Spotted this 1973 photo of Stephen Stills today
Spotted this 1973 photo of Stephen Stills today
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
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"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
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Not a G chord! Kind of a D7sus, perhaps
Hey Steve! If you're not sure what to do with with that fine if somewhat worn instrument, I'll be glad to give it a whirl.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
This may not be an entirely random sighting, all things considered. But a few aspects of this experience, notably the performance, were a bit unusual.
The Martin Barre Band played at our local theater last night. I didn't know what to expect, but Jethro Tull was one of my favorite bands back in the day (there was a time my Big Three were, The Band, Jethro Tull, and Traffic, even with so much other suiff going on, Hendrix and Cream included), so I wasn't going to miss this. I volunteer as an usher there, so I made sure to sign up for this show. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the evening's entertainment was going to feature all Jethro Tull songs. This was due to Martin celebrating Jethro Tull's 50th Anniversary, or perhaps his 50th year since joining the band, even though he doesn't play with Ian Anderson anymore. Also, Clive Bunker, the original drummer, was in the lineup. (And yes, he took a ride on "Dharma For One.")
Before we opened the doors, I did what I often do - went to look at the stage setup. Along with the guitars to stage left was an F-style mandolin on a stand. I couldn't quite see what make it was.
Someone came out from the wings and began tuning the guitars - an elderly man with longish white hair breezing back from a receding hairline, a wee wisp of a goatee, and glasses. When he was in between instruments I asked him what make of mandolin that was. He said "Aria." I said something polite but there might have been a slight tone in my voice that may have conveyed disappointment. He said, "I didn't want to risk bringing my good one from England just for one song. This does quite well." A light went on in my head - this was Martin Barre himself doing the guitar teching.
We chatted some about mandolins and such. He has a 1917 Gibson F-4 with an oval hole. I said I have an A model, oval hole, same age. I like how it has a fuller low end. He nodded his assent. I commented on him doing his own guitar teching. He said, "I don't trust anyone else with it." That does seem a practical approach. I appreciated his downright, forthright demeanor in talking with me. Very cool, indeed. And also, as I think back on it now - I believe he was not using a tuner. This always impresses me. Those are some good ears.
After rocking their way through the repertoire in fairly chronological order for over an hour - and let me tell you, they were putting a lot of punch into the songs without the distraction of that fussy flighty flautist hogging the limelight they switched over to acoustic mode for about twenty minutes, The last song of the set featured Martin on mandolin, the bass player switching over to Irish bouzouki, and one of the backup singers playing washboard and singing lead. I had been thinking they might do "Fat Man," that being perhaps the most well-known instance of mandolin in Jethro Tull's oeuvre. But then again, I believe that was Ian playing mandolin, so what Martin would play ... well, that could have been anyone's guess. The selection was "Locomotive Breath." The classic rock riff was barely even suggested from time to time. Instead the driving force was provided by a descending minor scale motif doubled by mandolin and bouzouki. The overall effect was a sort of Olde English minstrel sound, quite refreshing in its innovation.
There was an intermission, then another 45-50 minute set, with an encore of the classic rock version of "Locomotive Breath." Afterwards, contrary to the reportedly cancelled meet-and greet due to the late hour and loomimg 5-6-hour drive to the next show, Martin Barre was kind enough to delay leaving and meet fans. I was fortunate enough for him to grant my wish and pose for a picture with me. It was so kind of him, and a thrill for me to meet, however briefly, one of my all-time favorite guitarists. But the real thrill for me was the brief chat before the show. It's always pleasing to learn how unassuming and down-tp-earth and just bloody pleasant many of these extremely talented and fairly famous people can be.
Last edited by journeybear; May-03-2019 at 10:43am. Reason: a bit out of practice with this stuff
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
This is possibly the highest profile for mandolins in a commercial ever! And it's really cool, with some nice-looking and -sounding mandolins.
