A few years back, I came across a video of Amira Willighagen, and my jaw dropped. Here was a nine-year-old girl singing “O Mio Babbino Caro” as if she was blessed with an operatic voice at birth. She was performing on the program Holland’s Got Talent. The judges were knocked over, and as expected, she was the winner for that year (2013). At 17, she has been performing professionally since that win and has toured the world. I still get goose bumps when I see that original video clip of her audition.
Writing for Fiddler, I like to look out for up-and-coming talent. I often stray away from the roots-music genres and dive into classical violin. Scanning through YouTube has allowed me to come across some amazing talent. I have mentioned French violinist/model Esther Abrami in a previous post regarding Glarry beginner violins (https://luegra.design.blog/2020/05/03/violin-vs-fiddle-its-all-about-attitude/). I have followed her for a few years, have become a patron of hers, and we have become friends (albeit through the internet), emailing and chatting every so often. She has an album coming out in February, and from what I have heard of some of the songs, it is absolutely beautiful work. Find out more from her website at http://www.estherabrami.com/, and/or subscribe to her YouTube channel.
I recently came across two young violinists that brought me to tears of joy. To see such talent in teenage students is beyond belief. The first artist is Julia Majewska. She is now 13 years old, comes from Poland, but has studied in London (which shows in her wonderful control of the English language). She has won numerous international awards, and has been a part of the prestigious London Young Musician program. To see someone like her perform Paganini seems unreal, but it is. Check out her YouTube channel. Here she is performing “Chaccone” by Vitali for one of her exams.
The other young artist that I found is Christian Li. He is 14 years old, from Australia, and at 10 years was the youngest winner of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists. He has been winning competitions since the age of seven, and is extremely humble about his talent. Like any kid, he enjoys kids’ activities, but to see his dedication to the violin is heartwarming. Again, check out his YouTube channel, and watch this 2018 video of his entry at the Menuhin Competition.
I am so glad that music is in good hands for the future generations. I know that I could never have been this good when I was young, even if I practiced 12 hours per day. There is a gift from God that is given to such individuals to be this good at this young age. It is a beautiful thing to see.
This one made me heartbroken. Yesterday, December 10th, singer-songwriter and former member of the Monkees Michael Nesmith passed away at the age of 78. As a kid, I was a big fan of the Monkees. Yeah, the whole prefabricated set-up was frowned upon years afterward, but the band dressed cool, were funny, and made some great music.
As I got older, and started to get into country-rock music, I became a big fan of Nesmith. I looked back on his Monkees catalogue, and was surprised how many of the better songs from the band were written by him. He also wrote “Different Drum” for Linda Rondstadt and The Stone Poneys. When everyone in the alt-country and Americana was gushing over Gram Parsons as being the formats’ godfather, I was singing the praises of Nesmith and his influential work with the First National Band, later becoming the Second National Band.
Nesmith really never had to work in his life if he didn’t want to. He could have lived off of his mother’s fortune, as she was the inventor of Liquid Paper correction fluid. Before graduating high school, he enlisted in the US Air Force, and started writing songs upon discharge. He moved from Texas to California, got a publishing deal, then a friend told him to audition for a television show about a Beatles-type band. He beat out Steven Stills and John Sebastian (from Lovin’ Spoonful) and the rest is 1960s television history.
From the beginning, Nesmith pushed for the producers of the show to allow him and the other members to perform on their own instruments and write their own songs. By the time of the band’s third album, Headquarters, they got more freedom. However, interest in this pre-made band and internal conflicts were building up. The group made their own feature film, Head, that was panned by critics, but one could see where Nesmith would move to in the next few years.
After the dissolving of the Monkees, Nesmith formed The First National Band. If you ever come across any recordings of this incarnation or of the Second National Band, buy them! Pedal steel guitarist Red Rhodes was amazing to say the least.
