Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 49

Thread: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    A lot of the focus here seems to be on fiddle tunes. I love 'em, but I'm sure lots of us love old traditional vocal tunes too. So I thought I'd start a thread on that and see if it sticks.

    The one I'm starting on now is I've Been All Around This World. I can crib from Grisman and Garcia, and Grandpa Jones if any of the feel can transfer from banjo to mandolin-- never tried thinking that way before. I love the tune, and don't want just to stick with various versions Garcia did. I'm also revisiting I'm Going That Way as played by Bill Monroe with Charlie in the early days, trying to get the second break down. I think the Bill and Charlie stuff counts as old-time, right? It isn't bluegrass yet. I love the way Bill mixes in a few blue notes with the jangly double-stops in this tune.

  2. #2
    Middle-Aged Old-Timer Tobin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Kerrville, TX
    Posts
    4,004

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    I'm not big on vocals - I like the sound of instruments too much to want to spoil it with singing, LOL. But there are a few songs I like that I'll do when I'm by myself. Thus far, I have avoided singing in public.

    Year of Jubilo (aka Kingdom Coming, aka Lincoln's Gunboats) is a fun tune to play by itself, and the lyrics are kind of fun to sing.

    Another one that I think is really fun, but would have to be very careful about ever doing in front of people, is Uncle Ned, while playing clawhammer banjo. And speaking of songs that go well with banjo, I admit to having tried Ducks on the Millpond a few times. Heck, I'd probably like to emulate anything Tommy Jarrell did.

    One that I'd really like to get going with some other people who can sing harmony is Working on a Building, the way Bill Monroe did it. What a great old-timey song.

  3. #3
    Registered User BlueMt.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Oregon, USA
    Posts
    333

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    I'm working on "Great High Mountain" more towards the Jack White version than the Ralph Stanley one. I'm also working on "Wayfaring Stranger" solo singing with fiddle.
    Eric

  4. #4
    Lost my boots in transit terzinator's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Twin Cities, MN
    Posts
    1,589

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    I Been All Around This World is a great one.

    Also, Louis Collins.

    If you enjoy Grisman/Garcia, it's all old-time awesomeness.

  5. The following members say thank you to terzinator for this post:


  6. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    Garcia and Grisman's version of Louis Collins got me into Mississippi John Hurt, which got me into fingerpicking. I love MJH. One of the few things that can make me put down my mandolin.

  7. #6
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Saint Augustine Beach FL
    Posts
    6,634

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    Bill and Charlie Monroe offer a wealth of material from the Bluebird recordings. Bill and Earl Bollic, aka The Blue Sky Boys also have wonderful songs, esp "Are You From Dixie".


    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

  8. #7
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    24,807
    Blog Entries
    56

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    One can get a lot listening to Blue Sky Boys. A lot.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  9. The following members say thank you to JeffD for this post:


  10. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    Nice! I have to check the Blue Sky Boys out. Especially since both groups I play with (by which I mean get together in each other's living rooms to play) are just two guitars and me. Which suits me fine. I'm really drawn to just the guitar and mando combo: Bill and Charlie, Bill and Doc, Doc and Dawg, Dawg and Jerry. Now I have another to add to the list. Thanks!

  11. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    Oh and Jeff, thanks for the link to your Charlie Poole band. That's part of what inspired this thread

  12. #10
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    24,807
    Blog Entries
    56

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    I am not a purist or a musicologist or in any way certified to know this stuff, but when someone wants to know how a mandolin does old time, and how its different from how a mandolin does bluegrass, I always point to the Blue Sky Boys. In my mind its "how old time mandolin" is done.

    What I mean is not that I like them best or think they are the best. Its that many other old time mandolin recordings, fantastic though they are, are not as "pure" a representation of the style I am trying to explain. (The way Bill defines bluegrass.) The Louvin Brothers, for example, to me, have taken a few steps from old time towards country music. Dawg and Jerry, well they have taken more than a few steps off the planet, (but darn they drag a lot of fantastic music with them).
    Last edited by JeffD; Feb-02-2016 at 9:07am.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  13. #11
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    24,807
    Blog Entries
    56

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Miller View Post
    I'm really drawn to just the guitar and mando combo: Bill and Charlie, Bill and Doc, Doc and Dawg, Dawg and Jerry. Now I have another to add to the list. Thanks!
    You might want to check out the Armstrong Twins. Floyd and Lloyd.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	arms1.jpg 
Views:	198 
Size:	15.4 KB 
ID:	143280  
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  14. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to JeffD For This Useful Post:


  15. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Placida, Florida
    Posts
    95

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    Stephen Foster's Hard Times. Ewen MacColl's Free Born Man. A.P. Carter's Storms are on the ocean. I'm studying Pretty Polly and all the songs that used the tune. Woody's Pastures of Plenty. Tom Paxton's Rumbling in the Land. Dylan's Hollis Brown. Sarah Jarozs' Tell Me True. Probably more, but I don't know. Anybody know of others? Maybe I could write one? OK, maybe not.

