It’s disappointing to see how this conversation seeks to divide folks into two groups just like most other conversations on the interweb.
never missed it had my first banjo when i was 15 John5 who now plays with motley crew watched hee haw I lived on a working farm learned to drive a tractor when I couldnt reach the clutch all the food came out of the garden
More old TV bluegrass
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Edited by - chuckv97 on 10/12/2024 14:46:40
Is there a grain of truth in every joke?
quote:
Originally posted by Brian MurphyFor many of us, our actual childhood introduction to the banjo was Roy Clark, Stringbean, Grandpa Jones, Ronnie Stoneman, Bobby Thompson, and others on Hee Haw. It seemed like they had more banjos than guitars. Yes, we had the intro to Beverly Hillbillies, but not a lot of kids think about the instrumentation of a song they hear.
Later I got into bluegrass, but as a kid I remember seeing and hearing the banjo on Hee Haw because my dad watched it every week (and back then, the family watched what the dad watched on your only TV). When players talk about what got them into the music though, you never hear anyone say, "I heard the banjo on Hee Haw and . . . ." Am I alone on this?
I would watch re-runs on RFD with my grandparents Sunday evenings after supper, and that started me on my banjo journey as I liked the sound of it and wanted to learn. As for the comedy, if you can't laugh at yourself, or even your own culture you come from (many a summer I spent with my grandparents on their farm)...I don't know what else to tell you, only, "well then don't do that!"
I would take that type of light-hearted, corny humor over the sitcoms of today, or late night talk show hosts who think they're funny. And yes, some of my favorite TV shows, like The Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith, Green Acres, etc, were made when there were morals and values. Some of my favorite episodes of AG featured the Dillards and Ernest T.
it was a saturday nite ritual at my house,,, had to watch hee haw, i enjoyed any skit that had misty rowe in it ,,,,, va va voom !!!!!!
but my parents loved it,,, and it was funny,,, never looked at it like a show making fun of southerners..... just southern fun
Edited by - 1935tb-11 on 10/14/2024 08:02:42
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Originally posted by Brian MurphyRemember, this was the era of the Polish/Italian jokebooks....
Too funny. I once had a paperback book with the title Official Book of Polish Jokes. Turn the book over and the other side had a cover with the title Official Book of Italian Jokes.
Regarding Hee Haw, I remember it being one of those shows I would watch on a dreary Sunday afternoon when the weather was inclement enough to not want to go outside. I watched it because of the humour. Still love the Gloom Despair and Agony on Me song and the Oh, That's Bad...No, That's Good skits.
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Originally posted by OwenIs there a grain of truth in every joke?
It was teached to me in Hi School:
"Times change, fashions change, but basic human nature remains the same"
Therefore, I would dare to say that there must be SOMETHING in every joke which speaks to basic human nature, or it wouldn't BE a joke.
Even the ethnic jokes, and the religion jokes, which are based on the basic human idea that
"OUR tribe is better than THAT tribe!"
As for basic human nature not changing:
"West Side Story" was a modern reworking of "Romeo & Juliet"
"Forbidden Planet" was a retelling of "The Tempest"
"The Magnificent Seven" was a retelling of "Seven Samurai"
"BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS" was a retelling of "The Magnificent Seven".
Ever notice the basic similarities between "BATMAN" and "ZORRO"?
Rich Kid by day, Fighter for Justice by night, etc.
Yer honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my face.
Edited by - mike gregory on 10/17/2024 09:37:11
quote:
Originally posted by Buddurquote:
Originally posted by Brian MurphyRemember, this was the era of the Polish/Italian jokebooks....Too funny. I once had a paperback book with the title Official Book of Polish Jokes. Turn the book over and the other side had a cover with the title Official Book of Italian Jokes.
I think every dad in America had that book in the '70s.
