| Author |
Topic: Turn Of The Century Meter |
George Redmon
From:
Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.
|
Posted 30 Nov 2015 4:41 pm |
|
Isn't this a great old traditional tune by Darby & Tarlton. Columbus Stockade Blues. The meter and phrasing is so different from todays modern songs. What type of Meter, or Phrasing is this called? At times it sounds like the two are not even playing together, but yet it all comes out right and works. A fiddle would have spiced things up along with the Dobro & Guitar. But I just love these old songs. I listen to them by the hour. Just thought I'd share an old forgotten part of American culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etWnqqtNIx4 |
|
|
|
Guy Cundell
From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
|
Posted 30 Nov 2015 5:37 pm
|
|
A very interesting old tune, George. Thanks for posting it. According to Tony Russell's discography it was recorded in November 1927 in Atlanta.
To me the playing sounds strongly influenced by the first generation of Hawaiian players. It is a march but that first A section is disrupted by a shift of the melody as played by the steel and then by the singer. Undisrupted the section would be 8 bars of 2 beats but with the first phrase shifted to me it sounds like 7 bars: 3/2/3/2/2/2/2 giving the same total of 16 beats.
Great stuff! |
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
Posted 30 Nov 2015 6:12 pm
|
|
| Quote: |
| that first A section is disrupted by a shift of the melody as played by the steel and then by the singer. |
I noticed that too. The singer's phrasing of the melody is not the same as the steel player's phrasing of the melody. At first I though there was a 2/4 measure in there somewhere, but I counted a complete 16 beats. I wonder if the singer did that by design or if he just had a timing issue? I've worked with singers who do that, rush the lyrics or hold back and sing after the beat, some on purpose and some due to poor timing.
Another thing to keep in mind... most small bands of the 1920s did not have drums. So a guitarist's strumming, as well the timing of all the musicians was critical to holding things together.
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
|
|
|
Chris Sattler
From:
Hunter Valley, Australia
|
Posted 1 Dec 2015 2:33 am
|
|
There is a significant increase in tempo as well. Intentional or not??????
I really have no idea. |
|
|
|
Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
|
Posted 1 Dec 2015 4:30 am
|
|
Songs were learned in an auditory tradition. Players learned the song from the same source, handed down.
The singer doesn't know if he's coming in on the downbeat or not; it doesn't matter. (Native American music at best has only one downbeat.)
Downbeats can change, they're less important in mountain music, giving it (to me) its charm and folk appeal. |
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
|
|
|
Guy Cundell
From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
|
Posted 6 Dec 2015 3:32 pm
|
|
A little bit of digging revealed some very interesting information about this track. I found this 2007 newspaper report that I hope is accurate. The report is under in first entry by Will Dockery and is an article by Brad Barnes.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.appalachian/U2itjFxAe4s
The first thing that strikes me is that while this tune is recognized as a traditional tune today, this is the first recording and the first record of the song. Both Darby and Tarlton claim authorship. Yes, it maybe similar to other tunes and they may have borrowed the melody but the article suggests that the subject matter is relevant to both claimants of authorship. Sure, there were some shoddy goings on with copyright in those days but it is quite feasible that one of these guys wrote the tune.
Therefore, if that is the case, to straighten out the phrasing, as all subsequent versions do, is playing it ‘wrong’. ie, not as the composer intended.
Another interesting point in the article is the genesis of Tarlton’s steel guitar style. He first learned blues, lap style with a switch blade and later met Frank Ferena. Influence from Ferena would help to explain Tarlton’s style and the choice of a march tempo and meter.
This video suggests that the original building is still standing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pfdZ4qdlm0 |
|
|
|
Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
|
Posted 6 Dec 2015 5:55 pm
|
|
| A good story, well-told, and an enjoyable musical history. |
|
|
|
David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
|
Posted 7 Dec 2015 6:09 pm
|
|
I would not call it "Turn of the Century Meter." You can hear that kind of untutored interpretation in just about any folk club in the world, where singers learn off lyric sheets with chord symbols written in over specific words.
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
|
|
|