Nesmith also got into video production in its early stages. He produced and starred in an hour-long music video montage called Elephant Parts, which won a Grammy Award in 1982 for Long-Form Music Video. For this and some of his other early work, he has been considered one of the fathers of MTV. He also had a short-lived television show called Television Parts that helped launch the careers of Whoopi Goldberg, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jay Leno. He produced a number of underground films, the best known being Repo Man and Tapeheads (in both he makes a cameo a la Alfred Hitchcock).
During the 1990s, he helped sponsor the Council on Ideas, which was a think-tank of intellectuals discussing the major concerns of the day and would publish the results. He was also involved in a lawsuit with PBS over video licensing rights. He won the case, and gave the best quote regarding the situation: “It’s like finding your grandmother stealing your stereo. You’re happy to get your stereo back, but it’s sad to find out your grandmother is a thief.”
It was Nesmith’s songwriting with what I am most impressed. The list is many that are now considered sing-along classics. “Different Drum,” “The Girl That I Knew Somewhere,” “Mary, Mary,” “Listen to the Band,” and “Some of Shelley’s Blues” are just a few. Besides the Monkees and Linda Rondstadt, other artists that recorded his song include the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Lynn Anderson, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Frankie Laine.
I met Mike Nesmith in Chicago back in the early 1990s at a hotel. I went up to him and shook his hand, and told him how much I appreciated his songwriting. He was cordial but you could tell he had other things on his mind. I think that he was surprised that I didn’t ask to take a photo with him. I saw him in concert here in Detroit about five years ago. He was doing a tour highlighting songs of his career. I wouldn’t have missed that for the world. He had Chris Scruggs playing lead guitar in the band (one of the best all-around musicians from Nashville, as well as being Earl Scruggs’ grandson), which was really cool.
I guess that my greatest personal tribute to Mike Nesmith came when my short-lived roots-rock band Two-Fisted Tales was asked to record a song for the compilation CD Papa Nez: A Loose Salute to the Work of Michael Nesmith. We did “Papa Gene’s Blues.” Take a listen.
Mike Nesmith made wearing a knit cap and playing a 12-string electric guitar cool. He rocked the long sideburns and big sunglasses. Your songwriting and spirit will live on forever in my rock-n-roll heart.
Everyone that knows me knows that I love Martin guitars. I have a 1981 D-28 that I call Hazel (after Hazel Dickens) that I traded for with a Fender American Telecaster. She sounds beautiful, and even though my arthritis has been making it a bit difficult to fret, I still rely on her to be my guitar wife.
My first Martin as a DXM model that had a laminated top and was a low-end model. Even so, I was able to sell it years later for the same price that I paid. Over the past few years the lower-end Martins become more valuable as they age just like the higher-priced models. I have five or six other acoustics, some are easier to play, but Hazel is my go-to acoustic when I am recording or playing live.
I have always been a fan of Martin guitars. Partly because many of my country and bluegrass heroes played Martins. They truly set the standard for acoustic guitars, especially dreadnoughts. I recently subscribed to the Martin Guitars YouTube channel. It contains videos of artists performing at the Martin Guitar museum in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, as well as demo videos of Martin guitars and ukuleles. There is also a “Jam on the Road” series, with the most recent upload being country artist Dierks Bentley doing an acoustic jam with some of his bandmates.
There are two newer videos showing the construction of the D-18 and D-28 models at the Nazareth factory. Watch them and tell me what you think that I find wrong about them.
It has nothing to do with what the video is showing. It is great that they can show all of what goes into making a solid, beautiful and legendary acoustic guitar in under five minutes. However, the music is what I find wrong. The background music is electric blues-rock, with distorted electric guitars and heavy drums. Why would someone put this kind of music on an acoustic guitar video? There are hundreds of hard-driving guitar-laden bluegrass recordings out there. A Billy Strings or Molly Tuttle instrumental would work. Or most perfectly, “The D-18 Song (Thank You, Mr. Martin)” by Norman Blake and Tony Rice.
But what do I know?