I always thought Archie Campbell's skits where he twisted the language were brilliant, that stuff ain't easy and he did it so well ... great stuff ... for example (and lots of 'em)
youtu.be/D0tz98kt-f0
With all respect, I don't buy the original premise of this topic, It's a guess, anecdotal & kind of speculative. i watched this show in Pennsylvania, & didn't especially like country music, but I tuned in to see some virtuosic playing, on some top notch instruments. I developed a deeper appreciation of how good this music could be, at its best. I was given a banjo is 1959 & by the time Hee Haw came on in 1969, I was ready to absorb all the great players. I wouldn't doubt that many musicians watched this excellent musical showcase, & I don't think they were watching because of the Humor, (It was never funny!).
My view about Hee Haw is that it tended to have traces of Hillbilly minstrelsy and seemed to focus on negative unreal stereotypes for white Southern people or hillbillies. It tended to perpetuate stereotypes.
The Beverly Hillbillies was much worse in that regard. My sense of that is that Earl Scruggs was at first reticent to participate in that. There is an interview beween Earl and Terri Gross of NPR's Fresh Air where she asks him about that, that is still online if you search for it, He really had to get Louise in the room to defend it. On the other hand hearing just the snippets of music he and lester did on that show and Petticoat junction still rings in my ear and warms my heart. He was so damned good even doing something relatively minor. What Earl Scruggs has given to us all should inspire us all to give back to the world!!!!!! Not just in music!
Hee Haw mainly feature Jones and String Bean, who were more comedians more than banjoists. Still much of my journey to be sitting in thisroom with banjos in it now worth more than any car I have owned and with 6 banjo workshops and presentations to give in the next few weeks came from when a friend of mine now passed away loaned me "Granpa Jones' Yodeling hits" around 1962. Bela Fleck raised in Queens NY in a Hungarian family that wanted him to become the classical musician, discovered the banjo and was excited by hearing Earl's brief intros on the Hillbillies. I am listening at this moment by chance to Bela's Perpetual Motion.
Hee Haw did not seem to feature the significant banjo players who were playing bluegrass at that time or even the top Bluegrass bands as I recall, although I have to say most of time Hee Haw was on TV I did not own a television and much of what I know of it comes from reruns or finding stuff on YouTube.
Bill Monroe invented Bluegrass and charted the course he did because he did not want to wind up like Stringbean and Grandpa Jones, as a token "hillbilly" in a funny costume . He really demanded the professionalism and charted a progressive musical withhe bluegrass following the lead of the combo jazz of the era with high level music focused on advanced musicians, rather than the hokey stuff.
Grandpa Jones. my hero was "Granpa." as an entertainer when he was in his late 20s and 30s with a costume beard. Jones never played banjo until he was on the the Opry in the post war era, but was an ace guitarist, The old rustic Grandpa role is a standard figure in American popular entertainment and comedy going back to the Colonial period,. Until after the Civil War, the Grandpa rustic character in comedy was usually represented as a crustly New Englander from Vermont or Maine, but that stereotype was thrown in another direction only in the late 19th century,
Jones was a great guitarist originally, He got Cousin Emmy to teach him the banjo as part of the act only when he came on the Opry in the very late 40s or perhaps early 50s. He was a great entertainer and from what the people I have met touched by him in actual acquaintance, a great man. There are a whole slew of great people in both bluegrass and old time music who were touched and encouraged by Grandpa and his wife when he returned to Arkansas after his dear friend Stringbean was murdered, many of them youngsters when Grandpa and Ramona encouraged them.
Hee Haw could have had more Bluegrass on it. It could have had some of the top Bluegrass and old time banjo players presented as they wished, as competent musicians and entertainers, and advanced musicians. The people running the show did not like that. They did not wish to present the music with the level of dignity and taste that Monroe inspired Blues grass musicians to carry.
Edited by - writerrad on 10/18/2024 18:41:12
HeeHaw gets zero respect from me because it relied on unflattering stereotypes. Mr. Monroe would NEVER have consented to appear on it; that's good enough for me.
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Originally posted by euler357I think that Grandpa Jones and/or Stringbean play on nearly every episode.
youtube.com/watch?v=1zfVb6ubssM
Both were as much comedians as banjoists. On in the heyday of bluegrass, it had very few Bluegrass bands as guests.
