Peace, Bill.
britcarfan - Posted - 10/25/2015: 16:17:00
Went through a box my mom gave me yesterday that was my dads. In it was a Beginning Bluegrass banjo cassette course by Bill Keith. I had never heard of him until then now I see he's passed on. RIP Mr Keith.
csrat - Posted - 10/25/2015: 16:36:25
Got to pick some with Bill at the MBC in 2005. About as nice a fella as you'll ever meet and he had a way of explaining things to students that really helped them out.
Another light goes out in the world of bluegrass.
Bill Anderson - Posted - 10/25/2015: 17:06:28
Bill was a gentleman and musician of the upmost order.
You will forever be missed.
Slick Salmon - Posted - 10/25/2015: 17:30:43
In the winter of 2007, a well-connected relative of mine arranged for my wife and I to have lunch with Bill and his wife at his house in Woodstock. At that time I was a banjo beginner, and I really didn't understand who he was other than that he was a well-respected banjo picker.
Prior to going up there to visit him, I called and asked if while we were there I could get a few banjo pointers. He said "sure...do you want to start now?" I said "what the heck, let's go". So he proceeded to give me a 2hr lesson on music theory over the phone. He had a very engineer's way of looking at things, and it was the first time that the whole subject made any sense to me. He sent me a copy of his book "The Natural Way to Music" and one of his tablature books, and he suggested I read Stuart Isacoff's book, "Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization".
A few weeks later we visited him. Over lunch, a Bill Monroe tune came on the radio. His wife said "Bill, isn't that you?" He listened for a moment and said "yes, I guess it is". I didn't know at that point that he had played with Monroe. Later, he talked a bit about doing the Scruggs book, along with his disappointment at not being credited in the reissue of that book. Now, I'm feeling extremely stupid and want to crawl under a rock. After lunch he says, "you want your lesson now?" I say "sure", and he spends 3 solid hours with me. My brain is about to explode. We finish the day with him and my well-connected relative giving us a personal concert in his living room.
I asked him about practicing, and he said that he used to play along with Earl's recordings until he was so accurate, that it sounded like only one banjo was playing. Other than that, he said that he had to play Nola every day, otherwise he'd lose it. He also said that the melodic stuff for which he is legendary accounts for only about 20% of his style. He liked to think he was otherwise a pretty standard Scruggs stylist with a little single string stuff thrown in every now and then.
He was an amazing gentleman. I wish I could say that we became fast friends, but I never felt that I had anything to offer in return or that I was worthy of his friendship. We thanked him profusely for his hospitality, but I never saw him again.
Edited by - Slick Salmon on 10/25/2015 17:43:48
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/25/2015: 20:33:28
Bill was a pioneer in so many ways. He was endlessly inquisitive, always took my phone calls, and was a kind and generous teacher. He once described to me that he kept one foot in the 'progressive' camp and the other in the 'traditional' camp. I loved that!
I remember him saying, "There are no mistakes!" He also advised about what to play or say, what to listen for, and what not to play or say.
Bill wasn't the type to poison the well or make people choose sides. He was gracious, and he spoke with candor and conviction. His legacy is profound and enduring all over the world.
I got all my Keith materials out and put them on the music stand. I hope it will jog my memory of the beautiful times we had together in so many places on both sides of the pond.
Best ~ Tom
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 10/25/2015 20:40:11
From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 10/25/2015: 21:21:42
It is funny and I can't quite describe this. Some of the great ones die like Bill Keith and it shocks us. For some reason they never seem their age and their leaving always seems way too early. their music and their vibrancy and their impact and their words and their stature and their teaching all seem current as we revere them like when they started because we recognize their greatness. and another funny thing about his is that they in a way have kept us young and in our youth because they have always been the 'men" and we have been the boys looking up. Haven't these great ones like Earl and Bill given us some tones and some music and some inspiration and some joy that will be forever with us and some standards that will always guide us.
