Some years ago I stumbled a video of Erynn Marshall in the fiddle finals at Clifftop. “I’m going to play French Carpenter’s ‘Old Christmas Morning’” she says, and the way she wraps her voice around the title, it’s clear the tune means a lot to her.
I was mesmerized by her playing and I worked on the tune for months (on fiddle). Then, as happens, I set it aside. I was reminded of it recently and I decided it might make a good TOTW for December even though “Old Christmas” is in early January. Lots of time to practice up! :)
The Traditional Tune Archive entry for Old Christmas Morning mentions Hammons tunes by the same name but this post focuses on the Carpenter version--a breakdown from West Virginia played in A (cross-tuned on fiddle).
Fiddle versions abound but I haven’t come across the tune played as a banjo solo--yet. There’s got to be some examples out there, though.
Let’s start with French Carpenter’s recording, available for listening on Slippery Hill.
... and Wilson Douglas, Kim Johnson, and James Summers. I wish this video clip were longer but the tune does appear on Wilson Douglas’ The Right Hand Fork of Rush’s Creek (which, by the way, is a wonderful album).
And, finally, let’s wrap it up with one of my favorites--Clive Williams on Melodeon.
Preparing this post, I realized I didn’t know anything about French Carpenter, so I did a bit of digging and we can learn a lot about him just from his death certificate.
Poking around Ancestry.com, I found a tree that links a 1918 passenger list to him. Based on the name, age, and birth place listed, I think it is a match, and I’m sure there’s a story to tell. The young French Carpenter seems to have served as a “seaman” during World War I and it appears that he sailed from London to Boston on his way to “Great Lakes” (likely the Naval Center there) after being on a British ship that was wrecked. If anyone knows more about that, I’d love to hear. A note on the passenger list appears to read “Returned by Br Consul on D.B.S. [formr?] Am citizen wrecked on British boat.” (“Massachusetts, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963,” database with images, Ancestry.com (search.ancestry.com/search/db....dbid=8745 : accessed 30 November 2017), entry for French Carpenter, S. S. Parisian, London to Boston, arrived 28 May 1918.)
When I first started noodling “Old Christmas Morning” on the banjo, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it work, but it’s gradually started to come together and it’s really fun to play. I like it fast with groove--like French Carpenter played it--but I also like it pensive and mellow, and I suspect it would also work anywhere in between.
It’s just an all-around great tune!
Here is a bit of tab for the basic melody in modal tuning. If a stem has a flag on it, it means I add the thumb.
And here's where I'm at with it. I'm still working to play a basic version cleanly so it isn't exemplary, but once I'm able to relax into it, I think it will move away from the fiddle version into more of a syncopated banjo version and I think that might be cool. :)
Oh man, you totally have me on this one, Cyndy. I love French Carpenter, Erynn Marshall (she'll be in Portland for the Gathering this January), Dan Gellert, Aki Uchida (I played tunes with him until dawn one night at Fiddle Tunes this year :-), Wilson Douglas, you :-). And I love this tune, but I haven't learned it yet. I've followed it on banjo from time to time in jams. I think your post will motivate me to take the time to really learn it this year. Thanks!
Wow! I tried to learn this song last year around Christmas time, but could never get the hang of it. I guess it was a little too much on the modal spectrum. I'm trying to learn more modal tunes now, so I guess I'll have to go back and revisit. I was using David Bragger's ( youtube.com/v/63oKr50vbh0 ) version which, to me, was a little easier to follow. Thanks for posting!
I'm glad to see this tune, um, strikes a chord! It would be fun to hear a variety of banjo interpretations and I think there's an opening for someone to post a definitive clawhammer version on YouTube. :)
I've always struggled with what I call "the fun part"--the odd little piece that connects the A and B. It seems like there are a lot of ways to play it but earlier this week during my lesson David (Bragger) helped me count out what French Carpenter is doing and I'm finally beginning to hear/feel it.
You know, I think there are tunes that are definitely "banjo" tunes and also tunes that are definitely "fiddle" tunes. In my mind this is a fiddle tune.
You know, I think there are tunes that are definitely "banjo" tunes and also tunes that are definitely "fiddle" tunes. In my mind this is a fiddle tune.
It strikes me as a fiddle tune, too. It's beautiful when it's played with a loose tempo with long drawn-out notes--something that doesn't really fit clawhammer banjo.
But there seems to be a groove, too, though, if I let it happen, especially in the B part, and it seems like it could fit the banjo if it's taken in that direction.
I'm not there yet--as you will see from the video that I will add in a few minutes--but it's been a fun experiment.
Great, great tune Cyndy, and really nice version you play! I love the way Dan and David play it, and like I'm sure you do, this is one I love to play on the ole devil's box...
There's some great stuff about French (and the rest of the Carpenters) in Gerry Milnes great book "Play of a Fiddle", and I believe French Carpenter was in the US Army...Wilson Douglas recalls that he was a bugler, and I have a photo of him in uniform and it is most definitely an Army uniform...the photo is really small unfortunately, but it's definitely not Navy...a little more mystery perhaps...
I too love @Erynn Marshall since I heard her along with Arnie Naiman and Chris Coole in concert at Berea College years ago. I too was taken by "Old Christmas Morning" played by Erynn on the Haints' CD, "Shout Monah," and knew I had to learn the tune on banjo. It was a lengthy process, but I did create a couple of tab efforts. I have attached the "final" version. The tab is in open G tuning and the A Part is close to what you play, Cyndy. Erynn plays this in A, and it looks to me that the other versions are in G.