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Originally posted by chuckv97More old TV bluegrass
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Just to be clear, Mayberry was modeled on Andry Griffith's home town, Mount Airy, North Carolina, the heart of the Round Peake Old Time music area, the site of one of the biggest old time music festivals and gatherings in the USA for the 50 or 60 years.
Edited by - writerrad on 10/18/2024 18:53:54
Heck we came out of the tobacco fields and driving tractors all day to get home, clean up, eat supper. Then the whole family sat down to watch hee haw. We were North Carolina country and we enjoyed the comedy part of the show along with the music.
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Originally posted by Julio BHeeHaw gets zero respect from me because it relied on unflattering stereotypes. Mr. Monroe would NEVER have consented to appear on it; that's good enough for me.
Bill Monroe was on Hee Haw. https://youtu.be/y9GmcwZddb0?si=jGi318z6ARd3QLO8
That show was on when I was in the service. I did not see it but when I did it was usually with what you'd call country folks. We liked to see the stars and see the hot pickers and try to steal a lick off of Roy or Bobby Thompson and we all knew and loved the songs they played. Pretty girls in skimpy outfits was a bonus for a young GI who rarely saw many females. It was a big city version of country life but enough of it rung true because we knew characters that were very much like the ones on that show. We also were smart enough to know what we were watching and understood it for what it was, entertainment.
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Originally posted by Brian Murphyquote:
Originally posted by Julio BHeeHaw gets zero respect from me because it relied on unflattering stereotypes. Mr. Monroe would NEVER have consented to appear on it; that's good enough for me.
Bill Monroe was on Hee Haw. https://youtu.be/y9GmcwZddb0?si=jGi318z6ARd3QLO8
Starting around 21:00: https://youtu.be/y9GmcwZddb0?t=1257 .
And again around 38:00: https://youtu.be/y9GmcwZddb0?t=2274 .
Edited by - Ira Gitlin on 10/19/2024 07:08:38
tdennis: "... didn't especially like country music,"
Reminds me of:
![I don't like country music..." -Bob Newhart [720×665] : r ...](https://i.redd.it/e3z24107olhc1.jpeg)
I thank Ira for pointing out those Monroe spots. Enjoyed watching. Ya know, if Hee Haw works for Bill Monroe, it works for me.
When I watch something like Hee Haw,Wilburn Brothers,Porter or Larry's Country Diner I'm sure I'll see and hear things I don't necessarily agree with,but I am hopeful I'll find something that I appreciate.A tune or being introduced to a performer I was unaware of.
The last Hee Haw I recorded has Roy Acuff handing breaks off in "I Like Mountain Music" to a young Marty Stewart,John Hartford,Byron Berline,Norman Blake and Earl.
I have no idea what the rest of the show was about,but it's my favorite episode.
Bob Newhart probably wouldn't have liked hauling lobster traps all day long,either.
That means "Heaven".
Edited by - steve davis on 10/21/2024 12:13:02
The music on Hee Haw was great, and the comedy was clean and funny. Then again, I like a cheap, korny joke, probably more than most. I spent way too much time laughing at the Dad deer blind jokes on bookface, but heck, they make me laugh. Anyway, the girls on Hee Haw were easy on the eyes too. Didn't know sex would sell banjos, but whatever works I guess. It was just a fun show, always different, but somehow similar.
I'm "country", and all my relatives (on both sides) are/were "country". Everybody I know and grew up with loved Hee-Haw, Beverly Hillbillies, and Andy Griffith (I also grew up in NC). Nobody ever considered it insulting. The difference is, these shows poked fun at southerners and hillbillies and everybody knew it was all in fun. Now, if anybody seriously said anything bad about southerners and hillbillies, there was likely to be trouble.
Same thing applies to the banjo. Like most of us, I often run into banjo jokes. And I'm more often the instigator. I don't think I have ever encountered anyone that seriously made bad comments about the banjo or banjo players. Maybe I just don't look for trouble, so I don't tend to see trouble.