Ken
Edited by - From Greylock to Bean Blossom on 10/25/2015 21:22:44
chuckv97 - Posted - 10/25/2015: 21:40:45
I listened to the "Beating Around The Bush" CD today. Played "Devil's Dream" , stumbled through "New Camptown Races" , looked up his discography........just feeling empty, and I never even met him.
jhko - Posted - 10/25/2015: 21:47:08
I'll never forget when I heard "Sailor's Hornpipe" for the first time. I had heard of Bill Keith for a while but had never heard his playing. Wow! I was an instant, lifelong fan. Talked to him once at an Amherst reunion (he and I were 20 years apart in year of graduation, but went to the same reunions). Very nice guy. Very, very sad to have him gone.
Edited by - jhko on 10/25/2015 21:48:32
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/25/2015: 22:21:40
quote:
Originally posted by chuckv97
I listened to the "Beating Around The Bush" CD today. Played "Devil's Dream" , stumbled through "New Camptown Races" , looked up his discography........just feeling empty, and I never even met him.
Ah, you got him with you, and that's what counts! I'm the same way, gutted, practiced his version of 'Rickett's Hornpipe', also began rereading The Natural Way to Music that he co-authored with Jim D'Ville, and it's a fun read!
I'm in shock. And he's still giving me homework, haha!
Best ~ Tom
5stringJim - Posted - 10/26/2015: 00:35:36
Well, a sad day for me, too. Back in 1974, my dad was instrumental in organising a local gig for Bill, Jim Rooney and JB Morrison in Scotland, must have been right after the photo that Laurence posted from Cambridge Folk festival. All of the local acts played for free. I'd only been playing banjo for just over a year, and was picking on the same bill !!
The show was fantastic, half bluegrass, second half Country, with Bill on pedal steel and JB on telecaster. The guys stayed with us for 2 days, late night jam sessions all recorded. Lots of Hank Williams songs, melodic banjo medleys and Nola....complete, as others have said, with mistakes in timing and notes....I still have the recordings of that night.
My dad obviously asked Bill if he could give me a lesson, and we sat down with me desperately hoping for insights into Devil's Dream etc, but Bill was more into the Circle of Fifths and Modes, you know, general music theory as applied to banjo. He sat through a whole episode of the weekly British pop show, Top of the Pops, and played along with every track by Slade, Suzi Quattro, Status Quo, Bay city Rollers etc, demonstrating the different modes (yeah, this one is in A major, Dorian mode) and so on. Still have the hand-written notes !
I also remember that whilst picking " Lonesome Road Blues" on his Top-tension TB7, Bill got out his Dictaphone and recorded what I was doing......!!!!
Anyway, this may be the last time to recycle this old photo......R.I.P. Bill. Your contributions are more than you could imagine.
5stringJim - Posted - 10/26/2015: 01:04:37
I eventually worked out my own, slightly different version of Devil's Dream/Sailor's Hornpipe and have performed it like this ever since. But without Bill's guiding light, I don't think I would've thunk it.....
overhere - Posted - 10/26/2015: 04:18:11
Just when you think that the banjo does all it can do along comes another great one…and another great one is gone but never forgotten R.I.P. Bill Keith
R. Blakeslee Gilpin - Posted - 10/26/2015: 05:53:27
Well, like Bill, I strayed from bluegrass. And despite my love for his playing, I have become forever lodged in old-time music. Bill's life and music have always been an inspiration to me and he's been much on my mind the last 72 hours. Anyway, I rarely post things like this, but I wrote this tune for Bill yesterday, check it out if you're so inclined.
youtu.be/ClMRWGUWiiU
Edited by - R. Blakeslee Gilpin on 10/26/2015 05:54:55
robbif - Posted - 10/26/2015: 06:19:29
Folks,
I just put together a new version of Bill Keith's 2003 Grey Fox Banjo Workshop.
I found the original footage files and made an all-in-one with my latest editor,
to give you better video quality.
youtube.com/watch?v=zqhVEO1Gz0Y
The original version in 9 parts is still available, along with the new version,
in my Bill Keith video playlist...
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD0...Wm_NH-6uE
Fred
Gary Griffin - Posted - 10/26/2015: 06:54:09
There is no better therapy and medication than getting to play the Flint Hill Special everyday! God Bless Bill Keith!
