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gentrixuk - Posted - 11/10/2023: 03:54:06
This week’s tune of the week is “Sycamore Tea”, a tune that comes to us from North Carolina. I first heard this tune on Hannah Read and Michael Starkey’s 2022 album “Cross the Rolling Water”. I was fortunate enough to see Hannah and Michael recently. Michael is a very talented banjo picker from Scotland. The earliest recordings of the tune (both of which are available on Bandcamp) are by the Smathers Family (Dutch Cove Old Time String Band) in 1978, and also by The Stuart Brothers on their “Pretty Little Widow” album in 1997.
There are a couple of other recordings of The Stuart Brothers playing this tune online:
• From their “Old Time Tiki Parlour” release (with banjo accompaniment)
• Trevor Stuart on Soundcloud, recorded during the 2016 Eighth of January Old Time Music weekend held by the Fiddle & Pick in Pegram, TN. Trevor Stuart sadly passed away very shortly after this was recorded. RIP.
Millard Stamey
The sleevenotes to the Dutch Cove Old Time String Band album give some history of the origin of the tune:
“The name Millard Stamey probably doesn’t ring a bell with many people. And there’s no reason that it should. But there are a few people in the Dutch Cove who remember this fine old time banjo picker. Stamey is said to have come up with the tune “Sycamore Tea”…Thanks to Aldie (Smathers), who learned it from Millard, the tune was not lost. He taught it to us and we in turn have shared it with others.”
It was suggested to me that I should contact Travis Stuart directly to find out more, so I contacted Travis via Facebook and he kindly sent me some more information. Millard Stamey was a relative of his on his mother’s side of the family. Millard had two brothers who all played banjo and fiddle, and Travis now owns one of the banjos that belonged to them. His recollection is also that Millard came up with this tune in the first place.
Sycamore Tea – the remedy
So what exactly is "Sycamore Tea"? Its a traditional herbal remedy made from the inner bark of the American Sycamore tree. The medicinal uses of Sycamore Tea seem fairly broad:
“The Native Americans and the early European settlers had some medicinal uses for the bark. A tea made from the inner bark was used internally for treating common colds, coughs, tuberculosis, dysentery, measles, and hemorrhaging. This tea was also used as an astringent, a diuretic, an emetic, a purgative, and a blood purifier. The bark was also eaten to treat internal pains or to become fat. The inner bark’s ooze was used externally for treating sores, smallpox pustules, and infant rashes.”
Researching this, I also learned that American Sycamores (Plantanus occidentalis) and European Sycamores (Acer platanoides – known as Sycamore Maple in the US) are entirely different tree species (although you san see the similarity in the shape of the leaves in the attached photos). Both have similar medicinal uses – the bark and leaves have been found to contain compounds that have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.
My version of the tune and tab are shown below. The tune is in regular G tuning and the second part has a crooked measure near the end.
Enjoy!
Edited by - gentrixuk on 11/10/2023 06:20:13
JanetB - Posted - 11/11/2023: 15:43:33
Good choice and something definitely new for me. That makes TOTW a valuable resource.
Your rendition is nice and you get lots of the eighth notes (one of the challenges of this tune). I like your slide, too.
I like the Stuart's version, but used the older one by the Dutch Cove Old Time String Band. At first I tried open G tuning, but decided to change it to guitar tuning (gDGBE) for easy of fingering going up only to the 5th fret. The shorter A part makes it a bit unusual and the B part is crooked, at least in the one I learned from. But it's indeed a fun song -- my husband thought he heard the tune singing "Sycamore, sycamore, sycamore tea" over and over again!
There's a Sycamore Ranch camping site nearby on the Yuba River. The trees are beautifully big and change colors in the fall.
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