EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 05/12/2017:  18:04:29

Today's volunteer is unable to post, so here is a quick emergency back-up tune.

That tune is Catlettsburg, which takes its name from Catlettsburg, Kentucky, a town along the Ohio River in Boyd County, in the far northeastern part of the state right at the West Virginia border.

The tune comes to us from Ed Haley (1885 - 1951), who was born in Logan County, West Virginia, but who spent most of his adult life in Boyd County, in the towns of Ashland and Catlettsburg.  I could find very little about the history of the tune, and nothing that predates Ed's recording.  I assume it is one of his own tunes, named after the town where he was at the time living and raising his family.

ED HALEY

Ed Haley is a legendary figure in old-time music. I won't try to summarize his life and career in this post, but you can learn more about him here oldtimemusic.com/FHOFHaley.html, here appalachianhistory.net/2012/12...aley.html, and here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Haley, among other places.

CATLETTSBURG

The area that became Catlettsburg was first settled by Alexander Catlett and his family in 1798.  His son opened a post office using the name 'Catlettsburg' in 1810, but the town itself wasn't established until 1849, when the then owner of the former Catlett farm subdivided the land into individual town lots.

Catlettsburg enjoyed a brief economic boom period from about 1890 to 1920, when it was by some measures the largest hard timber market in the world.  It is the county seat of Boyd County.

AUDIO & VIDEO

Ed Haley: slippery-hill.com/recording/catlettsburg

Fiddle (with guitar and ukulele): youtube.com/watch?v=1lwn-4TDSLw

Fiddle and guitar: youtube.com/watch?v=4cVBCUaZsdM

Two BHO members and TOTW contributors have posted solo banjo versions on YouTube:

Janet Burton: youtube.com/watch?v=Jm3yt0G9-U8

Pat Lyons: youtube.com/watch?v=TaVdIXz39kE

(Janet's version is also in the Hangout jukebox: tinyurl.com/mp3golg)

John Hartford, J.P. Fraley, Tom Brad & Alice, and Adam Hurt have all recorded the tune, but I have not found their full versions online.

TABLATURE, ETC.

Janet Burton initiated a good discussion of Catlettsburg in the 'Sound Off' section of the Hangout back in 2013: banjohangout.org/archive/269764 (Indeed, if I had known of that thread before I chose this TOTW, I might have gone with a different tune, since I don't know that there is much to add to what was discussed there four years ago.)

There is also a long discussion of the tune on the Fiddlehangout: fiddlehangout.com/archive/33640:

Tablature can be found at Ken Torke's TaterJoe's site: taterjoes.com/banjo/Catlettsberg.pdf ,and standard notation here: home.hiwaay.net/~eabaggot/EdHa...sburg.htm

Edited by - EggerRidgeBoy on 05/12/2017 19:04:39

JanetB - Posted - 05/12/2017:  19:37:05

Nice to have no "homework" this week, Brett!  I re-recorded Catlettsburg when I discovered it was easier for me in "Open C" tuning -- gCGCE. You don't have to go up the neck so far to the get the notes.  I had been listening to J.P. Fraley's Catlettsburg, which he learned from Ed Haley.  

A fiddler from West Virginia, Brandon Ray Kirk, worked with John Hartford to gather information about Ed Haley.  Unfortunately, publication of the book is "dead in the water," as Brandon put it, due to problems with permission.  But you can go to Brandon's blog and get lots of interesting information about Ed Haley, including some here about Catlettsburg, the town:  brandonraykirk.wordpress.com//...search=Go  

VIDEO: Catlettsburg (Ed Haley)
(click to view)

Catlettsburg (CH) tab

Tractor1 - Posted - 05/12/2017:  20:35:21

Here is what John Hartford came up with.I sure miss him

JanetB - Posted - 05/12/2017:  21:10:42

I'm glad you chose this jolly tune, Brett.  We can never get enough of Ed Haley -- he was an astounding fiddler amongst other things (it's said he was a rather raucous fellow).  Here's J. P. Fraley, who listened to Ed Haley play on the streets of Ashland, Kentucky as a boy.  In some liner notes J. P. is quoted:  "Dad would always tell him, 'Ed, this is my boy.  I want him to learn to play the fiddle and I want him to hear you.'  And Ed would answer Dad like he knew him...Dad would give him some money...and he'd leave me there for hours." 

And here's Adam playing in double C with Cathy Fink on guitar.

banjukebox - Posted - 05/14/2017:  09:47:09

Great Choice! One of the few C tunes I have learned.

Here's the tab of my interpretation:

hangoutstorage.com/banjohangou...52017.pdf

Kernel - Posted - 05/14/2017:  10:54:08

Hi All,

I just pulled this up on my website and noticed there was a little printing glitch that dropped a font. The corrected version is here taterjoes.com/banjo/Catlettsberg.pdf. My friends and I have been adding a bunch of C tunes. Some of the fiddlers in our circle have resisted but they are starting to fall into line. This is a new tune for us and I suspect my version will change and adjust after playing it up to speed a bunch.

Janet mentioned why she tuned her 1st string up in her very nice version (easier access to the high notes) so I thought I'd mention why I don't. Almost all of my playing is in a group and I can hardly get the fiddlers to mention the tune before they start much less wait for me to re-tune. I don't end up using different tunings for different tunes otherwise I'd miss half the tune by the time I figured what tune it is, what tuning I used, getting re-tuned, etc. 

