Banjo Bill Cornett | "Morphine" (lost recording)
Added 2018-04-03 15:04:33 +0000 UTCIn an earlier video I mentioned that I possessed this evidently rare recording of William 'Banjo Bill' Cornett playing and singing two versions of the Knott County, Kentucky banjo blues song "Morphine." The two versions I clipped together in here appear to be from the same tapes used for the album "Lost Recordings of Banjo Bill Cornett" (Field Recorders' Collective 2005)--however, they were mysteriously omitted from said release.
I present them to the public here in accordance with Cornett's verbal assertion the he wants his music to be preserved for "any people" who wish to listen:
'This is Banjo Bill Cornett. I'm at home today: the thirteenth day of February, nineteen and fifty-eight... And I'm a making this record to give somebody--I don't know who I'll give this recording to. I want to give it to somebody that will keep it. And if there's any people after I'm gone who'd like to hear my carrying on, as far as my banjo playing and singing is concerned, I'd like them to keep it.' - William "Banjo Bill" Cornett (13 February 1958)
Comments
Interesting article on "emulation vs imitation". I have also spent time learning gypsy jazz guitar, a la Django Reinhardt. The gypsies seem to pass on their music the same way. They just play it, and the kids that show an interest hang around on the periphery, learning by emulating their elders. No one ever stops to teach, it seems.
Mark Shimonkevitz
2018-04-03 22:22:17 +0000 UTCAfter lengthy reflection I realized that Rep. Cornett himself states very clearly his desire that these recordings be "kept" by "any people" who want to hear them. I do want to be clear that I'm not making any money off of his recording and I only uploaded it as per the wishes of the man himself.
Clifton Hicks
2018-04-03 17:10:46 +0000 UTCHard to say! One thing I've heard both Gibson and Cornett do a lot of (that I've not heard much elsewhere) is "double noting." This is where you play a fretted string, pull-off, immediately press the same string down again and play the same note again. This fills the same space as a "drop-thumb" but is accomplished by double-noting with the left hand instead of double-thumbing with the right (like a typical "Round Peak" picker would do). It seems that, while most could and did use it, double-thumbing was not a favorite technique of many earlier banjo pickers in that area. It is difficult to make any generalized statement describing a particular area's playing style--if I were to dare to make such a broad statement about historic Knott County banjo players I would have say they tended to prefer left hand plucks, hammers, bends and slides over right hand drop-thumbs.
Clifton Hicks
2018-04-03 17:01:44 +0000 UTCThanks for posting this!
Daniel Cassells
2018-04-03 16:50:32 +0000 UTCJust curious but do you know any other left hand licks other than the Knott County lick that may have roots to this area?
Patrick Campbell
2018-04-03 16:14:16 +0000 UTCI agree, Jake. Roscoe Holcomb certainly sang that way as well. I learned that approach to singing with the banjo from George Gibson (who himself learned a thing or two from watching Banjo Bill perform). Gibson, of course, has lots more to say on the subject here: <a href="http://banjohistory.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://banjohistory.com/</a>
Clifton Hicks
2018-04-03 15:33:18 +0000 UTC"[In his performances], the melody appears slow and drawn out, in a lyrical way that contrasts with the rhythmic, percussive banjo sound." From John Cohen's description of Banjo Bill here ( <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081223210346/http://www.fieldrecorder.com/docs/notes/cornett_cohen.htm" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20081223210346/http://www.fieldrecorder.com/docs/notes/cornett_cohen.htm</a> ). I never thought about that as a particular characteristic of that sort of eastern Kentucky style, but that seems to describe your playing too, Clifton. Morphine, in particular, seems to emphasize that contrast between long drawn out vocal lines and rapid, percussive, yet droning banjo.
Jake Tolbert
2018-04-03 15:22:44 +0000 UTC