It is the time of year to dust off this fine old tune and share it with others.
A perfect choice to begin December, Cyndy. I know I'll love your version. My tab is similar to David's, but different enough to make for some choices when others want to learn with the help of tablature.
French Carpenter (1905 - 1965) is such a valuable and historic resource that I used his recording on Slippery Hill to tackle the tune. It seems to start the recording late and was a bit hard to isolate where I should begin, but ended up at the 25 second mark and ended at the 46th. It's not crooked in the sense of having a partial measure, though it sounds like it could be, and seemed to be when others played it. It's the 7th measure in my tab where the note is held a half measure in the other recordings, but French holds it a full measure each time he plays, so I did, too.
I also listened to (and tabbed) Christian Wig's version, a modal one based on the Hammons family, but we can save that for another TOTW.
I'm grateful for your tune choices, Cyndy. They're always make for an exciting learning journey.
I've enjoyed reading the responses. Thanks for all of them!
RG, the photo of Mr. Carpenter in an army uniform is a nice clue. One of these days, I'll follow up and see if I can find out anything about his time in the military.
And David and Janet, I'm looking forward to trying your tab.
Janet, your mention of the Slippery Hill recording starting late is interesting. I hadn't thought of it in that way. At first, it just seemed like the beginning was muddy but yesterday I realized that it might just be a two-measure "introduction" that dances between a G and A before he jumps into the regular tune. I hear | g e a- a- | g e a- a- |
Just listened to your recording, by the way, and it brings to mind something I was thinking about last night. The sound of my banjo in the video recording from early yesterday is kind of "open" and "undefined" but at night, when I stuffed part of the quilt I was sitting under into the back of it and put my phone behind the pot, I got what seems to my ear to be a beautiful focused ring.
It seems like deciding on what tone to pursue for this tune is an important part of deciding how to play it and I like what you've done.
I discovered the original recording of French Carpenter playing Old Christmas Morning is on the compilation called Elzic's Farewell. He prefaces the tune with some talk about his great-grandfather coming to this country and the family musical gatherings that passed on the music to him. He also speaks of the meaning of the term, Old Christmas Morning, which was after New Years. (We know it's on January 6 and was caused, as I read, by the English adopting a different calendar in 1752 which eliminated 12 days in December.) Then the recording begins which is the same as the one on Slippery Hill. You're right -- he does a short musical intro before beginning the essence of the tune.
I agree with you about tone -- it's so much a part of our world and getting it just so on the banjo is an enormous topic.
Thanks, RG! Here's where I read the birth dates for French Carpenter: wvencyclopedia.org/articles/981 In a description of French by Wilson Douglas it says he was a bugler in the world war, not stating which one. He would have been less than 40 in WWII if he was born in 1905, an older bugler, but probably an excellent one. Wilson spent a lot of time with him after 1958 until he died in 1965. He quoted French's advice to him: "He'd say, 'Now, Wilson, don't you try to copy me. For you can't. That's ruined a many good fiddler. If you happen to be something like me, fine. Play yourself.'" I have a great book called Mountains of Music, West Virginia Traditional Music from Goldenseal, Edited by John Lilly. This week's TOTW will send me back to read some of it again.
Mr. Carpenter's birth date is the subject of some conjecture it would appear, but his WWI draft registration lists his birth date as 1899 as does the 1900 census and social security death index en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Carpenter ...if he was born in 1905 he would have been too young for service in WWI in 1917 (12 is pretty young, although my dad did go into the Navy at 16 in WWII lying about his age), pretty sure it would be 1899 or thereabouts, not sure where the 1905 came from, but one thing is for certain, he was an AMAZING fiddler and your rendition was great!!!
I haven't done a reasonably exhaustive search, but it appears to me that Mr. Carpenter was most likely born on 7 January 1899.
This is the date in a birth register that records information provided by his mother, likely soon after his birth. The same date also seems to appear on a draft registration card (I haven't seen the original, just an index entry) and on his death certificate, suggesting it's the one he used throughout his life.
The 1900 census has conflicting information, showing him to be 11/12 years old, born June 1899, but no matter. This is strong evidence that he was not born in 1905. The discrepancy could be the result of the enumerator being given erroneous information or mishearing correct information or copying notes incorrectly.
The birth register entry with direct, primary information about the birth would carry more weight than the census with information provided by an unknown informant.
One more piece of info: you mentioned "Great Lakes" in your first post. Glakes was then and still is one of the largest training centers for the US Navy. It's home to boot camp and several other rating training schools. Not sure why an army guy would be headed there.
Cyndy Thanks for your thoughtful and (dare I say) scholarly write-up. I will put this in my list of tunes for stretching. Perhaps learning a tune for Old Christmas will bring me to an Epiphany.
Such a haunting tune. Great pick. Janet, I love the way you were able to adapt it for banjo; really nice. Here is another video of Erynn Marshall playing it on fiddle that I like even better than her Clifftop performance; a little more relaxed. youtu.be/itspHF9KHK8
Mike, I agree with you. The video you link to is a nicer version and I'm glad you added it. Thanks! (I just chose the Clifftop video for her tune introduction.)
And, Don. I see that I haven't answered your question. I like to play it out of modal tuning and I've used G, G#, and A. I also tried taking it lower but I like the ring that I get when the strings are tighter.
