OldPappy - Posted - 05/25/2018:  04:30:42

I picked up this tune from Dwight Diller about a year ago. I am still working on it, but it has become one of my favorites.

Dwight has told me it is a very old WV fiddle tune which has long been one of the top two favorites in Central WV, right up there with "Yew Piney Mountain".

The tune has strong kinship with a NC tune called "John Brown's Dream", and a VA tune called "Harvey Brown's Dream", but there is a difference in the rhythm.

Below I have posted three links to well known players.

First is Lester McCumbers, and Kim Johnson - Playing "Jimmy Johnson"  at the October 2006 Old Time Fiddlers' Reunion in Elkins, W.Va. Kim Johnson on banjo. 

Dwight sent me these thoughts on Lester;

"Lester's fiddling was wired directly into the central West Virginia fiddle tradition that goes back to the American Frontier from the late 1700s. It was the Frontier that formed that new fiddle style because the Frontier was a brand new kind of life that basically began around 1750 when a new breed of people left the 'safe' Shenandoah Valley of Virginia  and headed into what is now Pocahontas County, WVa and other lands along the Allegheny Front. As one listens to Lester playing, note the 'edge' to his fiddling. That old WVa fiddle music always carried the underlying danger of violence that was so much a part of daily life."

And also said "Kim Johnson has done more to faithfully support and help carry the old time banjo forward than anyone else in West Virginia." Which is pretty high praise from someone like Dwight Diller in my opinion.

Second is Dwight and Larry Combs playing "Jimmy Johnson" besides the big falls of the Williams river which flows from the "Yew Pine Mountains".

Dwight mentioned "the two main tunes from 1800s in central west virginia was Jimmy Johnson and Yew Piney Mountain."

Third is Tommy Jarrell playing "John Brown's Dream". Listen close to Ray Chattfield on banjo, one of the best in that style.

youtube.com/watch?v=h5NLqdkvGr4

youtube.com/watch?v=FUkO4nv81fk

youtube.com/watch?v=7uSEERtooTE

Last, and clearly least - Below is my poor attempt at the tune. I cannot yet play it as fast as it needs to be, but maybe I can help someone catch the notes. You will notice that Dwight incorporates a slide in his version. The slide is optional, but the "pull offs" are integral to the tune.

photos.google.com/share/AF1Qip...pSzE0MW9n

Edited by - OldPappy on 05/25/2018 04:36:20

BrooksMT - Posted - 05/25/2018:  06:21:20

Thanks Andy, I like your version, and I like your speed.

AndrewD - Posted - 05/25/2018:  06:25:14

Your "poor attempt" is the one I'll study more closely as it clearly shows how to play this tune. Nice job It's very like the version of Little Rabbit that I managed to decipher from the John Burke book many years ago.

carlb - Posted - 05/25/2018:  06:33:04

Jimmy Johnson from the cassette "Hannah at the Springhouse" with Melvin Wine, fiddle, and Ron Mullennex, banjo.

slippery-hill.com/recording/jimmy-johnson

OldPappy - Posted - 05/25/2018:  06:43:35

Thanks for the encouraging words, but I am still working on the tune, and it always takes me a while before I claim to be able to play one.

Carl,

Boy! That fiddler can play. This tune got "ahold" of me, and won't let go.

OldPappy - Posted - 05/25/2018:  07:00:47

I hope someone can post Tab for the tune, I would particularly like to see tab for Diller's version.

Very interested in what others may know of the history of the tune.

janolov - Posted - 05/25/2018:  07:36:53

Here are three different tabs based on Dwight's playing. I downloaded them once from his old site.

Jimmy Johnson_Dwight Diller_3

Jimmy Johnson_Dwight Diller_2

Jimmy Johnsson_Dwight Diller_1

 

OldPappy - Posted - 05/25/2018:  08:31:23

Thanks!

I thought I remembered that tune being with those tabs, but I couldn't find them when I looked.

I'll have to dig out my copy of Diller's tab book, it may be in there too.