Changing the topic. Back in August 2020 I blogged about the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word, a sect of nuns currently residing at the Casa Maria Convent in Birmingham, Alabama (https://luegra.design.blog/2020/08/07/nuns-performing-bluegrass-and-diversity/). The Sisters are very musically inclined, performing at various religious functions. Back in August I posted a video of them performing the bluegrass Gospel standard “I’ll Fly Away.” I just came across two more videos of Sister Mary Anthony jamming with fiddler David Morris and his mother. They are performing Bill Monroe’s “Jerusalem Ridge” and the old-time fiddle classic “Tom and Jerry.”
This is so wonderful to watch. Never doubt the power of God and music!
This past week, the documentary Get Back was streamed for viewing by those interested. When I first heard that there were plans to take unreleased film footage of The Beatles from the Let It Be sessions and release it as an alternate documentary to the original, I was ecstatic! I knew that all of that footage existed, and while the original documentary showed the Fab Four in a bad light, with lots of in-fighting, those in-the-know stated that the unseen footage showed them as still four lads having a good time playing songs together.
Then I heard that Peter Jackson was put in charge of gathering up the hours of footage and making it into a more truthful documentary, with the blessings of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. While I have never seen any of this Lord of the Rings films (I am not a fan at all of those sci-fi fantasy stories), I do know that Jackson does some great directorial work. When his World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old came out, I went to see it at the theaters three times, each time leaving with tears of amazement. His work on that film is beyond fantastic.
So with all of that going for Get Back, I waited for months to get a chance to see it. YouTube would broadcast a few trailers, and my mouth would drool. My favorite all time rock-n-roll band coming back to the screen courtesy of one of today’s greatest directors!
Then I learned that Disney was in charge of production and marketing, and I have decided to pass on watching it, at least for the time being.
Today’s Disney is not the Disney of old. Back when Walt had Micky, Donald, and Goofy running around being the cartoon version of the Marx Brothers. Or seeing the brilliant adaptations of children’s stories such as Snow White, Cinderella, or Dumbo. And the awesomeness of Fantasia. I won’t even go into talking about his dreams turning into Disneyland.
No, Disney today is about money, no matter how it is made and who is giving it to them. The company owns so much of the entertainment business presently, and they have become political about it. They lean so far left that there is no coming back to center. They are constantly firing actors from their films for speaking more conservative views. I am totally shocked that they, as owners of Fox News, allow the network to lean a bit more right of center. Most likely only because Fox News is the most watched news network on television, leaving CNN, MSNBC, and the three commercial networks in the dust. And that means money for them!
Disney is also extremely friendly with the Communist Party of China (CCP). With that said, money spent on Mickey Mouse watches, trips to Disney World, and yes, streaming subscriptions to watch Get Back, will filter back to China so that it can build hypersonic weapons that the US has no match to compete.
China was smart. They knew where to attack the US at its most vulnerable part – entertainment. Disney, the NBA, and so many other sports and entertainment companies are in the pockets of Chinese businessmen and politicians. Basketball star Enes Kanter talks about the evils of socialism and communism, and he is reprimanded, while LeBron James is rewarded heavily for defending China and not speaking out about the human atrocities that happen there.
So I refuse to let my money go to helping China put another nail into the US morality coffin. I’m not even going to post a YouTube clip of the documentary here. As much as I will always love The Beatles and their music, I also hate socialism and communism that much more.
What constitutes a “banjo”? Why I bring this up is that I am seeing a lot of pop and rock stars claiming that they are playing a banjo, when in reality they are strumming and plucking a six-string instrument tuned like a standard guitar, with the strings going over a banjo head and resonator.
Now, 20 years ago, these instruments were referred to as banjitars, and the band Old Crow Medicine Show would call it a “guitjo” on its liner notes. These instruments have been around for decades, but popularity was mostly underground. I remember the first time that I saw someone playing one was guitar wizard Joe Satriani on an early episode of MTV Unplugged.
Usually when someone says, “I play the banjo,” we assume they are talking about the five-string variety, with the high G string droning, and played either clawhammer or Scruggs style. We tend to forget about the four-string plectrum banjo (popular with Dixieland bands), the shorter-neck four-string tenor banjo (used by many Irish bands), and of course, the many variations of gourd banjos. The one thing that they have in common is that the body or resonator part of the instrument has a top of skin or thin plastic stretched over the resonator pot (much like a drum head), and the strings being plucked will strike the head via a bridge to create the sound (unlike a guitar that produces sound through the sound hole). I am not going to get too technical here.
