For Bluegrass, I'd start with Foggy Mountain Banjo by Flatt and Scruggs, followed by New Dimensions In Banjo And Bluegrass by Weissberg and Brickman.

More for bluegrass: anything by Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, J. D. Crowe, Sonny Osborne.... gee there are so many excellent bluegrass banjo players, it's hard to decide where to quit!

Tongue-in-cheek, and it doesn't answer your query, but re. ""This is what [clawhammer] is all about." I'd include a transcript (?) of the current thread:   https://www.banjohangout.org/topic/410224

[Dunno how the non-music majors would fare, but I guess what doesn't kill 'em will make them stronger??   ]

Bela Fleck: Drive

Alan Munde: Banjo Kid Picks Again (includes both "Peaches and Cream" and "How High the Moon")

J.D. Crowe (and New South):  self-titled album, also known as Rounder 44

Don Stover: Things in Life

Ben Eldridge:  Act 1 (Seldom Scene). Also Dobro (Mike Auldridge).

Doug Dillard: Back Porch Bluegrass (Dillards)

Not familiar with the works of other greats, so I defer to others' suggestions.

>>J.D. Crowe (and New South): self-titled album, also known as Rounder 44<<

Seconded from Ken.

Bobby

For Irish tenor CGDA tuning, Gerry O’Connor& for GDAE Angelina Carberry

Look at the Hudson Valley Bluegrass Assoc. website and their archive of Banjo History lessons given various years in the Poughkeepsie NY area. They have video of one class I did. My video got some pointed criticism from real experts of 1800 banjo for my repetition of common myths about the early years of banjo. So maybe you can avoid them. I used lots of old photos, live performance of various styles, etc.

How many classes do you have to fill up with material? A full semester?

You'll need Minstrel, Classic, old time mountain banjo, early radio banjo entertainers many of whom were comedians, Dixieland/jazz, big band, Celtic, Mummers, and at least three varieties of bluegrass, and modern old time banjo. And I'm sure I've already made mistakes of omission. The experts will let you know.

Highly recommended you invite some performers to come to class to keep student interest up.

Hope you have access to the many academic books about banjo history, banjo playing, etc.

Sam and Alan Together Again for the First Time
Butch Robins 40 Years Late
Earl and Doc Strictly Instrumental
All banjo breaks and back-up on first Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Joel what a display of banjo and fiddle techniques!

What year was it recorded please?

Alan's Banjo Sandwich

Pete Seeger's "Goofing Off Suite" belongs on the list for sure.

Some individual sides that come to mind:

Vess Ossman-- Maple Leaf Rag,
Uncle Dave Macon-- Way Down the Old Plank Road,
Hobart Smith--Patteroller Song,
Lucius Smith-- Soon in the Morning Babe,
Kyle Creed-- Darling Nellie Grey,
McKinley Asher-- Hand Me Down My Old White Hat
Pete Steele-- Coal Creek March
Da Costa Wolz's Southern Broadcasters-- Take Me Back To the Sweet Sunny South
Charles Asbury-- Haul the Woodpile Down,
Clarence Ashley-- The Coo Coo,
Frank Proffitt-- Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Old Timer

Joel what a display of banjo and fiddle techniques!

What year was it recorded please?

---

1930

The banjo is basically textbook "classic banjo" including "tremolo".  

For Old time banjo players looking for Fiddle Tune recordings I highly recommend the Duo of John Hartford and Bob Carlin. For example:

The Fun Of Open Discussion

" . . . course on the banjo and its history"

So you might want a play list that illustrates the chronology of the styles of playing.  Not just a variety of players.

Such as, just for example:

-- old time frailing

-- double thumb clawhammer

-- two finger

-- three finger pre-Scruggs

-- MR. EARL

-- Don Reno

-- Bill Keith

-- a whole bunch of modern progressive players, aggregating previous styles and techniques

Hope this helps.

Gus Cannon W/ Cannon's Jug Stompers.

The OP will be teaching an academic college unit where - by definition and academic accreditation - balanced factual context will be a core requirement. He even alluded to this using the phrase ‘…the whole gamut of banjo playing’.

15 replies so far and not one non-U.S banjoist. College education aims to broaden knowledge and understanding; not to perpetuate a selective and distorted view of a subject.

0/15 grade Fail (F).

Sorry to have disappointed you.

quote:

---

Originally posted by EEB

The OP will be teaching an academic college unit where - by definition and academic accreditation - balanced factual context will be a core requirement. He even alluded to this using the phrase ‘…the whole gamut of banjo playing’.

15 replies so far and not one non-U.S banjoist. College education aims to broaden knowledge and understanding; not to perpetuate a selective and distorted view of a subject.

0/15 grade Fail (F).

---

Well... EEB....one cannot argue with logic like that! 
 

i agree with you!

I guess I qualify as one non-US, but the banjoist part is a bit iffy.  

Very nice technique from both banjoist and fiddler. What year was this recorded please?

For tenor/plectrum Dixieland playing, I might suggest the works of Perry Bechtel, Eddie Peabody, Buddy Wachter, and Sean Moyses

I have uploaded some playlists of Bechtel’s one record available, and a couple of Peabody’s:

youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkV...8xc1cuJKu

youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkV...tB070yVB9

Additionally, Buddy Wachter has a playlist of some of his own playing:

youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH9...l8Vf9a6ui

And I believe you can find Moyses on many streaming platforms.

These are mostly soloist recordings, ensemble playing/comping I might to have to take more time to research suggestions if you’re interested

Not a direct answer to your question, but if you haven't read this book I highly recommend - probably too thick for your students, but excellent background and perspective.

press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p082849

And please include the Altamont recordings of Gribble, Lusk and York. The Black contribution is under appreciated.

Albums not mentioned yet:

Bill Keith: Something Auld
Seldom Scene: Live at the Cellar Door

For clawhammer…

Adam Hurt - Earth Tones
Reed Martin - that yellow self titled album

This is not an album per se, but the first two CD's of the Bear Family Flatt & Scruggs 1948-1959 CD set feature Earl's great playing on his Mercury and early Columbia recordings.
Ken