JanetB - Posted - 05/25/2018:  10:31:26

A fine choice, Andy, a delightful video of you, and an enormous thank you for posting a tune that has an opportunity to learn from Dwight Diller.  It's rare to have your close contact with Dwight to give us his thoughtful take on the music and its history, and on the value of Kim Johnson in keeping the old music alive.  In his video he describes three titles associated with the tune, and indeed, I found John Brown's Dream to be similar enough to put the two together in a medley.  Here's a link to the past TOTW of that tune:  banjohangout.org/archive/289046.  The reference to Tommy Jarrell was also given in that discussion, as well as by Dwight.

It's exciting that Melvin Wine played this, Carl.  I had forgotten to look there and his recording is fantastic.  They play it like the genuine dance tune I imagine it is.

Thanks for all the tabs, Jan.

This video is of Ralph Roberts fiddling Jimmy Johnson.

Further, I found a recording by Burl Hammons with Maggie Hammons beating straws on the fiddle.  It's fairly notey and I'm not ready to attempt a recording, but will include tab here.  

And going right to the Dwight Diller resource, my MP3 is a take on Jimmy Johnson with John Brown's Dream added on.

Edited by - JanetB on 05/25/2018 10:37:17

Jimmy Johnson/John Brown's Dream medley (TOTW)

Jimmy Johnson (Dwight Diller) CH tab

John Brown's Dream (Hobart Smith) CH tab

Jimmy Johnson (Burl Hammonds) CH tab

OldPappy - Posted - 05/25/2018:  10:59:26

Janet,



Thanks so much for posting the video of Ralph playing the tune. He played it with me a few times the weekend I first started trying to learn it, and was very patient with me trying it out.



Ralph is a real jewel, and hands down one of the nicest people I have ever met.

Ralph plays a few tunes I have never heard anyone else play, so they may be close to the brink of extinction. One, which he plays every time I see him is a tune he calls "Ragged Shirt". My wife has been working that one out on the fiddle, and hopes to play it with Ralph the next time we get up there.

Edited by - OldPappy on 05/25/2018 11:08:11

banjo bill-e - Posted - 05/25/2018:  11:42:21

I really enjoyed this thread and all of the links. Thanks to all.

OldPappy - Posted - 05/25/2018:  11:56:24

Hi Bill,

Glad you enjoyed it, hope there is more to come.

If you don't already play this tune I highly recommend you give it a try. It is just plain fun to play.

In the video of my attempt with it I am playing my Cloverlick banjo which I haven't played in over a year because I have grown accustomed to a shorter scale.

This one has a 25 1/2" scale which is only an inch more than the 24 1/2" I have been playing lately, but even such a small difference impacts me with that reach from 2nd fret to 7th. The little finger of my right hand was crushed a few years ago and is now crooked and stiff, so I was having some difficulty on the Cloverlick.

I sold the last two short scale banjos I had on hand last week, but have another two just about ready to come off the bench.

janolov - Posted - 05/25/2018:  12:05:55

Stillhouse Branch: Buddy Thomas

Johnny Bring the Jug Round the Hill: Kessinger Brothers, Birmingham Entertainers

Red Steer: Dykes Magic City Trio

OldPappy - Posted - 05/25/2018:  12:46:49

quote:

---

Originally posted by AndrewD

Your "poor attempt" is the one I'll study more closely as it clearly shows how to play this tune. Nice job It's very like the version of Little Rabbit that I managed to decipher from the John Burke book many years ago.

---

Andrew,

If you read through the article on Fiddler's Companion that Janolov mentioned in his post you will see that "Little Rabbit" is mentioned, which may explain the similarity. 

I would be very interested in hearing your version of "Little Rabbit" if it is possible for you to post a recording of it.

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 05/25/2018:  13:05:32

Great tune choice, Andy. Nicely played.

I posted an article on Dwight Diller's repertoire on the BHO Article site:

banjohangout.org/articles/deta...ue&aid=47

In it, I do mention tunes from the Hammonses that worked their way into Dwight's repertoire.

Here's the relevant paragraph:

The manner in which the Hammons looked at their stock of tunes, and how they deployed them in informal sessions, is itself interesting.

Between 18 December 1971 and 29 July 1973, Wayne Howard visited Sherman and Burl and Lee Hammons in their homes - sometimes Wayne would visit one Hammons home with one or two other Hammons in trail - and taped their music on eight occasions.

