George Gibson | Lonesome Road
Added 2018-08-23 00:25:42 +0000 UTC(fDFADJimmy Dalton's Tuning)
"Stuart Jamieson started a listing of banjo tunes that he intended to eventually publish, however, he never got around to doing this. Stu moved to Florida after he retired; I corresponded with him regarding tunings and visited him several times. I have copies of most of his tunings, including the f -DFAD tuning, which he believed he got from Jimmy Dalton during World War II - Jimmy was from Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and was killed in the War." - George Gibson
The melody is original; the lyrics are somewhat similar to "Look Up and Down that Lonesome Road" which was recorded by William "Banjo Bill" Cornett and Buell Kazee.
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Look up look down that lonesome road
Hang down your head and cry,
The best of friends must part sometimes
But why must you and I?
True love true love what have I done
That makes you treat me so,
You've caused me to walk that lonesome road
Where I've never walked before.
The longest train that I ever saw
Came down that Georgia line,
The engine went by at six o'clock
And the cab went by at nine.
The fastest train that I ever saw
Came down that Georgia line,
The prettiest girl in this wide world
Was standing on behind.
The bell did ring and the whistle did blow
That train had pulled ahead,
That train did wreck in a mile of town
And it killed my woman dead.
If I had wings like Noah's dove
I'd fly to my true love's home,
I'd walk the porch from post to post
Hang down my head and cry.
Look up look down that lonesome road
Hang down your head and cry,
The best of friends must part sometimes
But why must you and I?
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Comments
Thanks for sharing all the info, Tony. I had a CD of Stu Jameson when I was very young on which he played and sang "Little Birdie" in Chinese! He says in the liner notes that it was a big favorite in China. I no longer have the CD.
Clifton Hicks
2018-08-23 18:17:49 +0000 UTCStu went on to be a major scientist at Bell labs and later at Cal Tech in California. He claimed he was the main scientist who figured out how to synchronize traffic lights and later he worked in designing space probes including equipment used for the lunar landings. Banjo life leads you to some really cool people and I have met great and world famous people in my other walks of life, but I feel privileged to have gotten to know Stu
Tony Thomas
2018-08-23 18:04:05 +0000 UTCStu had harrowing stories about the racist opposition in the area to his recording the band and his politeness to these African Americans. Only whites were allowed to attend the live performance that was part of the first recordings Stu and others made. When it over was late at night Stu who had a car offered to drive the band home several miles to their own settlement, Stu said his aunt and other relatives in the area heard about it as negative and disgusting from whites in the area for years, that Stu had given black people a ride in his car. Stu
Tony Thomas
2018-08-23 18:00:55 +0000 UTCStu's background was unique--and in many ways he was just a unique character, one in a billion, maybe 2 billion, He was raised in China by parents who were protestant missionaries, lived in NYC before WWII, but was in touch with the music heritage of his family from North Carolina and Tennesse. He decided after his service to get in touch with musical folk roots in Tennesee and North Carolina while still "on the GI Bill". He recalled how uninterested the folk music establishment both "folk singers in NYC" and folklorists out of Washington and the Universities were in things like banjo playing, He recalls how shocked Uncle Dave Macon was that a young extremely handsome fellow like Stu (in photos I have from the 40s he looks like a movie star), why such a fellow would be interested in how Uncle Dave played banjo. He found Gribble, York, and Lusk because they were well known in their area where he had a grand aunt, although Opry performers like Macon and the fiddler Benny Hill had heard of them too.
Tony Thomas
2018-08-23 17:58:17 +0000 UTCStu seems to be long forgotten since he died more than 10 years ago, but he was a major influence on me as I got to correspond with him and visit him several times in the hospice near Orlando where he spent his last years. He recorded some of the most important banjo players in the 1940s especially Rufus Crisp and earler the Black string band of Albert York guitarist,y John Lusk fiddler, and Banjoist Murph Gribble from Campaign, Tennessee whose music is recorded in the Altamont recordings.
Tony Thomas
2018-08-23 17:52:22 +0000 UTCVery cool.... I've just recently been entranced by Buell Kazee's rendition of this song so I was eerily surprised to see this posted. This tuning is really nice for the song. It's very interesting how the banjo can use numerous tunings to play the same song.
Matt Spears
2018-08-23 15:00:11 +0000 UTCMick, do you recognize the verse about "Noah's dove?" I have only ever heard George sing that but have a feelings it's something he picked up rather than composed himself.
Clifton Hicks
2018-08-23 12:38:14 +0000 UTCThose lyrics include elements of about half a dozen other songs, though I don't recognize the melody at all.
Micheál Mac Labhrás
2018-08-23 11:55:38 +0000 UTC“The best of friends must part sometimes But why must you and I?” A family friend passed away yesterday. This is what I can’t stop thinking about today! Not for me and him... but his wife and family. It’s what would be in my head if I lost my wife.
Mike Rebitzke
2018-08-23 01:41:36 +0000 UTCIs this style played by George called thumb lead?--as his fingers seem to brush the strings rather than strike straight down as in clawhammer.style Or is it a mixture of both? Also I guess my question is--does a beginner student learn the clawhammer style --then months down the road--learn thumb or index lead--and then mixed them or use one style on specific tunes. Thank you.
Mary LeVesque
2018-08-23 01:18:16 +0000 UTCMaybe it’s because my mood right now matches Mr. Gibson’s playing and the tune...but that is some serious sh**t! Sorry for the language! But, seriously! My god! That brought me into a trance that I didn’t want to leave! There’s just something about some peoples’ playing, and certain tunes, that are magical!
Mike Rebitzke
2018-08-23 00:39:25 +0000 UTC