One of the most famous performers of the four-string variety was multi-instrumentalist Eddie Peabody. During the 1920s through 1950s, Peabody performed on stage, film and television on the four- and five-string banjos. His playing style was more of stroking the strings either with his fingers or a pick. He was a great entertainer, but his brand of music faded out as popular music turned to crooners, then country, then rock and roll. Toward the end of his career, Rickenbacker Guitar Company made him electric guitars with banjo necks. So, did this constitute the he was playing an “electric guitar”? By the way, Peabody was a whiz on guitar and fiddle as well.
Getting back to the six-string variety, is it an actual banjo? If one were to look at the entire lineup of banjos, as well as consider the sound that it produced and how it was produced, then technically, it is a banjo. For the fingerpick-style guitarist, it can be a new sound to songs, especially those using s drop-D tuning. As far as chord playing, it sounds way too washy (in my opinion). Yes, the those players of the plectrum and tenor varieties use a pick, but they usually either play a form of cross-picking, or the strumming is quick and semi-muted, so it is more rhythmic. Add to that the design with the strings draped across the bridge lying on a drum skin, this does not allow for sustaining tones.
Now if you were to ask a long-time bluegrass banjoist, or even a bluegrass enthusiast, he/she would probably have a set idea of what the banjo is. Five strings, played Scruggs style, ‘nuff said.
As for my opinion, I like to call it a “six-string banjo” and not just a banjo. Let the pop stars think that they are being cool, but we all know that when you say “I play the banjo,” the five-string variety is the standard. Now let’s get a taste of my favorite banjo player, Don Reno.
Last Saturday night, I went and saw a live show. I mentioned it in my blog last week, but I wanted to talk a bit about it, and live music during this whole COVID garbage in general.
The show was Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers, a traditionalist bluegrass band that divides about 70% secular and 30% Gospel bluegrass in their set. Joe is a great leader of the band. A good banjo player and vocalist, he loves to talk to his audience, probably due to his DJ work on Ohio radio stations. His fiddle player, Jason Barie, is not only a great fiddler, but also makes his own violins. I hope to get a story from that for Fiddler in the near future.
The band was great, the audience there was appreciative, and it was an enjoyable evening. The show was held at the Kentuckians of Michigan fraternal hall in Romulus, southwest of Detroit. I have seen a number of bluegrass shows there, with both national and local acts. You step into the hall, and you would think that you were in 1950. The atmosphere is perfect for traditional bluegrass music.
The best part about it is, no one is bugging you about whether or not you were vaccinated, or that you should be wearing a mask. I am used to wearing a mask in most places (work, grocery store, etc.) for rules posted. However, the entertainment industry, especially with music halls and concert venues, has been on the firing line of these restrictions the most due to the close proximity of the audience members. It was great to be able to sit at a table and watch a show without some “Karen” bugging me to keep my mask on. In fact, I was one of the few people having one around my neck.
The Ark in Ann Arbor has re-opened recently, and is back to having quality roots-music acts nearly every evening. However, I doubt that I will be attending any show there in the near future, if ever again. The venue’s policy is that one must show proof of vaccination before entering. I have chosen not to take the vaccine for many reasons, primarily religious and lack of long-term effects studies. The world has come to a point that, unless you get the vaccine, you are considered an enemy of the State. Venues, restaurants, and even places of employment can deny you access unless you have been vaccinated, many without an alternative choice like showing proof of negative infection.
This craziness has extended to the most crucial jobs – first responders. A year ago, doctors, nurses, fire fighters and police officers were considered heroes for having to deal with the COVID pandemic while others hid in their homes. Today, these people are losing their jobs because of their decision to not get vaccinated, despite just cause. I am glad to see that some unions and officials are fighting back, filing lawsuits against companies and municipalities forcing the vaccine mandate.