During these eight sessions, he seems to have captured approximately 141 tunes - a poetic gross of tunes.

About 45 of these 141 tunes were played once across each of these eight taping sessions.

Approximately 17 of these tunes were played twice, and 10 tunes were played three, four or five times across these eight sessions.

"Sourwood Mountain" was played five times. "Sally Goodin" was played four times.

"Piney Woods," "Jimmy Johnson," and "Liza Jane" got played three times during the course of these eight sessions.

"Cripple Creek" was played eight times, though on four occasions the tune was given a slightly different name by one of the Hammons; in the end, though, they were playing "Cripple Creek."




So, the tune was one the Hammonses reached for with some frequency.

(Think of this as the New Clawhammer Math . . .)

Play hard,

Lew

JanetB - Posted - 05/25/2018:  13:19:18

Here’s Crockett’s Kentucky Mountaineers Little Rabbit, as linked to Slippery Hill in Jan’s post and as tabbed in John Burke’s clawhammer book. It actually has five parts in the book. The first three resemble Jimmy Johnson and are the only ones you hear in the 1931 recording. slippery-hill.com/recording/little-rabbit

Edited by - JanetB on 05/25/2018 13:22:36

OldPappy - Posted - 05/25/2018:  14:06:41

What is interesting to me is how these tunes have survived all the way down to our generation. It is almost as if they have a life of their own, and seek out a way to carry themslves forward.



The case of the Hammons family is a good example of how important it is to capture tunes from the older folks, and make sure they don't die when they do.



Just about everyone in the world who is interested in Old Time music today knows who the Hammons are, yet they and their music would have escaped unnoticed had it not been for the efforts of Dwight Diller, and Wayne Howard. In fact, in an article in the Golden Seal magazine Wayne mentioned it was Dwight who introduced him to the Hammons, so in my opinion, the lion's share of credit rightly goes to Dwight.



Ralph Roberts was mentioned above. He is one of the last living links to the Hammons family, he grew up with them, and carries a lot of the tradition. I always try to visit with Ralph and Charlie whenever I am in WV, mostly because I deeply value their friendship, but also because I want to learn whatever they can teach me. I love to listen to the stories old folks can tell, and always listen close whenever I get the chance to hear one. A couple of years ago a young man from Japan sought out Ralph at the Clifftop festival, and spent most of the week trying to learn from him. This young man was said to have written his thesis on the music of the Hammons, and it is incredible to me that this music from central WV has reached all the way around the world, and in just a few decades. I believe I saw the same young man at the Old Time Fiddlers Reunion in Elkins that same year.

It is notable that the efforts of only a couple of people have reached such a broad audience, and that means anyone today who seeks out the rare tunes, learns them, and passes them on are part of the life of this music.

 

The music lives on!

Edited by - OldPappy on 05/25/2018 14:13:10

RG - Posted - 05/26/2018:  12:19:27

Great tune, great playing and great thread all the way around!

OldPappy - Posted - 05/29/2018:  06:57:23

Thanks for the kind words RG, posting this TOTW has been a lot of fun for me, as well as learning more about the tune.

Janet mentioned Burl Hammons and Maggie playing the tune, with Maggie playing the "straws". This is a form of playing almost never seen nowadays, but is certainly delightful. In this part of Tennessee this was called playing the "Fiddle Sticks".

The video of them playing this is included in the "Accross The Yew Pines" DVD series Dwight Diller produced a few years ago, though I don't remember which of the four "chapters" it is in. If you haven't watched this series I highly recommend it to any student of this music, The entire series is available to view from his website, and also important are the stories which the late Gail Hatton wonderfully transcribed in the dialect of the story tellers. Gail was a peach.

dwightdiller.com/across-yew-pi...hapter-1/

 .

mworden - Posted - 05/29/2018:  10:57:41

Chance McCoy does a rippin' version on his Debut CD that has a few lyrics too. If I'm not mistaken, Adam Hurt is on the banjo: youtu.be/AfGLrTKnwgs

OldPappy - Posted - 05/29/2018:  12:02:01

That certainly is a "rippin" version!

Very good listening, and it went into another of my favorite tunes too "Gospel Plow".