Today I was surprised to see a mandolin/mandola/pear-shaped instrument in a giant two-story-tall mural painted on the side of a building in Aberdeen WA. At first I couldn't tell what the mandolin was, initially it almost looked like a weapon or something (that's what caught my eye while waiting at the traffic light, I was like "Huh? What's that?" but after peering at it for a moment, it looked more like a mandolin. A mandolin? Really? Huh. I went back around the block and got a picture of it so I could study it in more detail. You can see in the mural's upper left, there's a guy playing a mandolin-like instrument, and a lady playing a bass fiddle or something similar. Note the bicycles below the mural at the bottom left of the pic, to get an idea of the mural's size. Cellphone pics: (click each pic several times to make 'em big enough to see)
Close-up/zoomed view of just the two musicians and instruments:
Apparently that particular mural was painted in 2016 by Jenny Fisher who lives in the region.
The mural features industries that were hugely important in earlier years of the region, including shipbuilding, fishing, logging etc. About all that's left of those industries is a little bit of logging but not nearly as much as in past years.
Incidentally, some possible more mandolin content: I've heard from various people that, in earlier years, plenty of old-growth spruce (for instance, tonewood for musical instrument tops) passed through Aberdeen and Hoquiam, on its way from the Olympic National Forest etc to (among other destinations) various musical instrument makers. Wait, lemme Google it... ok I found the following article about the town of Hoquiam which is about 4 miles (6.4 km) away from where the mural is:
Gibson and Martin guitars made from Hoquiam spruce wood.
Posey Manufacturing was producing 500,000 guitar tops annually at its height in the 1960s.
... all the major names like Gibson and Martin guitars were getting the Sitka spruce wood for guitar tops from Hoquiam.
"It's almost certain that Posey guitar soundboards were in guitars used by Bob Dylan, Elvis, the absolute cream of the crop of musicians," ...
Posey was producing 500,000 guitar tops annually for guitar companies at its height in the 1960s, according to former Posey Manager Frank Johnson.
Because the supply of spruce trees in the Adirondack Mountains was running out in the 1930s, guitar companies looked to the West Coast for spruce, and Posey was the first major distributor of thin Sitka spruce boards that were glued together and sent to guitar companies to be cut into the shape for the front face of acoustic guitars....
There were other companies selling spruce in the Pacific Northwest later on, but [Professor Chris Gibson] said Posey was the earliest and most important distributor between the 1930s and 60s. ...
"Posey was truly a sleeper industry here," said [Hoquiam's Polson Museum Director John Larson]. "They quietly went along, no one paid attention to them, yet they were doing this worldwide distribution of a very specialized product, that was very precise."
The Posey Manufacturing Co. has a long list of impressive products it made in the 1900s, from wooden spars used in the plane Charles Lindbergh flew for the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to piano soundboards for major piano companies such as Yamaha and Kimball, and other things like backgammon boards and bowls.
The piano soundboards were one of the primary products for Posey, and former workers said they recall Steinway Pianos sending its soundboards to them for repairs on occasion.
So... nevermind Dylan and Elvis guitar tops and piano soundboards, I wanna know if any of the Loar/etc mandolins were made with wood from the region. The article quoted above, doesn't specifically mention mandolins, but one would think if that Hoquiam wood-supplier company was producing 500,000 guitar tops per year, there must have been a few mandolin tops in there too.
Guessing here, the old spruce soundboard producer in Hoquiam might have some bearing on why the mural's creator included two musical instruments in the painting. The focus of the mural seems to be on the area's immigrants and their jobs, and the sawmills definitely provided plenty of employment (not the safest line of work, but work nonetheless).
Anyway, I was definitely surprised to see that mandolin/pear-shaped instrument painted there on the side of the building. I've seen the mural before but had not noticed that particular feature until today. (The mural is on Heron Street a few blocks down from Safeway before you get to Walmart, or another landmark would be that it's across the street from the touristy Billy's bar. I don't know the exact address or cross-street, and I'm too lazy to look it up on a map right now.)
What a great mural. Thanks for posting it and the explanation.
Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album
I watched Rocky III last night and ya know the part where Rocky is training in "Style" to fight Clubber-Mr. T the house band has a mandolin player, looks like an Ibanez F-5!
The Loars were earlier
This surprised me even more than my earlier mandolin mural sighting - I found this today on Michel Loiselle's "Gargoyles on Parliament Hill" webpage...
The official Canadian Parliament Peace Tower in Ottawa Canada, has a gargoyle playing a mando or lute type of thing:
Nearby on the same Parliament clock tower, a concertina:
Well, why not. Kinda cool!
Fair Use, cropped versions - the little pics above are low-res cropped zoomed-in views; whereas the original pics are much larger.
Yes, they're role models to us mandolin and accordion players in Ottawa. Maybe I'll start a group called "The Gargoyles.'
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
Only went through the first 5 pages so if it was posted later-sorry. Was watching Milagro Beanfield War for the concertina and noted about 2 seconds of mandolin (Harmony/Kay?) during the harvest party......
Thanks
Several mandolins of varying quality-any one of which deserves a better player than I am.......
aka: Spencer
Silverangel Econo A #429
Soliver #001 Hand Crafted Pancake
Soliver Hand Crafted Mandolins and Mandolin Armrests
Armrests Here -- Mandolins Here
"You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage
to lose sight of the shore, ...and also a boat with no holes in it.” -anonymous
Sesame Street, S49 E27 "Little Bo Peep Lost Her Cow", has a mandolin-shaped prop/model of some sort being 'played' by one of the puppets. Screenshots below. Click pics to make bigger:
As one might expect from a (presumably) casual scale-model that's not meant to be closely inspected by us mandolin nerds, some of the structural details are unusual, for instance it has 6 'tuners' instead of 8:
For context, here's a non-magnified (can't see much) view of the entire scene with the other 'vocalist' puppets:
The show's soundtrack didn't seem to have any mandolin-type sounds in that spot though, at least not that I noticed.
My sweetheart just hung up a poster that she's had since she attended The Pacific Northwest Women's Music Festival at Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington in 1977. This lovely Art Nouveau style poster features a woman with a mandolin-related instrument -- you know, the one with four strings at the head and six at the tail. Oh well, the artist was promoting a festival, not a luthier. Enjoy.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
Yesterday on Jeopardy, in the Double Jeopardy round, the category "Musical Instruments" came up. I said to myself, "Hmmm ... I wonder." Sure enough, the $1600 clue was 'In 1787 this pear-shaped lute was featured in "Don Giovanni"; nearly 200 years later, in Bruce Hornsby's "Rain"' And, sure enough, no one got it. No one even tried.
Now, in fairness, there was a pretty big error in the way the clue is constructed, which may have hampered the contestants. If it had been presented correctly, as "_________ Rain," that might have helped jog their memories.
It's nice to be remembered, all the same.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Well, this was a most pleasant surprise! Jimmy Kimmel Live was in repeats for the last days of the year, and this appearance by Sturgill Simpson came up. Somehow I'd missed it first time around. Now, I like him fairly well, he's brought some new yet very solid stuff to country music over the last few years. But I didn't know he'd ventured into bluegrass. Look who's kicking this off and taking quite a nice ride on it - Sierra Hull! There's also some fine backup from Stuart Duncan and someone else you might recognize, sneaking in with a beard and guitar - Tim O'Brien. Apart from the backing vocalists' mics being a couple tads too low, some mighty fine entertainment right here. Howdy howdy howdy!
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Recent thread about Simpson and his bluegrass back-up band when they appeared on Stephen Colbert's show in November.
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
Yeah, Kimmel video was posted by me in post #54 of that thread, 3 weeks ago.
And your point is? Allen already apprised me of my "oopsie." I acknowledged that with a "Thanks" on his post. Anything more of that nature is piling on. But I appreciate your taking the time to construct a post displaying such fine skills.
The thing is, even if I had noticed that thread, I still would have posted here, since it IS a rather random mandolin sighting.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Where's an eye roll emoji when I need one?
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
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