It is so ironic that the same leftist liberals that were against Donald Trump, who initiated Operation Warp Speed to get a vaccine out to the public as soon as possible, are now the same people who are attacking anyone that has doubts about the vaccine. The powers-that-be have become true hypocrites!
Back to the music. I’m not as young as I used to be, and I don’t get out much any more (sounds like a song there). Pre-pandemic, I maybe went out one Friday or Saturday evening a month, as well as hitting two or three meetings during the weekdays. For the year and a half of lock-down, I never left the house except to shop, go to work (although I was laid off for most of it), or attend church. Now that some venues are opening for shows, I may get back to once-per-month outings. I thoroughly enjoyed hitting the Milan Bluegrass Festival for two days back in August, and the Joe Mullins show last week did wonders for my relaxation. I hope that venues will not be as dystopian-leaning as The Ark. I understand that the non-profit concert hall has bills to pay, but at what price to cut off a large chunk of its donors (including me, as I do not plan on getting a shot just to attend shows, nor will I be making any yearly membership donations).
Winter is nearly here, so there will not be a lot of opportunity to see live music. We will need to wait until late spring for any outdoor shows (a bluegrass staple). I will keep my eye open for shows at places like the Kentuckians of Michigan, where all are welcome.
This past week, the talented teenage bluegrass performer Carson Peters was eliminated from competition on the music-reality show The Voice. Sad, but what can you expect? The judges, even country star Blake Shelton, are all expecting the next Aretha Franklin or Otis Redding to come on stage looking like a cute white kid.
A few years back, bluegrass band Mountain Faith competed on another entertainment-reality show, America’s Got Talent. The judges were impressed, even the arrogant a-hole Howard Stern (sorry, I just do not like that man). Of course, the band did not make it to the finals.
So why do I bring these situations up? For two reason. First, we bluegrassers need to accept that the rest of the music listeners will always look at bluegrass as a novelty genre. Like polka, tejano, and other culture-centric forms of music, the mainstream music industry looks down on these formats. The possible exception to this is Celtic, with the popularity of Lord of the Dance and other Broadway-type shows highlighting this music. However, in those cases, much of the raw tradition was watered down and reworked with pop-music ingredients (pop arrangements, physically attractive performers, etc.) to make them accessible to the mass audience.
Last week, Billy Strings and his band appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. They sounded great, but they were dressed totally out of the norm. I am used to seeing the band in their usual laid-back jeans and t-shirts. This time, they were wearing Western-style suits and big ol’ cowboy hats. Yes, the song “Red Daisy” that they performed was a lot more traditional bluegrass than their usual fare (and they killed it!), but the look was too hokey! It seemed like they were forced by the show’s producers to wear the suits. They looked a bit uncomfortable, but they got through it. Who knows? Maybe they will start wearing them on stage more often.
This leads to my second reason. Should bluegrass bands and artists succumb to the whims of pop music standards just to get noticed? Did Peters or Mountain Faith really need to go on those reality shows? Knowing how the judges are, and how America’s taste in lousy music is, even Bill Monroe or Flatt & Scruggs in their prime would have never made it past the semi-finals.
The real good and successful bluegrass acts know who their fan base is, and who got them the success that they have. They also know that they are happy and successful with the success that they have achieved. Rhonda Vincent, Dailey & Vincent, and Del McCoury have all been loyal to the bluegrass fold. If someone from outside of the bluegrass audience takes notice, all the better! However, these acts have no intention of changing their style just to attempt to appease the pop music audience or executives.
Acts such as Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless have had pop success in the country music field, but they (Skaggs especially) have learned to not get above their raisin’. They have come back to an arms-wide-open bluegrass audience and seem totally satisfied.
