John Duffey - controversial stage persona?

[Rob Parnell]

Many thanks Tim Pike for posting http://youtu.be/zdBpBehEAJ0
I live in Canberra, Australia and saw the Seldom Scene at the Birchmere in 1992. I was travelling from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival up to visit friends in Rhode Island. So to say I was primed would be correct. We met a guy called Dusk at the festival and he invited us to stay in Washington, which we did. He took us to the Birchmere and I have held the memory of John playing the mandolin on that night all these years. He was dressed in a colorful outfit that you would not describe as subdued. Some of the colors matched. I remember Mike Auldridge was on dobro and if memory serves me well Norman Blake was a guest player. However it was John’s performance that is the cornerstone of that memory. He was so entertaining, a real force of nature. Ben Eldridge is correct when he says John “pushed the envelope”.
I’ve just received a copy in the mail of Jonathon Edwards & The Seldom Scene from 1988. John Duffey on mandolin. I cant wait to crack it.
Does anyone know Dusk? He used to do a typed music rave that he would post out. His wife’s name was Dawn and he changed his name for sweet reasons. He would be all over social media if he were still alive. I’ve tried to find him there but no luck.
I love this forum and the discussion re that photo of John shielding Bill Monroe’s microphone.

[AlanN]

That album - The Seldom Scene with J. Edwards - was quite the event. Duffey's tenor on Sunshine go away today was piercing. I think there may have been a 2nd LP, if memory serves. John passed away the same year as Monroe, didn't he? A life cut short by poor choices.

[Denny Gies]

My wife and I got to see the Seldom Scene a couple of times. We both thought John was a great entertainer and never did or said anything that we thought was controversial or inappropriate. We also got to meet him and spent some time with the band back stage...he seemed to be genuine and a nice guy.

[Willie Poole]

Danny, John did say some things that some people took the wrong way, all of his "put downs" were done in a jokingly manner but not everyone took them that way, you can`t please everyone all of the time...I have even seen times when his own band members were thrown back by what he said but they soon realized that he was just joking...a lot of it depended on where and who he was playing for, he was dead serious when playing at The White house for instance....

Have you ever heard his take off on "Big Bad John"? He called it "Big Bad Bruce" if not, google it and see if it is on there, now some stations wouldn`t play that cut and some took it the wrong way and I can understand that...

One thing he did do and that was enjoy picking that mandolin, and of course, bowling, I almost forgot about that, I spent quite a bit of time with him at a bowling alley...

Willie

[Timbofood]

No press is bad press!its fairly clear that we all have special spots for Mr. Duffey. I have told my Jhn Duffey story before so I won't plow through it again now. Suffice to say, he treated me very kindly, I did not know him well but, miss him.

[chris.burcher]

I can't help but chime in on this one. For whatever reason, I was drawn to Duffey when i first started playing mandolin. I was a Tony Rice guitar head and was pulled for years to mandolin, finally giving in and considering myself primarily a mandolin player. It was an odd combination of grisman, sam bush, and john duffey that changed my ways. I was a huge Scene head, getting to see them close to 100 times in the 'reincarnated' John Starling era in the 90s with T. Michael Coleman on bass.

I guess it was their harmonies that drew me in, but as a budding mandolin player I watched and listened to Duffey a lot. I think he really 'shaped' me as a player, in large part subconsciously, and probably led to a lot of my sloppy habits. But he also provided an example to have fun and explore craziness on the mandolin. His style is so interesting and perplexing, I used to ask myself, "is he a genius, or is he just not that good". Of course, he was exceptionally talented but he often played pretty sloppy for reasons known only to him, I guess. Either way, it was interesting to have my style be influenced in so many ways by him. In the era of crazy Thile clones, maybe we need a little more John Duffey.

I don't remember if I read this, heard a rumor, or heard him say it, but when asked about practicing he replied "I open my case when the man opens his wallet."

[Willie Poole]

Chris, That sounds like John....One time a promoter in California called and asked if The Scene would come out and appear on his festival, he told John that he had $2500, and John said "Which one of us do you want"...A true story...he did play for the money but when he made a repair for a friend most of the time it was "no charge", there are a lot of things about John that most people don`t know, they judge him by what they have seen on the stage...Two different people....

Willie

[Timbofood]

I came into John Duffey the same way Chris, " He's either a genius or, totally nuts!" I loved his power, he was great. My wife gave me the CD of "The Rebel Years", it hasn't yet gotten out of the player in the car, it's a great collection!

[Mandoplumb]

I don't call Duffy's playing sloppy. It is less precise than Thile, but that is style not sloppy. Duffy couldn't play like Thile but Thile couldn't play like Duffy, their approach is so different and I think each is a master of his style. Which is better? A matter of opinion,I could listen to Duffy all day long, about two numbers from Thile and I'm hunting something.else to listen to, your opinion could be opposite.

[f5joe]

I first met John in 1981 in D.C. at a show. He actually took his entire break between sets to sit with me and discuss mandolin. I asked if he ever considered writing a method book. He laughed and said he just "plays at" the mandolin. He was very modest.

Got to spend more time with him over the years. He was quite the kidder/teaser, sarcastic guy. Just my kind. Miss him a lot.

[Jeff Hildreth]

"...,I could listen to Duffy all day long, about two numbers from Thile and I'm hunting something.else to listen to, your opinion could be opposite. "

I am also in that camp.

I have saved a very few Bluegrass recordings, Seldom scene among them.

[Andy B]

I am also a big fan of John Duffey's music. His instantly recognizable voice and powerful tenor, as well as his innovative vocal arrangements, defined the vocal sound of the the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene. He was a mandolin innovator starting in the late 50s. His powerful melodic kickoffs, often featuring his stinging tremolo, made him, as David Grisman said, an expert at setting tunes in motion with his mandolin. One of his most famous mandolin pieces was the Gentlemen's version of "The World is Waiting For The Sunrise" recorded early on. The last time I saw John Duffey with the Scene at Winterhawk in 1994, they played "Sunrise" and there was nothing sloppy about his picking--just really inspired music.

[Timbofood]

Let's face it, for some of us John Duffey was "Da Man!"

[dbilello]

All this John Duffey talk is making me thirsty!

[AlanN]

Duffey had a wonderful chop and a very good tremble. Before Bush, Dawg, Statman, there was John. He was the father of newgrass mandolin. When I was first starting out, his playing on those Country Gentlemen tunes like Katy Dear, Make Me A Pallet, 500 Miles, etc. really excited me.

[Willie Poole]

Like Alan says, If you want to hear the real Duffey just listen to his early recordings with the country Gents. Alan sent me a CD of their music for 25 years and the early Duffey mandolin is "the real stuff", when he played "Sloppy" it was when he trying to be funny on stage.....I took an A-50 mandolin to him once to have him look at it and asked what he could do to improve it and after he played it he told me that some repairmen would take it and just sit it on a shelf and and do nothing to it and then charge me a tidy sum, he said it sound great the way it was and played it for about an hour and just smiled and told me I had a good one and to not do anything to it...I don`t think he cared about getting rich repairing instruments that didn`t need anything done to them, seems that a lot of repairmen should be that honest...

One thing about him though in his later years is that would not show you any of his "fancy licks" because he said he just played what came to mind and didn`t think about it very much....He`s gone and I miss him..a lot...

Willie