Chadbanjo - Posted - 05/29/2018:  12:15:03

Great tune and pickn all around.

First time i heard this tune was a Tommy Jarrell recording. He plays the tune several times without saying a word. I had the speakers loud them he screams John Brown dream....scared the s*** out of me.

Never forget it. Had to learn it. Really fun tune to play and lots of places to use every banjo pickn technique.

BrendanD - Posted - 05/30/2018:  04:02:05

quote:

---

Originally posted by OldPappy

Thanks for the kind words RG, posting this TOTW has been a lot of fun for me, as well as learning more about the tune.

Janet mentioned Burl Hammons and Maggie playing the tune, with Maggie playing the "straws". This is a form of playing almost never seen nowadays, but is certainly delightful. In this part of Tennessee this was called playing the "Fiddle Sticks".

---

Here's a recording of Burl fiddling "Jimmy Johnson" with his sister Maggie playing fiddlesticks. My friend Dan O'Connell recorded this at Burl and Maggie's house near Marlinton, WV in August, 1980, during a visit by Dan, Nancy Dols (now Nancy Neithammer), and myself. At the end of the tune, we discuss the sticks she was using, which were made of cane, and made by their distant cousin Lee Hammons, who I never got to meet. I wish I could relive those days!

Jimmy Johnson

OldPappy - Posted - 05/30/2018:  05:44:02

Brendan,

Thanks for posting the recording. I could not open it due to firewall restrictions, so I am not sure if it is a video or a sound recording. Either way it is something really important for folks to listen to, and watch. Not likely to see this often nowadays.

OldPappy - Posted - 05/30/2018:  05:57:47

In the "Across The Yew Pines" DVD series I mentioned above, the fourth chapter begins with a film of Dwight Diller as a college student visiting Lee Hammons, who is working on making tuning pegs for the dulcimers he used to make. It is as close to a visit with Lee any of us can get today.

OldPappy - Posted - 05/30/2018:  11:06:53

Just watched chapter 4 of the series, and that is also the one with the film of Burl and Maggie playing "Jimmy Johnson".

ZD - Posted - 05/30/2018:  13:01:30

Nice tune Andy and thanks for all of the info and history.  Below is a nice banjo/fiddle combo with Ben Townsend and Chance McCoy.

youtube.com/watch?v=ZpZhOQ3B_bs

OldPappy - Posted - 05/30/2018:  13:19:23

That young man is going somewhere with that fiddle!

BrendanD - Posted - 05/31/2018:  00:51:41

quote:

---

Originally posted by OldPappy

Brendan,



Thanks for posting the recording. I could not open it due to firewall restrictions, so I am not sure if it is a video or a sound recording. Either way it is something really important for folks to listen to, and watch. Not likely to see this often nowadays.

---

It's an audio recording, and I'm not sure why you can't open it, as it seems that others can hear it. But you've watched doing the same tune on video, so you're probably not missing much.

BrendanD - Posted - 05/31/2018:  00:54:51

quote:

---

Originally posted by BrendanD

quote:

---

Originally posted by OldPappy

Brendan,



Thanks for posting the recording. I could not open it due to firewall restrictions, so I am not sure if it is a video or a sound recording. Either way it is something really important for folks to listen to, and watch. Not likely to see this often nowadays.

---

It's an audio recording, and I'm not sure why you can't open it, as it seems that others can hear it. But you've watched Burl and Maggie doing the same tune on video, so you're probably not missing much.

---

OldPappy - Posted - 05/31/2018:  05:13:13

Brendan,

Yes, I have watched the video many times. It is still very cool you got the chance to visit with them.

The week is coming to an end, and a new TOTW will be coming tomorrow I assume.

To show my appreciation to all who have contributed by posting to this thread I will send a surprise CD or DVD to the first 3 participants to send me a PM with a mailing address. The only requirement being you have posted a reply already, doesn't matter what you posted.

OldPappy - Posted - 06/01/2018:  14:03:41

I will send out the surprise CD/DVDs to those who sent a PM this weekend. Thanks to all of you who contributed to this thread, it was very interesting, and a lot of fun for me, and kudos to Janet for keeping this ball rolling.