Yes, Alison Krauss has achieved pop music success like no one else in the industry. And while her bluegrass side of music is limited with Union Station, it still exists. Some from the bluegrass fold may consider her no longer bluegrass. She is still a bluegrasser in my eyes and thousands of others. She did not attempt to get her foot in the pop music field – her talent and voice were so good that it was the pop music execs that came after her! Moreover, at the beginning of her peak of success in the music industry, rather than continuing to work the pop music end, she instead served a big part in the traditional music movie soundtrack O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
Let’s talk a bit about that album. OBWAT was successful, indeed! At the time, it was receiving no airplay, yet sold over 6 million copies. The radio execs were saying that it was a fluke, despite many listeners calling in requests. Twenty years later, where is bluegrass? It seems that it really was a fluke in the pop music industry. However, this was not the fault of anyone but the radio execs. They pushed that “one-hit-wonder” status on the album so much that listeners tended to believe it, and turned away from bluegrass and the other roots music formats. You don’t hear much about it or any bluegrass music on country radio these days.
In short, bluegrass artists should not water down or surrender to pop music whims just to get noticed. Be happy with the loyal audience that you have. If your talent is really that great, others will notice, just like Billy Strings.
Tonight, I go to see a great traditional bluegrass band that didn’t get above its raisin’, Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers.
By now, most everyone in the bluegrass world knows of the death of Sonny Osborne, banjo player extra ordinaire, passing away last weekend at the age of 84. Sonny was phenomenal on the five-string, to say the least. Although he retired from The Osborne Brothers in 2005, he still kept his finger on the pulse of bluegrass, occasionally appearing on stage and writing a column for the online resource Bluegrass Today.
Sonny always had an essence of “cool” about him. When most bluegrass musicians were clean shaven, he had a well-trimmed Vandyke beard that complemented his brother Bobby’s muttonchops. The brothers were the first to electrify their bluegrass instruments so that they could be heard better at festivals that were booking country and rock acts. Sonny often experimented with the banjo, and was one of the first to use a six-string version.
Sonny worked with Bill Monroe as a teenager while Bobby was in the Marines during the Korean War. After that, the two formed a band with Jimmy Martin and became regulars at WJR radio in Detroit. Upon splitting from Martin, they went to Wheeling, West Virginia to be part of the cast at WWVA’s “Wheeling Jamboree.” From that point, the duo’s stardom began to rise. Along with fantastic playing, the band was known for having Bobby sing lead as high tenor, while Sonny and another member harmonize in lower baritone or tenor registers – something unheard of in bluegrass before. The Osborne Brothers had a number of hits during the 1950s through 70s, including “Ruby,” Tennessee Hound Dog,” Up This Hill and Down,” and the classic, “Rocky Top,” which would become the official State Song of Tennessee.
Sonny’s physical presence was demanding. He was big, and always looked like he could kick your ass in. However, once you saw that Cheshire cat grin of his, you knew that a cool dude was in those shoes. His trademark while playing banjo was, if he hit a bad note, he would play that note again to make you think that he meant to play that way. I remember once seeing the Osborne Brothers on TNN’s Ralph Emory Show, and Sonny was playing a unique guitar. It had a guitar body with a banjo neck. The banjo rolls were mellow sounding, which again was something different. Again, the band was always doing something to push the barriers out.
Sonny had a fantastic sense of humor. He loved telling and hearing jokes, and although Bobby was the MC of the band, Sonny could throw out a line or two that would make the audience wail with laughter. Whenever the band was booked at a festival with The Lewis Family, you could guarantee that there would be sone pranks going on between Sonny and Little Roy Lewis.
Because The Osborne Brothers were known for their progressive instrumentation during the 1960s and 70s, Sonny was always supportive of young bluegrass bands trying something different. Yet he was also a staunch supporter of tradition. After his 2005 retirement due to rotator cuff surgery, Bobby continued with the band Rocky Top X-Press. Sonny would promote a number of signature banjo lines, as well as write his Bluegrass Today column, “Ask Sonny Anything.” He suffered from a stroke earlier this year, which kept him from doing much, including having to dictate his columns.
Sonny’s banjo playing was distinctively strong. The banjo rolls were spot-on, you didn’t need any type of metronome. Drummers would follow him in keeping the beat. And as far as a signature, who could forget that ending to “Rocky Top,” in which Sonny does that familiar scrape?
