To my surprise, this tune has never been a TOTW, though it has been discussed off and on (usually a bluegrass version) in various threads most recently in one by Laurence Diehl (https://www.banjohangout.org/topic/398578).There's a good discussion there about the Backstep's origins, so I won't delve into that particularly.
I thought CMB deserved a place here because it's arguably the most old-timey of bluegrass instrumentals and widely played by old-time musicians. I learned the tune back when I was trying to play bluegrass, and soon noticed how well it works in clawhammer. It's modal quality also lends it to being played in sawmill tuning, standard G, and G-minor, each of which gives it a different sound without changing the tune itself. As I'v said elsewhere, I take CMB to be Ralph Stanley's take on the tune "Lonesome John." That said, here are several links to various versios. You can find more by entering "Clinch Mountain Backstep--clawhammer" in the YouTube search box. I think you have to start with Ralph Stanley's classic first recording on Kiing 615, which remains the definitive version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JJiAZkO8TY
Roots of the tune: "Lonesome John," with John Herrmann on banjo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ovPa8lW9vs
Some clawhammer versions of CMB:
Bob Carlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSiHq_CeDn4
Josh "Brainjo" Turknett: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec3nbw7V_PM&t=44s
Mark "Clawgrass" Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8YpuBEFfyY
Played on a Boucher banjo copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SISuf8-D0-A&list=RDSISuf8-D0-A&start_radio=1
My own version: https://www.banjohangout.org/myhangout/media-player/audio_player2.asp?musicid=18105&archived=
I hope that's a representative selection. As noted, there are more on YouTube. I don''t know of another nominally bluegrass instrumental that has spawned so many clawhammer versions, which speaks to Stanley's sense of the music he played, which the brothers never referred to as "bluegrass."
Edited by - Bill Rogers on 09/20/2024 21:08:13
I think Clinch Mountain Backstep was presented as a TOTW with its original name "Young Edward": https://www.banjohangout.org/archive/352781 . Young Edward was a Hiram Stamper tune. Hiram taught it to his son Art who in turn taught it to Ralph Stanley when he played in the Clinch Mountain Boys.
Lonesome John seems to be the same tune but of other origin. The first recording was by John Salyer 1941: slippery-hill.com/recording/lonesome-john
Salyer was born in 1882, and Hiram Stamper in 1893 and both were from Kentucky. So a question is: if it is the same tune, who was first? Or is there another earlier version by an earlier fiddler/musician?
I noted in the Laurence Diehl Backstep thread cited above that I think Stamper’s “Young Edward” is descended from the old English ballad of the same name. In any event, here’s a link to Stamper’s tune, which certainly sounds like a CMB antecedent.
So many interesting versions to hear. Thanks for this great coverage of Ralph Stanley's classic 3-finger picked Clinch Mountain Backstop. I listened to his today and did a clawhammer version. The other MP3 is an older 3-finger style I did a while back.
This was one of my favorite songs early in my clawhammer career. It was perhaps the first tune I learned that, to my ear, sounded authentically "banjo-y". But, I must confess, when I play it now I seem inevitably to lapse into "Sandy Boys" because the A parts are so similar.
A most enjoyable thread, good job Bill.
Always loved playing this tune. Thanks for posting it :-)
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