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Dock Boggs - A Blues Banjo Bridge

I have to thank Karen over at Today’s Chicago Blues for bringing Dock Boggs to my attention and continuing my Blues Banjo Binge for at least one more post.

Dock Boggs was a white miner / moonshiner / blues banjo player. The Dock Boggs Festival website suggests that Dock Boggs learned much of his musical skills from the black people in his past and was a historical bridge between the blues banjo playing popular among those black and what later became the popular southern white peoples banjo playing. I think thats a great find in my personal discovery of the blues. Here’s a youtube video to listen to while you’re letting that sink in.

Now if you’ll indulge me visit the Dock Boggs Festival website and you’ll hear another example of how Dock Boggs is a bridge between the blues and other styles including country, country blues and folk. For more information on Dock Boggs check out the Longtimecoming website at http://www.angelfire.com/folk/longtimecoming/dockboggs/

Here is a wonderful selection of previews of Dock Boggs music I’ll leave you with. Enjoy and thanks to Karen over at Today’s Chicago Blues for bringing Dock Boggs to my attention

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Reverend Gary Davis (1896-1972) - Banjo and Blues

I’m pretty fascinated by the banjo and the blues. Steve Martin used to joke about it - you can read up on my banjo musing here. When you think of Piedmont blues you can sort of imagine the link with banjo playing and the blues but, when you listen to Gary Davis even on his guitar you’ll really see the connection. Check this out:

The Reverend Gary Davis brings a unique style to the blues which has inspired at least six books that I know of. He has been praised by such greats as Taj Mahal and Bob Weir and said to influence the likes of Gerry Garcia and gave lessons to Ry Cooder. Gary Davis songs have been recorded by Jackson Browne and Bob Dylan to name but two. Whats also impressive about Reverend Gary Davis is the way he preserved the gift of his music not only by leaving a legacy of recordings but by giving instruction to so many. It was said that he gave lessons that could last all day and in his later years even re-recorded some of his early material for the benefit of future students. You have to love that!

Here are some previews of songs by Reverand Gary Davis.

There aren’t that many banjo playing blues players around and that makes Reverend Gary Davis’ contribution all the more valuable. I think the man knew he had something to give and I hope you’ve enjoyed this little bit that I am able to pass on. For more information on Reverand Gary Davis see http://www.reverendgarydavis.com/.

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Otis Taylor - Recapturing the Banjo - More Banjo Blues

I need to thank my friend Hieronymus Murphy over at Murphy’s Saloon Blues Podcast for bringing Otis Taylor to my attention. Hieronymus was responding to my recent post on Banjo Blues. He mentioned that I really should check out Otis Taylor. Well I did and the first thing I heard actually game me goosebumps. Check it out:

I don’t know a whole lot about Otis Taylor so I’m not going to pretend to be an expert or anything. I’ll just sign off for now with this MP3 preview widget from Amazon.com and thank Hieronymus Murphy over at Murphy’s Saloon Blues Podcast for giving me the opportunity to share this great find.

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The Banjo and the Blues

Steve Martin used to joke about it how you can’t play a sad song on the banjo. Then he’d play a stereotypical sad blues tune on the banjo and crack everyone up. At the time I remember joking about banjo blues with friends. The joke was on me though. In fact the banjo is a blues instrument and the sound can be beautiful and mournful at the same time.

Robert Palmer’s excellent book Deep Blues documents the instrument and the word banjo back to an African tribe known as the Wolof. The Wolof people were commonly captured as slaves and brought to the southern United State in the days of the slave trade and were a great influence in the evolution of southern music. Palmer also documents other influential instruments brought over from Africa as well as the fact the guitar did not come into common use for blues until the 1920s. Before then and especially early in the evolution of the blues the banjo was a much more commonly heard instrument.

For the history buff here is an excellent video by Mike Seeger showing what those early banjos looked and sounded like.

I don’t want to start the ongoing debate regarding frailing vs clawhammer style playing but suffice to say that playing the banjo’s drone string in a driving rhythmic style, or alternating bass note picking, and plucking of the other strings in a finger picking style are common techniques in acoustic blues that may be inherited from the banjo influence on the blues.

Unfortunately there are a limited number of banjo picking blues players but Reverend Gary Davis was good enough to leave a legacy of recordings so sit back and enjoy these previews courtesy of Amazon.com

Here are a couple more youtube videos for blues fans who enjoy banjo picking:
Twelve Bar Blues - by Brendan Kelly on Banjo

Banjo Blues - BluesBeaten Redshaw

And for the musicians here is a “Frailing The Blues Lesson One”

If there are any visitors out there who know of other banjo playing blues artists I’d love to hear from them.

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Harry Manx - New Style Blues

Harry Manx won the 2008 Maple Blues Awards award for best Acoustic Artist. This was great news for me for a couple of reasons. First he really deserves it and secondly it helped me classify this incredibly unique artist. Harry actually plays a sitar on one of his songs. I don’t think there is a another artist out there you could say is similar to Harry Manx. If anyone knows of one - let me know I’d like to hear them.

The Talking Blues Podcast has video podcast of Harry Manx performing “Nine Summers Lost” from his upcoming CD, “Bread and Buddha”.

There are also a few videos of Harry Manx up on youtube. He has disabled embedding those but here are a few links if you’d like to see them. They give you an idea how versatile this genius is:
Harry Manx playing acoustic guitar on youtube.
Harry Manx playing slide guitar on youtube.
Harry Manx playing blues Banjo

Finally here is an Amazon.com widget with lots of Harry Manx samples, I hope you enjoy them and I also hope you’ll click on the buy button and buy a few of them.

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