Jack Baker - Posted - 10/26/2015: 11:23:47
Fred,
Thank you for such a wonderful collection of Bill Keith videos...Jack
Originally posted by robbif
Folks,
I'd like to share my tribute to the man I'm honored to call a dear friend.
May he rest in peace.
frobbi.org/billkeith/
Fred
chuckv97 - Posted - 10/26/2015: 17:14:20
Thanks for posting these, Fred. Much appreciated.
Kimerer - Posted - 10/26/2015: 18:27:43
I met Bill briefly at Banjo Camp North. He was a true gentleman.
zoneboy - Posted - 10/26/2015: 18:52:25
quote:
Originally posted by banjobilly32
I noticed on Facebook this morning the mention of Bill Keith dying from cancer. Surprised there was not yet any mention of this on the hangout.
Bill was looking very frail when he accepted his award at this years IBMA convention. His contributions to banjo styles ranks right up there with Earl Scruggs in my estimation. I remember when I first heard his recording with Bill Monroe in 1963. He was respected for his talents world wide.
I did meet Bill and spend time with him at several festivals in the New England area. He was always humble and gracious in sharing his talents. Thanks Bill for being my friend. You will be missed !
Although it's true, I would never trust a Facebook post when it involves a death unless posted by the immediate family.
tinyurl.com/qf8gvzn
Edited by - Lynne on 10/26/2015 19:29:47
mdthib - Posted - 10/27/2015: 04:45:43
Like 2many5s I just came to post the NYTimes obit. Here's the perma-link version of the same obit... nyti.ms/1kJxNwd
Kstevensmd - Posted - 10/27/2015: 05:37:25
I first met Bill Keith at Banjo Camp North in May of 2008. I had just started taking banjo lessons in March. Banjo Camp started at noon but I arrived at about 8 AM to an abandoned parking lot. I sat on my tailgate and practiced the forward roll. As I was playing I saw an older gent emerge from one of the buildings and started to walk over to me. He walked right up to me and said "You're playing that wrong!". That gent then spent the next twenty minutes teaching me how to play the forward roll his way. That gentleman was Bill Keith. I didn't know who he was then but I sure know who is was now! I met him several times at Banjo Camp and at the Joe Val Festival. I will never forget how kind he was to me as a novice picker! He gave me lots of encouragement. He was a true gentleman and an inspiration. I'm very glad I had an opportunity to know him.
tilmar - Posted - 10/27/2015: 11:13:26
Rest in Peace Bill
theguitarcollector - Posted - 10/27/2015: 11:39:43
I had the honor and pleasure of working with Bill in the early 1980s. In addition to his to his supportive playing, I learned more from him during a 40 minute rehearsal than you could imagine, both music and the role of my instrument. What a gentleman, what a teacher. RIP
sulcataels - Posted - 10/27/2015: 12:24:37
I live in Belgium, close to Antwerp. In the '70, when Bill toured in Europe he often stayed at my place on a small farm in the village of Elversele. I din't even know he was sick. I will never forget him.
Guns and Banjos - Posted - 10/27/2015: 12:30:21
I had done a lot of business with Bill over the years , we had never met in person until one year at SPGMA in Nashville , I was working the Stelling Banjo Booth , Bill saw me and saw my Guns & Banjos shirt I was wearing, he walked over and asked if I was Clyde Barksdale , we shook hands , he sat down at the Stelling table , My Buddy Larry Barger asked him to sign his New Stelling " Legend of The Dogwood" Banjo, which he graciously did , he sat there and picked for a cpl hours ,folks would come up and talk to him , take pictures , Bill was so nice to everyone, he would stop & try to explain or show someone a tune or lick .
I saw Bill later that night at our Hotel ,he was trying to make his way to his room, but would get stopped every few steps by someone wanting a picture or ask a question, He Never turned anyone down.
I didn't see Bill for several years , late one night I got a call from Bill asking how far I was from Fort Payne Al. I told him just a few miles, he wanted to meet for coffee , I asked where he was heading ,after he told me , I told him how to get my house ,I told him the door was open and the coffee was hot , about 20 minutes later Bill pulled in my driveway . we stayed up till the wee morning hours , I had a Private Concert / Learning experience with one of my Banjo Heroes.
