Marty Stuart and his mandolin -- 1861 Project

[Bernie Daniel]

I thought this was pretty tasteful...typical Marty

[Scotti Adams]

Most excellent. Thanks Bernie...I needed that this morning.

[mandopete]

Yes, some tasty mando work at the end!

[MandoSquirrel]

The 1861 Project is a collection of new, original songs inspired by stories of the real people who fought and lived through the American Civil War.

That's all well and good, but there are a lot of great, neglected songs from the era, written by folks who lived through it, that deserve to be brought to the public's attention, also.
This is a nice, better than average, modern country song, with very nice mandolin, as one might expect from Mr. Stuart. I'd be more interested in watching the music performance than the re-enactors, though.

[Bernie Daniel]

...This is a nice, better than average, modern country song, with very nice mandolin, as one might expect from Mr. Stuart. I'd be more interested in watching the music performance than the re-enactors, though.

I would like to see Marty playing as well but I liked the actors too -- would have been cool to have him picking away in a little PIP in the corner? Marty Stuart rules....

[mandopete]

Who ya calling a little PIP?

[Bernie Daniel]

Who ya calling a little PIP?

Profoundly Important Person? Or was it "little" that you object too! (:

[JeffD]

Music about an era or music from the era...

Music from an era has the authenticity, and often the freshness of the emotions and rawness and immediacy of the experience. But such music can sometimes be highly partisan, lack any understanding of the historical context in which it appears, and can sometimes come off abbraisive to our modern culture and its 21 century sensitivities.

Music about an era reverses all that. It gets the context, it avoids the more partisan statments and phraseology that we might find offensive today, but it can feel remote from the events and lack real immediacy.

Both are good. Both are improved by including the other.

[allenhopkins]

...Music from an era has the authenticity, and often the freshness of the emotions and rawness and immediacy of the experience. But such music can sometimes be highly partisan, lack any understanding of the historical context in which it appears, and can sometimes come off abraisive to our modern culture and its 21 century sensitivities. Music about an era reverses all that. It gets the context, it avoids the more partisan statments and phraseology that we might find offensive today, but it can feel remote from the events and lack real immediacy...

I did a workshop not too long ago on "history through folk music" with some other local musicians, and found a real dividing line between someone like myself who does a lot of music from different historic periods, and other musicians who basically do music about historic periods. I don't have any problem with the latter, but I think that the former has an authenticity that can only be achieved through songs written by contemporaries of the events -- Civil War, e.g. -- songwriters who actually experienced the times, and the attitudes and personalities that existed then.

Doubtless time lends some perspective, and perhaps we are made uncomfortable by the language and passion of, say, songs like The Bonnie Blue Flag or Maryland, My Maryland ("Huzzah! She spurns the Northern scum!") for the South, or even Battle Hymn of the Republic for the North: "Let the hero born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel." And as someone who plays many of the minstrel songs of the period, I have had to "field edit" out a lot of the racial terminology, to avoid barrages of overripe fruit from 21st century audiences.

And you can definitely find "period" songs on both sides of the war that have the perspective of Mr. Stuart's Soldier's Dream, the nostalgia for home and the recognition of ongoing danger, pain and loss: Just Before the Battle, Mother and Weeping Sad and Lonely; The Vacant Chair and Tenting Tonight. I'd be the last to suggest that Stuart or anyone else play one of those, rather than writing a new song on the same theme, that may earn them a bit of money and give their own particular perspective. But one of the problems with writing these "new nostalgia" songs is that they pull the feelings out of context; that song could be about a current soldier in Afghanistan, as well as a member of the Army of Northern Virginia; it says nothing about why that person is where he is. In a way, that's the point, but it's also beside the point, isn't it?

[MandoSquirrel]

Well said, Allen.

[Denny Gies]

Neat. One of my favorites from that era is "Last Letter Home". It's on a Sam Bush CD.

[Bernie Daniel]

... I'd be the last to suggest that Stuart or anyone else play one of those, rather than writing a new song on the same theme, that may earn them a bit of money and give their own particular perspective. But one of the problems with writing these "new nostalgia" songs is that they pull the feelings out of context; that song could be about a current soldier in Afghanistan, as well as a member of the Army of Northern Virginia; it says nothing about why that person is where he is. In a way, that's the point, but it's also beside the point, isn't it?