Sonny is now playing with the Angel Band, along with so many other bluegrass heroes and pioneers. His smile, laughter, and personality will be missed just as much as his banjo playing. Fortunately, we have so many Obsorne Brothers’ recordings to enjoy and from which to learn.
Last week just after I posted my blog, I learned of the deaths of two great musicians. This week, I will briefly cover the lives and influential presence of dobroist Phil Leadbetter and The Chieftains’ leader, Paddy Moloney.
Phil Leadbetter was a true traditionalist when it came to the dobro. He kept his feet firmly in bluegrass while others took it to other genres. He began playing the dobro at age 12, and soon after graduating high school worked with country legend Grandpa Jones. He spent his longest tenure with J.D. Crowe and the New South, often serving as booking agent as well, from 1990-2001. He helped form a number of superstar bluegrass bands, including Wildfire, Flashback and Grasstowne.
In 2011, Phil was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. He was part of trials that tested the drug Opdivo for his type of cancer, and became a five-time survivor. He returned to performing part-time in 2013, working with Dale Ann Bradley as well as his own band, Phil Leadbetter and the All-Stars of Bluegrass. Unfortunately, his health kept deteriorating, and there were a number of benefit concerts and funding pages. Phil passed away October 14 from COVID-19 complications working against his already poor health. He was 59 years old.
While Phil’s work can be heard on the aforementioned bands, as well as work with The Whites and Vern Godsin, if you want to hear probably his best work on the dobro, seek out his 2005 solo album Slide Effects on Pinecastle Records. The cut “California Cottonfields” was a Number 1 hit for two months on the bluegrass charts, and the disc won the Instrumental Album of the Year award that year at the IBMA World of Bluegrass show. He was a three-time Dobro Player of the Year winner, and both Gibson and Recording King released signature resonator guitars in the past few years.
Phil will definitely be missed in the bluegrass community. I had the chance to meet up with him after a Grasstowne show, and he was one of the most humble people you would ever get a chance to meet. Hopefully, there are a number of young dobro players out there listening to his fine work.
My first true experience in watching The Chieftains was when the band appeared on a special St. Patrick’s Day showing of Saturday Night Live back in 1979. By then, the band was just starting to get some notoriety in the US, after much success in Ireland and the UK. This was not the usual musical fare of SNL, and I was blown away. The sound was magical, moving, hitting at your heart strings. And in the middle of this ensemble sitting, playing the uillean bagpipes and with a big grin, was Paddy Moloney. One could tell after just a few seconds of watching that he was the leader, and that his direction was similar to a classical music conductor, but not as obvious. He knew where to guide the music, and everyone in the band trusted his instinct.
Paddy formed The Chieftains in 1962, but the band did not become full-time professionals until the early 1970s. They built up a large following in Ireland and Europe, but it was the band’s work on the Stanley Kubrick film Barry Lyndon in 1975. From there, it was international success. They have performed with dozens of other famous musicians and singers, have held concerts for Pope John Paul II and a number of other dignitaries, and in 1983 were invited to perform at the Great Wall of China, the first non-Chinese artist to do so.
Paddy was born in Dublin in 1938. He first picked up the tin whistle at age six, then the uillean pipes at age eight. In 1962 he invited local musicians Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy to his house for a jam session, and The Chieftains was born. The band signed with a local label Claddagh Records, and Paddy served as leader, composer, and arranger for the band’s music. His endless work to promote the band made it an international success. If any big-time producer or film director needed Irish or Celtic music, they would call on The Chieftains.
I cannot begin to list the different artists that the band has worked with. Almost everyone from Luciano Pavarotti and John Williams to Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney. While The Chieftains had never had a huge hit in the US, it did score minor hits with Van Morrison and The Coors in the UK. They also performed on the soundtracks for the films Gangs of New York and Bravehart. Paddy was a major reason that The Chieftains have such a huge following. His business head knew that it was important for the band to work with different people to get the best exposure, but his musical heart knew not to sell out. The sound of the band stayed pure and close to its roots, so that other performers gladly adapted to the band’s sound.