Bill unlocked a lot of doors for me that night ,some real insight into his picking and the man himself, I asked Bill sometime that night if it bothered him , folks always coming up asking one thing or another, He paused for a min, then said , "No , No it doesn't , He said if Do something that folks like ,I'm more than Happy to show them or help anyway I can ! That was the Kind of Person Bill was . The next time you try to ask a Super Picker a question or for a pic and you get shrugged off or ignored, you can think to yourself , Bill Keith wouldn't have done that to me!
REST IN PEACE MY DEAR FRIEND
Clyde
Guns & Banjos
Mark Steiger - Posted - 10/27/2015: 12:35:38
Very sad! I met Bill at Basel in Switzerland around 1977 where he played in a restaurant called "Baslerstab" (or "Baselstab". I still own the record that he signed after the concert. He was very astonished that I knew something about Bluegrass and Bill Monroe - this was not usual in Europe at this time. I also still use the first Keith Tuners signed Keith, Bump and Scruggs. I remember Bill Keith as a friendly, humble and funny person and great musician.
howsy-bee - Posted - 10/27/2015: 13:00:28
I lost a dear friend to whom I owe so much..... Bill was truly brilliant and humble. When he came to Switzerland I had the pleasure several times of being his host after he played a gig. At that time I was still living with my mom and my sisters. Needless to say what a huge impact these visits had not only on my banjo playing, but on my way of looking at the world, as he was so generous in sharing his knowledge that was quite mind-bending at times.
One such day in the mid-70s he was wearing a blue denim shirt, which I found very cool, and told him so. To my astonishment and thrill, he just took it off, and not unlike the good Samaritan, gave it to me as a gift.... I still have it. I find this a nice metaphor for his generosity. At the ceremony of his induction into the IBMA Hall of Fame, October 1st, he said in his acceptance speech, "We all explored music together, and this is the right time to tell the pleasure I have always found in teaching and mentoring. It is a joy to help a young beginner start to figure things out, and I will gladly plead guilty for having pushed the circle of fifths into the bluegrass consciousness."
arnie fleischer - Posted - 10/27/2015: 13:26:00
I met Bill maybe 15-20 years ago through a mutual banjo-playing friend who would often pick him up at the airport when he flew into NYC. Everything that's been said about his friendliness, humility, sense of humor and all-around niceness is spot on. His workshops at festivals were remarkable experiences. Bill approached the fingerboard in a rigorously analytical, almost mathematical way that belied how beautiful, sensitive, rhythmic and utterly musical his playing was. We'd run into each other a couple of times a year, at Joe Val or Thomas Point Beach or IBMA, and only got to jam maybe a handful of times over the years, but he would always greet me like a friend. One of my most memorable IBMA experiences was a nearly 2-hour breakfast with Bill one morning in the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville as he talked about his experiences with Monroe and the Scruggses. We saw each other again briefly just a few weeks ago, in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Raleigh. It was a privilege to know him.
Edited by - arnie fleischer on 10/27/2015 13:26:50
Visland - Posted - 10/27/2015: 13:53:43
How much a better place this world, my world certainly, has been, with Bill's presence, generosity, attitude and enormous talent and skill. Thank you to his family and friends for the support and assistance in his last while. He will be forever remembered as one of the finest. Also a huge thank you to all the posters here for their wonderful stories and anecdotes.
Jack Baker - Posted - 10/27/2015: 14:20:03
Hi Hans,
I posted your Auld Lang Syne and talked about your friendship with Bill etc...
Originally posted by howsy-bee
Edited by - Jack Baker on 10/27/2015 14:24:44
Hankon5 - Posted - 10/27/2015: 14:20:47
quote:
Originally posted by Hankon5
Yet another great musician and person leaves us....Will the circle be unbroken?
You know ...several wonderful banjo/bluegrass artists have left us the past couple of years. I really looked up to these stalwarts of music.. I read a lot and followed them through their carrers.....THESE were my anchors in playing my banjo......INSPIRERS!!!!!! Where would we be as a banjo family if it were not for the creativity and the enjoyment they all have brought us!!!???? May they continue in inspire and push us forward in our own humanity as well as our progress in playing!!! Never forget them..............
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