JanetB - Posted - 11/20/2015:  07:22:49

 The Tune of the Week title – Camp Chase -- is associated with a fiddling soldier whose American pioneer and musical roots are legendary in West Virginia:  Solomon Carpenter.  You’ve probably heard of many a last and final tune played by a fiddler before dying, but very rarely do you hear about a tune that changed a fiddler’s fate as this one did.

The fascinating story behind the tune is that it won the freedom of this Confederate prisoner held in Camp Chase, Ohio during the Civil War.  This man, Sol Carpenter, is also said to have been born under a “shelving rock” as his family was attempting to escape hostile Indians.  (The tune Shelvin’ Rock is said to have been composed by “Solly’s” fiddling father, Jeremiah Carpenter.) 

My curiosity piqued upon reading the story, I listened to versions of Camp Chase and found what I consider to be as close to the source as possible -- Sol’s grandson, David Frank “French” Carpenter (1905 – 1965).  Click on the link to hear French Carpenter's version on Slippery Hill website.  I was also able to hear French play on a CD he recorded in 1964, “Elzic’s Farewell,” with legendary West Virginian banjo maker and player Jenes Cottrell.  He tells the story of his grandfather’s fiddle contest at Camp Chase, how he won, and the subsequent release. 

 It’s said that Sol Carpenter and four other captured fiddlers were allowed to compete in the prison camp (where over 2,200 Confederate soldiers eventually died and were buried) and the winner would receive his freedom.  They played the same tune, but Carpenter won and it’s said that was because of two notes he added that captured the admiration of the judging commandant.  You’ll hear these notes towards the end of the B part of Camp Chase.  If you watch and listen to West Virginian master fiddler Mark Campbell's Camp Chase you’ll see him raise his eyebrows playing those two notes at 1:11 in the video.  Listen also to West Virginia governor Bobby Taylor with Kim Johnson telling the story and performing Camp Chase.  And here’s Wilson Douglas with Kim Johnson.   

Upon release, although Sol Carpenter supposedly signed an agreement that he would no longer fight against the Union, he continued to fight as a Confederate soldier. 

Another version has become an inspirational learning source:   Burl Hammons' Camp Chase recorded by BHO member Brendan Doyle.    I find Adam Hurt’s rendition as touching as the story itself:  Adam's Camp Chase from the Burl Hammons version.  It’s not one I’ve worked on yet and would welcome more information and a tab.

The tune played at the contest at Camp Chase during the Civil War is said by Alan Jabbour to have actually been titled George Booker, which he learned from the playing of Henry Reed.   Have a listen here:  loc.gov/item/afcreed000132/.

The actual history of the site called Camp Chase is quite interesting and is a listed historic landmark.  I recommend reading the first link below, especially the “Lady in Gray.”  It sounds like a tune should have been written about this ghostly apparition said to haunt the Camp Chase Cemetery looking for her lost love.  More information and music can be found at these sites:

                Wickipedia article on Camp Chase, Ohio

                Fiddler's Companion

                Appalachian Lifestyles blog from a descendant

                West Virginia encyclopedia article

                BHO discussion on French Carpenter and Burl Hammon's versions

                Erynn Marshall's 3rd place Clifftop, 2015, performance of Camp Chase

                BHO and Fiddle Hangout member Cyndy fiddling Camp Chase

                Emory Bailey on Slippery Hill

                Dan Levenson's Camp Chase and crooked tunes discussion

As you might have heard, it’s a crooked tune in more than one place.  In French Carpenter’s version there’s one measure in the middle of the A part with three beats.  I found it to be a surprisingly appealing and natural lead-in to the next musical phrase.  Crooked measures often need getting used to, but that particular three-beat measure has a certain charm.  The B part is also crooked with three half-measures – two before the famous two notes and one afterwards.  French doesn’t play it exactly the same way each time through, so I had to choose what to arrange.

Hope you enjoy and give Camp Chase a try.

Edited by - JanetB on 12/01/2015 15:40:42

VIDEO: Camp Chase (TOTW) (click to view)

Camp Chase (TOTW)

Camp Chase (CH) tab

llrevis - Posted - 11/20/2015:  08:15:10

You nailed it again, Janet. Thank you. 

banjukebox - Posted - 11/20/2015:  08:31:48

Thanks for presenting this tune, Janet. I have tried to learn it in the past. Unfortunately, it was so squirrelly, I could never get it down. 