  16. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    Just started working on Wayfaring Stranger in A minor. Pretty simple melody-based version on the G and D strings, with lots of tremolo and liberal use of blue notes, especially the E flat. Pulling off the E flat to the open D sounds so great. Next step is to work in some double stops up high in the second half of the solo. This is really fun. First time I've built up a solo from the ground up rather than copying someone's solo or at least heavily borrowing. Nothing wrong with that, but this is a nice next step.

  17. #14
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Downstate Illinois
    Posts
    211

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    "Jerdan Am A Hard Road to Travel" and "Down the Old Plank Road."

  18. #15
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    24,807
    Blog Entries
    56

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    I like Cash on the Barrelhead.

    My favorite version is the Louvin Brothers, but Jim and Jesse did a great version that is old time pointing pretty strongly to bluegrass. Great old song.

    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  19. #16
    Registered User KrittMoore's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    PNW
    Posts
    39

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    A few of the old timey tunes I play for my children each night that I enjoy but don't know how much they enjoy

    Make me down a pallet
    Angel band
    Tennessee waltz
    Bury me beneath the willow

    To name a few. All have great lyrics and fun to improvise with.

  20. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to KrittMoore For This Useful Post:


  21. #17
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Kernersville, NC
    Posts
    2,593
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    Lately:
    Working on a Building
    Bury me beneath the willow
    White Dove
    Banks of the Ohio
    Shady Grove

  22. The following members say thank you to Mark Wilson for this post:


  23. #18
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    You guys are practically making a list of my favorite songs. I love those songs way more than more "modern" bluegrass songs or anything being written today.

  24. #19
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Peace and Love
    Posts
    2,417

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg7a...5lQ-HK4Y53q2dQ
    Love it, AND it's in D#. Would be nice to hear more mandolin in it. Tony Rice does a great version too, with a last verse that is apparently more original, but even so, may not be everything the author, who was in prison at the time, actually wrote.
    Here's the Tony Rice version:
    http://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blo...ne-county.html
    Last edited by Simon DS; Feb-25-2016 at 1:08pm. Reason: addition

  25. The following members say thank you to Simon DS for this post:


  26. #20
    Still Picking and Sawing Jack Roberts's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    sigmaX>=hbar/2sigmaP
    Posts
    1,701

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    Marching Through Georgia, but a little different from what you are used to with that tune:
    Ha, ha! keep time: how sour sweet music is,
    When time is broke and no proportion kept!
    --William Shakespeare

  27. #21
    Registered User LongBlackVeil's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    998

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    I can't really sing and play mandolin for some reason beyond just the simplest of chords, in a group if I'm singing I play very little. But I can definitely sing with guitar and now banjo too.

    Anyway, waterbound is one I'm working on now and having a lot of fun with on the banjo. Leaving Home is another. Johnny walk along (with your paper collar on), Jordan am a hard road is good too. First Unto This Country is one I like but haven't gotten a chance to play
    "When you learn an old time fiddle tune, you make a friend for life"

  28. #22
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Rochester NY 14610
    Posts
    17,378

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    The Blackest Crow, with Autoharp. Bruce Molsky sang this, and I never forgot it.
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

  29. The following members say thank you to allenhopkins for this post:


  30. #23
    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Richmond, Virginia
    Posts
    7,635

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    for vocals, I play the guitar and focus on acoustic blues from the 20s and 30s. Blind Boy Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Rev. Gary Davis - all the blind guys!

    f-d

    p.s., this weekend, I'm performing, "Police Dog Blues."
    ˇpapá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!

    '20 A3, '30 L-1, '97 914, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5, '14 OM28A

  31. The following members say thank you to fatt-dad for this post:


  32. #24
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    As a fellow country blues picker, may I say wow, that is some pretty tough stuff. I've tried some Blind Blake but he just kicked my ass. One of the most talented players in any genre ever. I managed to work up BBF's Meat Shakin' Woman, as long as I never tried to sing. For the most part I stick with Mississippi John Hurt, Frank Stokes, and Elizabeth Cotten. Still wonderful guitarists, but approachable by mere mortals. I'd love to hear your rendition of Police Dog. That's a great one.

  33. #25
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Saint Augustine Beach FL
    Posts
    6,634

    Default Re: What old-time/traditional vocal tune are you working on?

    The late Rev. Gary Davis was not one to praise other guitarist's but he said of Blind Blake " he was a sporting guitar player".
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •