I first heard JRTS on Adam Hurt's album "Earth Tones". He plays a stylized version in a medley with another "John" tune, "Brushy Fork of John's Creek". All of the tunes on this CD are played solo on gourd banjo.
This is an Art Stamper tune. His version can be heard on Slippery Hill or on YouTube.
Art was a Kentucky Fiddler who had a long career, playing with the likes of the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers, and J.D. Crowe. He died in 2004 at the age of 71. His obituary chronicles his life and can be found here.
Erynn Marshall was able to spend some time with him before he died. She has posted a video of her visit with the Stamper family She plays a version in his style along with Carl Jones on their album, "Old Tin". She has also posted a nice Instructional Video.
There are too many great versions of our members playing their versions for me to list. I'll leave it to the reader to look them up.
The tune is played in an A modal key. Ken Torke has been kind enough to publish banjo TABS on Tater Joe's site. There are actually two TABS, one in Open A tuning and the other in A modal.
I recently learned the tune using Art's and Erynn's recordings as sources. I'm actually playing out of an open G tuning, but I think I'm hitting most of the notes they play. A link to the tune and the TAB can be found below.
Edited by - banjukebox on 09/13/2024 07:49:07
Nice tune, nice playing. Reminds me of "Hunting The Buffalo." Thanks! banjered
Thank you for a valuable addition to our Tune of the Week choices, including your video and tab, Pat. I like your pace, as compared to Art Stamper's rushing through the piece. Also, anything off of the "Earth Tones" CD is a classic tune to work on IMO.
A while back I arranged John Riley the Shepherd from Stamper's fiddle version. I played slower like you, but then added a bluegrass piece, Southern Flavor to make a medley, and quickened the pace, slowing down once again to finish with John Riley. For any one reading in this forum to ponder clawhammer and old-time styles, my pace and medley choices had to do with the similar beginning notes and a similar minor chordal flavor. The change of pace was an arbitrary, artistic decision to allow contrast.
As always, thanks for your input, Janet. I usually play more slowly when I'm recording so that people watching can see all the notes being played. I like the way you matched JRTS and "Southern Flavor".
I have a question for you, though. I have no training and minimal knowledge about music theory. Most of the research I did showed that this tune is played in the key of A minor, but I am playing in the key of "G" and never use the Am chord. I've talked to some of our local fiddlers and they say they're playing in G as well. I can play along with Art Stamper's and Erynn Marshall's recordings without changing any notes. I'm wondering if anyone can explain the difference.
JanetB As always, thanks for your input, Janet. I usually play more slowly when I'm recording so that people watching can see all the notes being played. I like the way you matched JRTS and "Southern Flavor".
I have a question for you, though. I have no training and minimal knowledge about music theory. Most of the research I did showed that this tune is played in the key of A minor, but I am playing in the key of "G" and never use the Am chord. I've talked to some of our local fiddlers and they say they're playing in G as well. I can play along with Art Stamper's and Erynn Marshall's recordings without changing any notes. I'm wondering if anyone can explain the difference.
Responding to your question about playing in G, the tuning is in G, but the tune is in Em. The first note is an E and it's an essential note, the "tonic" (from a Britannica on-line source: "tonic, in music, the first note (degree) of any diatonic (e.g., major or minor) scale. It is the most important degree of the scale, serving as the focus for both melody and harmony.") That tells me it's not in the key of G, though we use that banjo tuning. When I watch the link with Erynn Marshall and Carl Jones' beautiful playing, I see he is playing in Em, which is what I also got playing along with Art Stamper.
Here's a tab with chords inserted above the tabbed note, from my own listening before watching Carl, so please don't use my tab for playing exactly like him. In the mp3 I'm playing cello banjo chordal accompaniment the first time through on John Riley the Shepherd. (I wanted the lower notes like a guitar might get.)
Art and I played and recorded together for 40 years. He would often play a tune called "I Wonder Where John Riley's Gone, He's Gone to Steal a Sheep". He only played one part. I asked him about it and he said he couldn't remember the second part. He recorded it on the "Goodbye Girls I'm Going to Boston" album as "John Riley the Shepherd". I asked him if he had remembered the second part and he said "No, I made it up".
Thanks for the input. It's nice to know a little more about the history. I think I'll start using that longer title when I reference the tune.
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