Great info about the origins. Definitely back on my list.

rickhayes - Posted - 11/20/2015:  09:15:21

Squirrelly for sure, but rendered nicely Janet.

JanetB - Posted - 11/21/2015:  20:37:28

Thanks for your comments -- I'm glad you like the tune. 

I'm further researching Camp Chase and also the "Lady in Gray," named Louisiana Briggs who supposedly visits the Confederate Cemetery bringing flowers to the grave of her loved one, Benjamin Allen of Tennessee.  The thought of her inspired me to write a tune (youtube.com/watch?v=7KnT7wnPiBI). 

In this website you can find Sol Carpenter's name in a 1862 - 1863 prisoner registry with a note that gave a release date of April 9th.  He may have only been there between March and April, though the year isn't listed.  sites.google.com/site/wvotherh...ols-55-57 

Here's a photo of the camp.  Its conditions deteriorated, especially after the federal government took it over in 1863, allowing the death of over 2,200 soldiers before it was closed in 1865. 

bhniko - Posted - 11/22/2015:  10:19:14

Your "Lady Gray" couldn't be more lyrical. Beautiful piece.

When do you start your concert tour?

maryzcox - Posted - 11/22/2015:  13:09:49

Hello Janet--wow--you r very comprehensive with this tune & by coincidence--would you believe that Dwight Diller just loaded up Camp Chase on Bandcamp?  And it's part of an old cd that I have never seen before (I thought I had all his old cds)--so I immediately downloaded his whole album. :)

Not sure who that fiddler is with him.  But bought the cd download immediately because I wanted to encourage Dwight in his effort to make his playing available again.  My oldest son has been encouraging me to load my tunes to Bandcamp --and Ive started--but it is slow going getting everything loaded-- so I know its a real effort for Dwight.  :)  

Best wishes,

Mary Z Cox

maryzcox.com

JanetB - Posted - 11/22/2015:  14:03:16

Thank you, thank you, Mary for that valuable addition to this week's tune discussion.  Dwight is playing his mentor, Burl Hammon's, version -- isn't it Dwight who brought to us the music of the Hammon's family?  Here is a link to the Bandcamp site and the CD you purchased:  dwightdiller.bandcamp.com/albu...ing-creek.  And the price of $11 (or more, if desired) is so reasonable.

Richard, your kind words are appreciated.  My idea of a concert is right here on Banjo Hangout.  Every time any one of us shares our music we're enjoying a private concert!  And I hope to hear some more Camp Chase recordings before the week is out.

bhniko - Posted - 11/23/2015:  06:29:10

Yes, I do enjoy all of your private concerts.

Curiosity....how much time did you spend on the banjo when you were teaching as when retired?

It has been such a joy to see you develop from a player, to transcriber and composer and I wondered how much more time are you devoting to your music per day?

jack_beuthin - Posted - 11/23/2015:  08:11:31

Top-rate presentation Janet--the history, your playing, and your composition. Really inspiring. Thanks!

JanetB - Posted - 11/23/2015:  08:36:04

Thanks again, Richard, and Jack.  I spend plenty of time on music these days, but don't put it at the top of my priority list.  It always gives me great joy.  

Here's a piece of writing about French Carpenter, Sol Carpenter's grandson, that was published in Goldenseal magazine in 1986, compiled by John Lilly.  These are the words of another West Virginian, Wilson Douglas (see a link to his Camp Chase version at the top):

"(French) Carpenter came back in the country and in 1958 he retired....And he'd take that fiddle out about dark, you know, and all them frogs hollering -- you know in the spring of the year -- I thought that was the lonesomest dang thing I ever heard.  So I practically stayed with him.  Oh, I was with him off and on for eight or nine years.  And we'd get together from one to three times a week to play the fiddle....So we got to be so doggone good it just sounded like one fiddle, you know....Oh, I worked every day.  And I'd go up there, I was all out of steam! I'd work six days a week and I was always up one or two o'clock in the morning with that fiddle.  Well, I'd come home and I'd go to bed and that fiddle tune would keep pushing me; I couldn't sleep.  I could just almost put my finger on it.  And I've got up at four o'clock in the morning and played that tune.  And after I got it, I'd go to bed."  How's that for devotion?!!

