brokenstrings - Posted - 04/07/2007:  22:11:36

Does anybody know the background to this tune? I found myself playing along on it (on guitar, not banjo) at a picnic in Swannanoa. Had previously noticed the odd title in BNL.

Jessy

Frailaway, ladies, frailaway!

vrteach - Posted - 04/07/2007:  22:20:32

Here is the info from Fiddlers Companion.



NAIL THAT CATFISH TO A TREE. Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. Standard. AABB’ (Songer). A modern composition by Volo Bogtrotters member Steve Rosen who wrote the tune on a fishing vacation to Florida. It seems he recieved advice from an old black man on how to clean catfish, notoriously difficult because of their tough skin -- ‘nail its head to a tree and pull the skin off with pliers’. The tune has become quite popular among old-time fiddlers, especially in the Mid-West. Interestingly, in the southern tip of Indiana, pan-fried catfish are known as ‘fiddlers’. Songer (Caledonian Companion), 1997; pg. 146. The Volo Bogtrotters - “The Volo Bogtrotters”

Search for Steve Rosen and you'll find his site. He sometimes has "nail that catfish to a tree" t-shirts.




Erich
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http://vrteach.freepgs.com/banjo/

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 04/07/2007:  22:20:34

The title isn't all that weird if you go to a catfish fry. The usual method of skinning the fish involves impaling it on a spike in a tree or other solid object.


The Whiskey Before Breakfast variations and a few tunes in "F" tuning are now available on the web at:
http://home.thegrid.net/~fjbrad/id20.html

vrteach - Posted - 04/07/2007:  22:26:15

Also, I recently saw a locally produced documentary on the Sangamon River, which flows through Central Illinois. There was a portion which covered a group of men who fish for flathead catfish by feeling around along the banks and under logs. In my opinion, flathead catfish are in the running for ugliest fish, right behind eelpouts. And this pretty well cured me of wanting to go in the river, which flows just north of my house.

Anyway, when they catch a particularly big one, they nail the head to a tree outside of their river-side cabin. There may have been a dozen big ugly fishheads on that tree (a cottonwood it looked like).

Actually, I just started to work on this tune myself--hence the ready info.


Erich
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http://vrteach.freepgs.com/banjo/

Edited by - vrteach on 04/07/2007 22:32:41

sugarinthegourd - Posted - 04/08/2007:  00:06:29

I just bought this book a couple days ago but haven't read it yet -- it's supposed to be very good.

Noodling for Flatheads: Moonshine, Monster Catfish, and Other Southern Comforts

http://amazon.com/gp/product/068485...esselofboocd

European gypsies are also well-known for "trout tickling" (don't get any funny ideas) -- a method of catching fish by lying on the bank with your hands in the weeds, fingers sticking up. When a fish swims by you tickle its belly with your fingers and then scoop it up. I think patience and hunger are prerequisites.

http://sugarinthegourd.com
http://www.myspace.com/sugarinthegourd

brokenstrings - Posted - 04/08/2007:  01:58:51

Thanks, folks!

Jessy

Frailaway, ladies, frailaway!

Kole - Posted - 04/08/2007:  11:45:15

Whats the differernce between a lawyer and a catfish??

Ones a scum-sucking bottom feeder.
The others a fish.

Flesher Tarantella
Cedar Mountain Banjos