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Thread: Jethro Burns Interview?

  1. #1
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    Default Jethro Burns Interview?

    Very simply - are there any printed or video interviews with Jethro still around? I had no luck with a Google search.

    Thanks.

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    Registered User John Rosett's Avatar
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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    There was a Mandolin World News magazine with a Jethro interview, but it's not listed as being available on Dix Bruce's website. Maybe if you contact him he could get you a photo copy version. https://www.musixnow.com/MWN.html
    "it's not in bad taste, if it's funny" - john waters

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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    Frets Magazine, April 1989

    Mandolin Magazine Volume 11, Number 1 Summer 2009

    Fretboard Journal Number 18 Summer 2010

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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    GREAT, thank you - exactly what I was looking for!

    Part of my curiosity is about some recordings that you and he did together, and maybe these will help.

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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    the recordings we did together are currently available as Jethro Burns The Legacy Sessions on Acoustic Disc. They are 3 CD's worth: Swing Low Sweet Mandolin, Bye Bye Blues, and the newly discovered/released Tater Bug Rag. All have been re-mastered in Hi-Def, which really did make a difference. On the original CD release of Swing Low Sweet Mandolin there are portions of the Frets interview I think included...

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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    Given the less-than-high-fidelity of those original recordings (I once 'remastered' them myself at a local radio station, for my own personal use), I always wondered if they were intended for release to the public, or if they were simply recorded for your and/or Jethro's personal archives? (It always sounded to me like they were made with two very inexpensive microphones, plugged into a two track recorder - one mic in the left channel and one in the right . . . with Jethro getting the worst of the two microphones.)

    Thanks again for your help!

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    Registered User John Rosett's Avatar
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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    I have the original CDs, and I think that the re-release, which I bought as downloads, sound a lot better.
    "it's not in bad taste, if it's funny" - john waters

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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    the notes in the original and subsequent re-release explain the intent of the recordings

    the mics were Neumann KM 84's, the recorder a Fostex multi-track( 8 tracks, 1/4 inch, 15 IPS I think). The mix was done at Dawg's studio in Mill Valley CA, with hard left and right seperation achieved by a George Massenburg EQ which also helped remove unwanted sounds. I would hazard the guess that the lo-fi you perceive could be blamed on the recorder, which was chosen for portability and affordability. The songs were tracked either in Jethro's basement or my living room. Jethro did not want to go to a studio, he had already done that enough times in his 55 year, 50 or so LP, Grammy Winning career...so these were "field" recordings, if you will, and we did the best we could...

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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    Quote Originally Posted by Don Stiernberg View Post
    the notes in the original and subsequent re-release explain the intent of the recordings
    Ahhhhhh - I have never been able to lay my hands on the actual CD's, so the lack of liner notes would explain my lack of knowledge. I guess I have more searching to do . . . .

    Again, thanks for the information - it is MUCH appreciated.

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    Joe B mandopops's Avatar
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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    If you're looking for some more interesting Jethro reading, find his "Jethro Speaks" columns from the old Mandolin World News magazines. Great fun.
    As for the fidelity on the Jethro/Don sessions, frankly, I never paid much attention to it. Maybe that's from years of listening to early Blues & Jazz. I just listened to the superb Musicianship of the two gentlemen. I love Jethro's solos, of course, but I love the way he simply (simply??) states the melody, the head, the theme. The way he can dress it up & not stray to far away from the tune. I wish they had done a CD's worth of Christmas tunes. It would have been great.
    One time I was sitting with a friend of mine, he was not a Mandolin player, but he was a Musician. We had a Jethro record on. At one point he said, "Jethro has so much personality in his playing."
    That is a great compliment.
    If I learned nothing else from my lessons with him, I hope I absorbed some of that.
    So, Donnie, got any more lo-fi Jethro sessions hidden away?
    Joe B

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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    I'll bet all in this thread are familiar with these, but for those un-,these lessons with Jethro are gems.

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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    Gee, what if the Cafe was sitting on an interview with Jethro from 1988 no one had ever read? Say, one so fresh it was sitting in our email in-basket, so new even we hadn't completely read it?

    Wouldn't that be nice??? Yea, probably couldn't be possible.


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    Registered User John Soper's Avatar
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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    Transcripts or (even better) recording of that interview would be great!

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    Default Re: Jethro Burns Interview?

    Just published a 1988 interview with Jethro courtesy of one of our forum members that shared it with us.

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/c...urns-Interview

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