jack_beuthin - Posted - 11/23/2015:  13:24:54

quote:

---

Originally posted by JanetB

 

"(French) Carpenter came back in the country and in 1958 he retired....And he'd take that fiddle out about dark, you know, and all them frogs hollering -- you know in the spring of the year -- I thought that was the lonesomest dang thing I ever heard.  So I practically stayed with him.  Oh, I was with him off and on for eight or nine years.  And we'd get together from one to three times a week to play the fiddle....So we got to be so doggone good it just sounded like one fiddle, you know....Oh, I worked every day.  And I'd go up there, I was all out of steam! I'd work six days a week and I was always up one or two o'clock in the morning with that fiddle.  Well, I'd come home and I'd go to bed and that fiddle tune would keep pushing me; I couldn't sleep.  I could just almost put my finger on it.  And I've got up at four o'clock in the morning and played that tune.  And after I got it, I'd go to bed."  How's that for devotion?!!

---

And therein lies the secret to capturing them squirrely tunes.

Don Borchelt - Posted - 11/25/2015:  02:02:37

Wonderful picking, Janet, on a really tough tune to get down right.  I used to play a relative straightened out version that they played at a jam I used to attend in Somerville, but recently i went back and worked up something up based on French Carpenter's version, inspired by Arnie Naiman,who played the tune in the Clifftop contest this year.  I've attached the tab of my three-finger style arrangement, below.  Right now I am doing nothing but cooking and cleaning (Thursday deadline), but after the holidays, I'll post make and post a video.  Here is my transcription of French Carpenter's introduction, from French carpenter's 1964 CD that Janet mentioned above:

This is an old piece that was played by my grandfather when he was in prison at Camp Chase, Ohio. That was back in the old war, they had five men in prison, and the soldiers and the officers knew that the five could play the fiddle, and they set aside a day to have a contest, and the best fiddler was to win his freedom, and my grandfather, Solly Carpenter, played this piece along with ‘em, and he added two little notes to the tune that they played, that won his freedom.  Through our generations of the fiddlin’ Carpenters, we’ve always kept this in our minds, as one of the most important tunes of all of our fiddling is called Camp Chase.

Now in the beginning of the last verse of the tune you will notice that there are two little notes that was b’put in there, I put ‘em in slow so that you can hear it.  Here’s the two notes that won my grandfather’s freedom when he played this tune.

- Don Borchelt

Camp Chase

dculgan - Posted - 11/25/2015:  04:29:50

Thanks, that's one I'm going to learn and add to my repertoire. I play at a lot of historic venues and this will be nice tune for my fiddler friend and I to play and I also have a personal connection to the tune I suppose. My 3rd great grandfather John Foster Jackson (66th Georgia Inf. ) died as a prisoner at Camp Chase in 1864, during the small pox epidemic. Dave

JanetB - Posted - 11/27/2015:  14:15:32

Looking forward to your recording, Don.  Thanks for the transcriptions of French Carpenter's own words.  Hope your Thanksgiving gathering was as enjoyable as mine.

Glad you appreciate the tune's story, Dave, and want to learn it.  That's sad about your great-great-great grandfather.  It's rare to have such a personal connection to a tune.  After the federal government took over Camp Chase the conditions worsened greatly.

Here's one more BHO version by the great Canadian clawhammer picker Arnie Naiman, which Don mentioned he played at Clifftop this year: http://www.banjohangout.org/myhangout/media-player/audio_player2.asp?musicid=21765&archived=

Zischkale - Posted - 11/29/2015:  16:04:40

Excellent job transcribing this one, it's seriously tricky. Haven't attempted to pick it up yet, but listening to Rhys Jones solo fiddle version it sounds real difficult to accompany!

Check his fiddle version out, tight and crisp playing, really superb -- amazon.com/Camp-Chase/dp/B001BOZFL8

This Arnie Naiman version is awesome too, thanks for bringing him to my attention!

