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RG - Posted - 03/08/2024: 10:42:14
When I first heard the John Cohen recorded LP "High Atmosphere" in 1975, I immediately wore out the album playing it over and over at half speed trying to figure out the tunes. It's such a great collection of songs, tunes and ballads, but one song that was my instant favorite was the playing of "Cumberland Gap" by George Landers. The tune was like hieroglyphics to me, having just started playing banjo 3 years prior, and to be honest, I don't think I've ever deciphered it, or heard anyone else decipher it... his playing was so intensely dense and complex, the perfect compliment to his voice. The only video I know that exists of him playing is on the film "End of An Old Song", and if I had been able to see that all those decades ago, it would have been a lot easier to attempt to figure out what he was doing. That lack of visual documentation of the old-time old-timers was what led David Bragger and myself to start up Tiki Parlour recordings about ten years or so ago.
Lander's sings to the tune (I don't, and you should be grateful for that), and he repeats the old "Lay down boys and take a little nap, you'll catch hell in the Cumberland Gap" line, but precedes that with a nonsensical verse, the first part of which is somewhat indecipherable, but sounds like "Looked at the kitten and the kitten meowed", followed clearly by the line "one was a bull and the other was a sow." Make of that what you will as to the meaning, but Lander's chuckles after singing the verse.
George Landers played in the classic NC 2 finger up-picking "still hand" style, and his use of down and up brush strokes to imitate the sound of drop thumb took me a long time to figure out. There's not a lot known about George Landers, except what Mike Seeger and John Cohen (who both recorded him) wrote, and he has remained somewhat of an old-time enigma over all these years... which seems fitting to me given the nature of his playing.
There's another thread for a TOTW done by Chuck Levy a while ago, I suggest you check it out, and he gives a good history of the geographical landmark, so I won't bore you all and repeat it here.
Here's my version of Lander's Cumberland Gap that I worked out so many years ago. I've lost the speed of the tune over time, but it's still fun to dust it off every now and then and play it. it's in fCFCD and I hope you all enjoy it.
Edited by - RG on 03/24/2024 13:24:24