It depends -- I don't think we can say whether feelings are out of context or not -- that seems to be a value judgement really. Some songs are written to offer up a perspective on the morality (or immorality) of a conflict/war -- while others are more interested in dealing with the pain and suffering of soldiers (and also their loved ones) who find themselves in a battle regardless of how they personally feel about it.

[allenhopkins]

It depends -- I don't think we can say whether feelings are out of context or not -- that seems to be a value judgement really. Some songs are written to offer up a perspective on the morality (or immorality) of a conflict/war -- while others are more interested in dealing with the pain and suffering of soldiers (and also their loved ones) who find themselves in a battle regardless of how they personally feel about it.

I guess my reservation about Soldier's Dream is that it's obviously being presented as a song about the Civil War -- "1861 Project," video of Confederate re-enactors, etc. -- but a song about a soldier's nostalgia for the familiar scenes of his home, could be from any war. Very few of the Civil War songs with which I'm familiar could be totally abstracted out of the Civil War context; Tenting Tonight might be one that could be -- might credibly be sung by any soldier in any war. Others are more "grounded" in the events that inspired them.

Doesn't make it a bad song; in fact, it's a very good song. But is it a Civil War song in any meaningful way? I have my opinion on the matter, and I'm sure others will differ.

[mrmando]

Neat. One of my favorites from that era is "Last Letter Home". It's on a Sam Bush CD.

Um. It's from the 1970s, originally recorded by the Amazing Rhythm Aces.

I did like the mando and fiddle work, but I'm with Allen ... the song itself leaves me a little cold. And while I realize there are a million little details entailed in Civil War reenactment and it's virtually impossible to nail every one of them, it would seem that the design of a battle flag — especially one as iconic as the Stars & Bars — is important enough and easy enough to do correctly that there's no excuse for getting it wrong.

[mrmando]

Doesn't make it a bad song; in fact, it's a very good song. But is it a Civil War song in any meaningful way?

It does keep mentioning the South, which is a partisanship that doesn't fit any other U.S. war.

[allenhopkins]

It does keep mentioning the South, which is a partisanship that doesn't fit any other U.S. war.

Well -- a not too dissimilar song, When the Band Is Playing 'Dixie' (I'll Be Humming 'Home Sweet Home') about a soldier dying on the field of battle, thinking of the Southland, was copyrighted 1900, and is apparently about the Spanish-American War. Carter Family recorded it:



The performance is by Sara and Maybelle, their reunion on the Wilburn Brothers Show, I believe. Sara is playing a Guitaro, an Oscar Schmidt "mutant" Autoharp; I have a c1972 model.

[Bernie Daniel]

Um. It's from the 1970s, originally recorded by the Amazing Rhythm Aces.

... And while I realize there are a million little details entailed in Civil War reenactment and it's virtually impossible to nail every one of them, it would seem that the design of a battle flag — especially one as iconic as the Stars & Bars — is important enough and easy enough to do correctly that there's no excuse for getting it wrong.

Astute comment! That flag observation is an interesting one -- when I first saw it I do recall noting it as being curious but I did not put it together that it was meant to signify the starts and bars -- albeit not to be intentionally inflammatory.

But if you think more on that I do think that fits with Marty Stuart. He is a man of strong opinions and he acts on them with some many projects -- many of them of a public service nature. But he is not an in-your-face kind of guy. He disagrees with a smile not a frown...
For sure the Civil War is going to be "controversial" -- it was a civil war after all and more Americans died it it then in any conflict since.

But today, some 150 years later, most of those feelings (IMO) center on nostalgia about a way of life lost and not at all about merits of slavery, for example. I think that is the reason Marty has the person in the song -- "...thinking about the South and crying"?

Anyway I just like Marty Stuart and sad songs I guess.

