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Evolution of Musical Styles PowerPoint Presentation
Gandy Dancers
1973 16mm film by Jack Schrader and Tom Burton that features field recordings of work chants of Gandy Dancers including aligning songs and chants to knock out slack in the rail. (14:00)
Ballad with Dulcimer
Jean Ritchie, The Mountain Queen, singing “Sweet William and Lady Margaret” from her 1961 album “Ballads from Her Appalachian Family Tradition” Jean Ritchie is from Appalachian Kentucky. She was born in 1922 in the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky and has had a very accomplished career in music. (6:55)
Traditional Irish Fiddle
“The Wedding Jig” (6:37)
Hambone & History of the Banjo
A musical performance of the poem “From Africa to Bluegrass Sound, Let the Strings of Akonting Resound” by its author Steve Levitt. Tells the history of the banjo from West Africa to America. Includes viewer participation and musical instruments including West African Sangba drum, hambone, Akonting, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, bones and flatfoot dancing. This story-poem became the story line in the dance concert “Bluegrass/BrownEarth” created by the internationally renowned choreographer and artistic director Chuck Davis of the African American Dance Ensemble of Durham, NC. (10:00)
Fiddle/Banjo
Riley Baugus (banjo) Kirk Sutphin (fiddle) at Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, July 2009, Port Townsend. (3:33)
Piedmont Blues Guitar
David Holt interviews famed Piedmont Blues guitarist Etta Baker. Baker plays parts of Carolina Breakdown, Railroad Bill, On the Other Hand Baby, One Dime Blues, Knoxville Rag, John Henry and Careless Love. (8:32)
Mother Maybelle Carter
Mother Maybelle Carter playing Wildwood Flower at the Johnny Cash show. Also featuring the Carter sisters Anita Carter & Helen Carter. (2:48)
Doc Watson
David Holt asks Doc Watson about getting his first guitar and developing his guitar style. Then Doc plays the Beaumont Rag on December 5, 1998 at the Valborg Theatre on the campus of Appalachian State University. (3:56)
Sacred Harp Singing
‘Awake, My Soul’ is the first feature documentary about the Sacred Harp singers, a ‘Lost Tonal Tribe’ who, in the deep south, continue to sing some of the oldest songs in America. Directed by Matt and Erica Hinton. (2:10)
Black Face Sand Dancer
Ned Haverly does a song and sand dance in blackface in a clip from “Yes Sir, Mr. Bones” (1951). Ned was the son of JH Haverly, the owner of the largest minstrel troupe in the late 19th Century; Haverly’s United Mastodon Minstrels. (3:11)
Bones Player
Born 1903 in Montgomery Alabama, his real name was Freeman Davis. Brother Bones played four bones in each hand and was most famous for his 1948 recording of “Sweet Georgia Brown” the theme song used by the Harlem Globetrotters. This is a clip from “Yes Sir, Mr. Bones” from 1951. (2:34)
Minstrel Banjo Style
From 1855, these banjo tunes are from Brigg’s ‘Instructor’. Usually they are played ‘stroke style’, but here they are played finger style. (4:47)
Vaudeville
Historic Footage from Vaudeville Acts 1898 to 1910, Part 1 of 2 (9:55)
Slapstick Comedy from Vaudeville Acts (3:27)
Parlor Music
Classical Banjo – Starlight Mazurka and Polka – Rob MacKillop (2:26)
Alma Gluck – Carry Me Back To Old Virginny (4:22)
Medicine Shows
Tribute to the American medicine shows of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Shows a re-creation of a typical medicine show by veteran performers, as well as archival stills and film footage. (1:50)
Uncle Dave Macon & his son Dorris, “Take Me Back to That Old Carolina Home” (1:15)
Roy Acuff, “Night Train to Memphis” (2:07)
Fiddlin’ John Carson
Fiddlin’ John Carson Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane (2:47)
Jimmie Rodgers
Rare footage of Jimmie Rogers singing “Waiting for a Train” (2:12)
Evolving Tunes and Songs
In the Pines
In the Pines — Leadbelly with the original blues version in 1944 (2:08)
In the Pines — Stanley Brothers with a bluegrass version (2:22)
In the Pines — Jerry Reed with a contemporary version (2:39)
In the Pines — Nirvana with a rock and roll version (5:06)
Cotton Eyed Joe
Cotton Eyed Joe — Skillet Lickers, 1927 (3:00)
Cotton Eyed Joe — Bill Monroe, bluegrass (2:33)
Cotton Eyed Joe — Rednex, pop (4:16)
High on a Mountain
High on a Mountain — Ola Belle Reed, original (2:33)
High on a Mountain — Del McCoury, bluegrass (2:49)
High on a Mountain — Marty Stuart, country (4:29)