Cell Perches & HVO

For treatment of his polio affliction, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a regular visitor of Warm Springs, Georgia. Not infrequently, he was entertained by performances of local musicians. In  November of 1933 after taking office as President for the first time, FDR was treated to the banjo talents of Perry Bectel. The Chief Executive autographed the calfskin head of the entertainer`s instrument which was later featured in a news article affiliated with radio station WSB- The Voice of the South. After spending decades forgotten in a closet, the banjo head was rediscovered a few years ago by the family and sold online as a collector`s item. It has been displayed at the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City (click to enlarge).

On January 25, 1933, only five weeks before his first inauguration, Roosevelt was filmed listening to Bud Wright`s Fiddle Band play “Soldier`s Joy” as requested by the President-Elect.

In the below fascinating video link , watch the film editing closely as FDR`s beloved daughter Anna (striped shirt) magically appears next to him in the clip at 22 seconds and then inexplicably disappears from the close-up footage at 44 seconds. During the stressful war years, Anna lived in the White House and was the go-between for FDR in one of his amourous extra-marital relationships, a topic of the 2012 movie “Hyde Park on the Hudson” starring Bill Murray as FDR and Laurie Linney as the President`s distant cousin Daisy who narrates the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2zJU-d5Seg

No stranger to music appreciation, Eleanor Roosevelt listens to young Pete Seeger, a US Army draftee in uniform, serenade the guests with his banjo at the opening of the United Federal Labor CIO canteen in Washington on Valentine`s Day in 1944.

A.B. “Banjo” Patterson (1864-1941) is an Australian amalgam of Mark Twain and Will Rogers.  Born in the remote hinterland, he was nicknamed after his favorite horse. Patterson gained acclaim as a bush poet, war reporter, cavalry officer, and journalist who focused on the rough life in the `outback`.

In 1890, Banjo penned the heroic poem “The Man from Snowy River”, and this hard-riding saga of mountain horsemen was portrayed in a thrilling movie in 1982.

Using the music of a popular ballad, Patterson wrote the lyrics to the unofficial Australian national anthem “Waltzing Matilda” in 1895.

Honoring his role in Australian history and culture, his image appears on $10 currency notes and on a commemorative  postage stamp.

An annual poetry festival in Australia is named after him.

As our fiddler Sarah and her guys prepare to sojurn to Australia on a family adventure, we have begun to experiment singing `Waltzing Matilda`  with  verses in 4/4 and the chorus in 3/4 time- kinda tricky. We wish them safe travels Down Under and hurry home.

In a room adjacent to the BRC workshop is a collection of vintage banjo cases. In case you are wondering, our favorite is a circa 1972 near-mint condition Ess & Ess  case that housed a Baldwin Ode 2SR banjo. The  Ess & Ess Mfg. Co. was founded in 1950 and three  years later became the Ess & Ess Music Case Company.  The owner`s son Marty ran the business from 1964 to 1984 when the enterprise was sold to Harptone who had made Martin guitar cases for years in Newark, NJ. 

Because of finely crafted workmanship, the Gibson Guitar Co. subcontracted to Ess & Ess starting in 1969 to produce cases for the E-335, Les Paul, and Barney Kessel guitar lines. Ess & Ess also supplied Gretsch (an affiliate of Baldwin Ode), Guild,  Kramer and other instrument manufacturers with sturdy luggage-like products bearing alligator grained hide exteriors. You can make a case for what is your new or old favorite jewel box,  but the Ess & Ess is a classic beauty.

Essentially all that remains of the Company today is the ghostly painted name over its former main entrance at 95 Grand St. Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, NY.

Since its inception eight years ago, our annual community Blues and Roots Barbecue Festival has hosted a rich cavalcade of musical Americana including tip-top Bluegrass acts.  Two years ago,  the duo of Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn headlined as performing artists. Last year, Hot Rize took the stage, and the front page of the program featured a bushy-tailed squirrel  (modeled after Utah Phillip`s song “Rock Salt and Nails”..?) clasping a banjo in its furry mitts. 

For this year`s BNR fest, it was recently announced that the grounding-breaking Punch Brothers will be appearing on stage with their consummate banjoist Noam Pikelny who won the 2010 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. It looks like another great Fall festival is shaping-up, especially for humble devotees of the 5 string who dream of maybe someday briefly becoming a banjo “…player that strums and frets his hour upon the stage,  and then is heard….”. **

No more, till later. In the meantime, the BRC wishes its faithful readers a pleasant summer, and we encourage all you musicians to stay tuned.

** Adapted from Will Shakespeare`s Macbeth, Act 5, scene 5, 19-28.

https://twitter.com/muhealth/status/545632826230452224

Archeological digs on many continents suggest that rhythm bones are the second oldest musical instrument after the human voice.  These percussive instruments came to  America with Irish and English settlers. In Celtic music, bones are played with only one hand, whereas  in the US , the minstrel show tradition established a two-handed technique of performance still used today.  

Most every Sunday afternoon, a former street busker named `Mr. Bones` (above second from the right), joins our weekly Bluegrass jam session benefitting the Children`s Hospital.  In the clatter of a busy family restaurant, our songs are usually followed by a wave of silent gratitude from the audience. But, when Mr. Bones arrives, patrons at the brewpub always turn their heads to watch and applaud his energetic and syncopated rhythm tones. After complimenting our waltz tunes with juggling in 3/4 time, he entertains the kids with train whistles,  a little soft shoe, and a stick-held dancing limberjack wooden doll.  Several times a year, he performs children`s shows with his band “Mr. Bones and the Skeleton Crew” made up of volunteers from the jam band as pictured above at local church fest. For his showmanship, he was inducted into the BRC Hall of Fame three years ago.

Check-out the below link and witness Mr. Bones` kinetic solo on the classic train song “The Texas Eagle”. Too cool or what?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvmkwn7HBXU