[Bernie Daniel]

Well -- a not too dissimilar song, When the Band Is Playing 'Dixie' (I'll Be Humming 'Home Sweet Home') about a soldier dying on the field of battle, thinking of the Southland, was copyrighted 1900, and is apparently about the Spanish-American War. Carter Family recorded it:



The performance is by Sara and Maybelle, their reunion on the Wilburn Brothers Show, I believe. Sara is playing a Guitaro, an Oscar Schmidt "mutant" Autoharp; I have a c1972 model.

What a wonderful video -- did you notice the flat pick Maybelle had stuck above the nut on her L-5?

[mrmando]

Astute comment! That flag observation is an interesting one -- when I first saw it I do recall noting it as being curious but I did not put it together that it was meant to signify the starts and bars -- albeit not to be intentionally inflammatory.

I doubt Marty himself had any say over the design of the flag used in the video, and it would seem that a Civil War reenactment is one of the few places where the use of an authentic-looking flag should not be seriously questioned ... but I suppose it is possible that these gents are using an altered flag to avoid giving offense. Not sure it's the most likely option, but we can't rule it out.

[AlanN]

Aside: mention was made of Last Letter Home. I, too, love Sam's version of this, I think the opening track on his most excellent Late As Usual, 1984. He gets a perfect lope on this, and the harmony between he and JC is spot on. That whole record is fantastic, the duet with Jethro on Broadway is marvy (Sam's solo is tabbed out in Dave Peters' book), Crooked Smile (or is it Sapporo?), Norman and Nancy, many others. Just great.

Marty: I dig Marty.

[Bernie Daniel]

Here is Sam on one version of it Alan -- and yeah talk about powerful...wow! It's been years since I since I've heard it performed.

[JeffD]

I had a friend of mine do a quick look at the flag, for purposes of verifying that it lacked all historical accuracy, and wasn't perhaps an accurate portrayal of some obscure group flag with which I was unfamiliar. I share his response with you because I love people who pay attention to the details and have an enthusiasm for historical accuracy. I am sure Marty's video is being discussed and analyzed with a microscope frame by frame by Civil War history enthusiasts, which are every bit as detail oriented as many of us are about vintage Gibsons.

I quote below his response:

Well, it's definitely not a confederate flag. It's an attempt to make one, but not a good one.

The first issue is that the flag they are trying to copy is actually the flag Used by the Confederate Navy, but has since been linked with the Confederacy. They should instead be using the Stars and Bars flag which was the official Confederate Flag until sometime in 1863.

Their attempt at making the flag has one serious detriment though. On the normal flag there is a red field and a blue cross which are separated by thin white lines. On this reproduction the white is missing.The other colors also look a bit screwy though it could just be from whatever effects they added to the video during editing.

There is also a problem with the damage the flag has suffered, about 40% of it is missing. It's probably supposed to be representative of some kind of battle damage, but it is still a lot of damage. The amount is rather strange since most flags would have been patched up after some time. The overall cleanliness of the flag also doesn't mesh with the damage the flag has sustained.

25 seconds in is when you can get an ok view of the "entire" flag. The missing stars on the left hand side told me that a decent size chunk of the flag was missing.
At the 1 minute mark there is a pretty good view of it which shows some minor damage on the other half of the flag, the holes are still a bit big for what most flags would have received (shrapnel and stray shots).

Also, just a bit of general historical inaccuracy, there should also be another flag in addition to the national standard which is indicative of the unit (regiment, brigade, division, corps)

[JeffD]

Now, has anyone looked at the guitar towards the end. Is that historically accurate?

[mrmando]

I don't think the guitar could be mistaken for one from 1863, but ...

A guitar is a lot harder to make than a flag.
People who own guitars built in 1863 are probably not playing outdoor gigs with them.
A historically accurate repro of an 1863 guitar would be a lot more expensive than a historically accurate repro of a flag.
A flag is a symbol; it has meaning for every guy on the battlefield, not just the one who carries it. Whereas a guitar, to paraphrase Dr. Freud, is just a guitar.

[Bernie Daniel]

That flag analysis was interesting -- it is always fun to get the perspective of a professional or a devotee. I had noticed that the flag was too clean and the holes in it were "too neat". But of course the music is the thing....