JanetB - Posted - 11/30/2015:  16:21:58

Thanks for the Rhys Jones link, Aaron.  He's definitely a favorite fiddler and doesn't he look young on the CD cover!  I just got to watch Arnie Naiman on "Conversations with Old-Time Performers," interviewed by BHO member Craig Evans.  Arnie's priority in banjo playing is taste and he has it a-plenty.

This link to Henry Reed's George Booker works.  For some reason I was having trouble with the link above.  loc.gov/item/afcreed000132/.

Here's a version of Camp Chase I didn't realize I have on "The Civil War Collection" by Jim Taylor.  Though the B part isn't crooked and doesn't have those special two notes, it's good to hear another version, especially by someone who is devoted to music of that era.  

Don Borchelt - Posted - 11/30/2015:  18:43:49

Well, gosh, Janet, it looks like this squirrelly thing really, uh, separated the men from the boys, so to speak, if you pardon the expression.    Here's my take, as promised, now that the dishes are finally all done and put away, and the extra table leaf is now back in the attic.



- Don Borchelt

VIDEO: Camp Chase (click to view)

Don Huber - Posted - 12/01/2015:  01:22:08

I'd absolutely love to hear a duet of this tune played by Don and Rhys.

Don Borchelt - Posted - 12/01/2015:  11:51:01

I reloaded my video.  Don't ask why, it's a long story.

VIDEO: Camp Chase (click to view)

Tom Hanway - Posted - 12/01/2015:  13:33:32

quote:

Originally posted by JanetB

Thanks for the Rhys Jones link, Aaron.  He's definitely a favorite fiddler and doesn't he look young on the CD cover!  I just got to watch Arnie Naiman on "Conversations with Old-Time Performers," interviewed by BHO member Craig Evans.  Arnie's priority in banjo playing is taste and he has it a-plenty.

This link to Henry Reed's George Booker works.  For some reason I was having trouble with the link above.  loc.gov/item/afcreed000132/.

*snip*

I was able to get this link by clicking "Stream Audio" at bottom. Clicking the "Audio" icon, the big box at left, does nothing.

With ‘Camp Chase’ (from Arnie Naiman’s version) I can hear phrasing similar to ‘Angus Campbell’ (especially the B-part), a popular Scottish reel. One can also hear the connection between ‘Camp Chase’, also Henry Reed's 'George Booker' with 'The Marquis of Huntly's Farewell', a Scottish strathspey. I'm looking up the related Irish reel now in O'Neill's ... let's see ... ‘Keeper’ Hill’ (Tune 1481), p. 274.

Okay, a few years back I transcribed and recorded a slow guide-track for the related ‘Angus Campbell’ (A Major) for Best-Loved Jigs and Reels. That one's easy. I need to check out ‘Keeper Hill’, the Irish one, which is also a straight tune, then work through ‘George Booker’, and the icing on the cake will be ‘Camp Chase’.

Having the precursors to ‘Camp Chase’ may help me in own variations down the road. In any case, I’ll have basic motives and phrases under my fingers before I go all crooked, and I really want to go crooked! Maybe I’ll just dive into ‘Camp Chase’, no, ‘Keeper Hill’ first. (That one, too, is easy.)

Thank you Janet, Don, and thank you everybody. It’s good to have my appetite back, and I see myself heading back in your direction musically … so many tunes, so little time! I'll keep listening to this one in the meantime. It needs to be absorbed first, a very squirrelly tune, indeed.

Best ~ Tom

Edited by - Tom Hanway on 12/01/2015 13:36:33

Tom Hanway - Posted - 12/01/2015:  16:40:09

Janet, while I research this tune further ... still looking at similar old melodies ... I'm going to start by learning your super-clean tab, modifying it ever so slightly (adding double-cuts and Celtic ornaments) to suit my style, and I've played through it a few times now, but even the dog's gone to bed, so I have to stop now.

You do great tab, and it makes it easy to get inside the tune.

Don's version, wow, I'll come back to that once I have a version (something like yours) under my fingers. This is great.  I have a list of similar (straighter) tunes to work on: 'Keeper Hill', 'The Hurdle 'Race', and, of course 'George Booker'.