There's also a transcription of Brad Leftwwich's fiddling from the Tom, Brad and Alice - Holly Ding album for your fiddling friends. It's pretty similar to the one linked above and the one in Milner Koken.

taterjoes.com/fiddle/Catlettsberg.pdf">taterjoes.com/fiddle/Catlettsberg.pdf

Good Tune!

hendrid - Posted - 05/14/2017:  15:11:06

On Kernel above try this one

taterjoes.com/banjo/Catlettsberg.pdf

JanetB - Posted - 05/14/2017:  18:50:36

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kernel

Janet mentioned why she tuned her 1st string up in her very nice version (easier access to the high notes) so I thought I'd mention why I don't. Almost all of my playing is in a group and I can hardly get the fiddlers to mention the tune before they start much less wait for me to re-tune. I don't end up using different tunings for different tunes otherwise I'd miss half the tune by the time I figured what tune it is, what tuning I used, getting re-tuned, etc. 

Right, Ken.  This is a good opportunity to mention the difference between playing for solo or in a small, intimate setting and playing in a jam or a band where the banjo needs to be able to make quick tune changing -- it's a challenge.  Presently I like to approach a fiddle tune as a challenging work of art for my banjo and it's usually a solo effort, so I can take all the time I want to tune, record multiple takes, and not go anywhere else with it besides BHO.  You, on the other hand, play with skillful, knowledgeable players and possibly for dances.  The fiddlers might not choose just one key for the session, but cause you to quickly adapt to their tune choice.  

I truly appreciate what you've been sharing with clawhammer players so they can access a tune with tab that's readable and playable in multiple situations.  Thank you!

gailg64 - Posted - 05/23/2017:  08:43:43

  banjohangout.org/global/ckedit.../icon.png) center no-repeat #ff0000;cursor:pointer;top:-8px;-webkit-border-radius:2px;border-radius:2px" title="Insert paragraph here">↵

 Among, contemporary SB versions, Tom, Brad, and Alice's is top notch. Brad's brilliant fiddling echoes Ed Haley and with Alice and Tom on guitar and banjo,

there's a driving & traditional sound that echoes 3 piece bands of the  late 20s - early 30s.

quote

:

---

Originally posted by EggerRidgeBoy

 

Today's volunteer is unable to post, so here is a quick emergency back-up tune.

That tune is Catlettsburg, which takes its name from Catlettsburg, Kentucky, a town along the Ohio River in Boyd County, in the far northeastern part of the state right at the West Virginia border.

The tune comes to us from Ed Haley (1885 - 1951), who was born in Logan County, West Virginia, but who spent most of his adult life in Boyd County, in the towns of Ashland and Catlettsburg.  I could find very little about the history of the tune, and nothing that predates Ed's recording.  I assume it is one of his own tunes, named after the town where he was at the time living and raising his family.

 

ED HALEY

Ed Haley is a legendary figure in old-time music. I won't try to summarize his life and career in this post, but you can learn more about him here oldtimemusic.com/FHOFHaley.html, here appalachianhistory.net/2012/12...aley.html, and here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Haley, among other places.

 

CATLETTSBURG

The area that became Catlettsburg was first settled by Alexander Catlett and his family in 1798.  His son opened a post office using the name 'Catlettsburg' in 1810, but the town itself wasn't established until 1849, when the then owner of the former Catlett farm subdivided the land into individual town lots.

Catlettsburg enjoyed a brief economic boom period from about 1890 to 1920, when it was by some measures the largest hard timber market in the world.  It is the county seat of Boyd County.

 

AUDIO & VIDEO

Ed Haley: slippery-hill.com/recording/catlettsburg

Fiddle (with guitar and ukulele): youtube.com/watch?v=1lwn-4TDSLw

Fiddle and guitar: youtube.com/watch?v=4cVBCUaZsdM

 

Two BHO members and TOTW contributors have posted solo banjo versions on YouTube:

Janet Burton: youtube.com/watch?v=Jm3yt0G9-U8

Pat Lyons: youtube.com/watch?v=TaVdIXz39kE

(Janet's version is also in the Hangout jukebox: tinyurl.com/mp3golg)

 

John Hartford, J.P. Fraley, Tom Brad & Alice, and Adam Hurt have all recorded the tune, but I have not found their full versions online.

 

TABLATURE, ETC.

Janet Burton initiated a good discussion of Catlettsburg in the 'Sound Off' section of the Hangout back in 2013: banjohangout.org/archive/269764 (Indeed, if I had known of that thread before I chose this TOTW, I might have gone with a different tune, since I don't know that there is much to add to what was discussed there four years ago.)

There is also a long discussion of the tune on the Fiddlehangout: fiddlehangout.com/archive/33640:

Tablature can be found at Ken Torke's TaterJoe's site: taterjoes.com/banjo/Catlettsberg.pdf ,and standard notation here: home.hiwaay.net/~eabaggot/EdHa...sburg.htm

 

---

Edited by - gailg64 on 05/23/2017 08:58:18

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 07/27/2017:  16:07:08

Okay, this is a very late response - sorry about that.

Thanks to all for your comments and contributions - glad you could take the week off, Janet.  :-)

(Well, that wasn't really worth waiting two months for, but I hated to leave the posts unacknowledged.)