'Angus Campbell' has come back into my repertoire thanks to this posting. Maybe I'll combine the two, and others.

Thank you!

Best ~ Tom

Tom Hanway - Posted - 12/01/2015:  16:49:07

Your 'Lady in Gray' is sublime! I almost missed it.  

Best ~ Tom

JanetB - Posted - 12/01/2015:  19:21:22

Don, your video just doesn't get better.  You deliver the entire package -- music, photographs, textual history and explanation, and of course the pleasure of watching you play so effortlessly up and down the neck.  You're the only one so far to take up the challenge to learn the tune, so you're "the man of the hour," or should I say the week?!

Thanks, Tom, for the background info on Camp Chase.  I tabbed Keeper Hill after listening to it, though I changed the key to make it more banjo friendly.  I find more resemblance in it to George Booker and some similarity to the ending parts of Camp Chase.  The A and B parts are switched compared to Camp Chase.

This is a nice duet with banjo and fiddle.

Here's Joe Herrmann playing Camp Chase on fiddle at 4:04 into the video.  I like his double stops in the B part.

Edited by - JanetB on 12/01/2015 19:24:34

Keeper Hill (CH) tab

Tom Hanway - Posted - 12/04/2015:  07:17:55

Janet, thanks for 'Keeper Hill' in Double C, I'll get to it, and for 'Camp Chase'; this is such a great tune, and is a great example of personal variation and improvisation in OT music.

I'm still messing around with different versions of this, and not only is the tune crooked, but there are varying degrees of crookedness depending on who's playing it, and how they're playing it. It's not always symmetrical in its crookedness, and why should it be?

Also, the parts don't have to be symmetrical either, and these too can be improvised, halving or doubling a part for even more crookedness in terms of overall tune structure. It's a greasy tune if ever there was.

So, I started working from your template, which I found to have more added beats than some other versions, also Don's, similar to yours, but not mapped out like yours in the crooked phrases, and, so, the first thing I did was come up with an easier way of understanding the crooked parts, at least for me.

I put some measures in 6/4, keeping the others in 4/4 (or 2/4 beamed as 4/4). But the more I listen to different fiddlers extemporize, the more I move away from the template, both in the notes and the rhythm. That's okay, confusion is progress.

So, I'm still making friends with this tune, trying different versions, Dan Levenson's, Arnie Naiman's, et alia, just trying to get loose with the tune. I don't look for the definitive or ultimate version of a tune any more, but I look for the best ones, because every well-played rendition is its complete version of the tune, setting up possibilities for future renditions and personal variations that keep a tune in circulation in the living tradition, whatever that tradition may be. (I see a lot of Celtic motives, phrases and entire tunes in OT music owing to obvious Scottish, Irish, or Welsh precursors; for example, 'Belle(s) of Lexington' is very close to the Irish hornpipe, 'Kitty's Wedding', recorded by Virginia fiddler Emmett Lundy, who also played triplets, not just relying on the bow.)

So, while I still haven't committed a version to paper, it's a fun work in progress. When I do finally commit it to paper, I'll put it in standard as well as in tablature. I might wind up with two or three or four versions before I'm done. It's hard to tell from where I am now ... in a kind of fiddle-banjo otherworld. I hear this as both an Old Time and a Celtic tune. It'll be a while, and I'm in no rush. I think I might just play this tune all weekend, no, maybe all week long, or for the next month, ha!

All the best ~ Tom

Edited by - Tom Hanway on 12/04/2015 07:22:39

Feo - Posted - 12/04/2015:  21:15:55

Tom's right , this tune is about as crooked as it gets ... we should have at least TWO weeks to work on this assignment :-) Just like Yew Piney Mountain, everyone I heard play these tunes , plays it differently .... ok, it took me awhile to work Camp Chase up on the banjo because I always played it on the fiddle , never tried it on banjo.... I got my version from visiting Wilson Douglas years ago so hopefully I'll sound something like him ....Just using my pocket voice recorder I wizzed through it quickly , about the speed I remember the fiddles playing it ... then , I heard Don's wonderful calmer version , so I tried to play it a little slower too ..only I didn't have that nice backing tract that Don had to work with though ...

Camp Chase - faster