Paddy recorded 44 albums with The Chieftains, and there is not a bad one among them (although I can honestly say that I have not heard all of them, but trust me). If you were to pick only one, you might try to locate The Best of The Chieftains from 1992, which contains selections from the band’s 7th, 8th, and 9th albums. The 1993 disc The Celtic Harp is hauntingly beautiful. To hear how well the band worked with American artists, get a copy of Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions from 2002.
I only got to see The Chieftains once live. It was during a tour promoting Down the Old Plank Road with Allison Moorer as a guest. The sound of the band live cannot be described with words. One could close his/her eyes and be transported into a different world. If Ireland had a sound, it would be The Chieftains.
Paddy passed away at age 83 on October 12, and is now buried in Glendalough, Ireland. He was the last original member of the band. There will never be another band like The Chieftains, and definitely never be another beautiful man such as Paddy Moloney.
I have been debating for the past few days as to list this song as part of the Perfect Song series, or simply a guilty pleasure. It is both for me, so let’s proceed.
A Taste of Honey was one of many flavors of the disco era. Record companies were looking for anything that they could throw out on vinyl that would get people dancing at the discotheques. However, this band was different. The band actually had been around since the early 1970s doing USO tours and corporate shows in the Los Angeles area. The core of the band was bassist/singer Janice Marie Johnson and keyboardist Perry Kibble. The original guitarist Carlita Dorhan left in 1976, and Helen Payne replaced her. It was these three musicians (along with producers Fonce and Larry Mizell) that made “Boogie Oogie Oogie” the classic song that it is today, over 40 years after its release.
On the surface, the song is typical disco. Basic 4/4 beat with a dance tempo, moving bass line, and simple lyrics. However, there is a reason (in fact, a few reasons) why “Boogie Oogie Oogie” is still relevant today while thousand of other disco songs gather dust in the used vinyl bins at the local record store. First off, this was performed by the band, not a bunch of studio musicians backing a molded and shaped singer. When you have musicians that have worked together for a number of years, whether it is a tight-knit studio ensemble or a group like The Beatles, a good listener can distinctly tell that groove.
Turning to the song itself, it was written by Johnson and Kibble. Again, no record company tampering here. In the pop music world, having a team of songwriters is the norm. However, the Mizells and the A&R people at Capitol Records had a good ear this time.
Now, let’s look at probably the most important piece of this song – the bass line. Johnson laid it down herself. There was no bringing in a studio pro bassist for the recording, and that is a good thing. This bass line is beyond the disco dance groove. It is a line so catchy, that any beginning bass player HAS to learn it! For anyone that studies music production (like me), it is so damned refreshing to know that she got carte blanche with her bass playing. It is beyond a groove – it is a statement. I also love that, at the end of the second chorus, she sings, “listen to my bass, now!” Yes, I am listening!
Next, let’s check out the rhythm guitar. Again, laid down by Payne, not some studio guitarist. The intro has that slide that is sensual, then once the song kicks in, the staccato picking followed by the jangly Bb chord. What makes this sound so special is that the guitar sound is so clean. No distortion, delay, or dated effects like phasing or flanging. Just the guitar straight into the amp. Yes, there is that heavy-fuzz lead at the end of the first chorus, but it can be expected to create a different kind of tension. But Payne makes playing rhythm guitar sexy.
As for the lyrics, there is nothing that is literary here. Simple words that people can sing along to. Johnson has a sweet voice that makes the verses flow smoothly. Then, when the chorus kicks in, Payne’s gritty backup harmony singing is beautiful. The vocal climax here is at the end of the chorus, when the words “more — boogie” is sung, it goes from two-part harmonies to a full, lush sound. THAT is a great production ear!
The band had another hit with a cover of “Sukyaki” in the early 80s, as well as a few more Top 20 hits. But nothing has had the long-term impact that “Boogie Oogie Oogie” has had. The song is sexy without being sexual. The arrangement is timeless, and again, that bass line makes anyone that picks up an electric bass want to learn that groove. Because the disco era was not kind to most artists, a group like A Taste of Honey felt the wrath of the recording industry. Fortunately, knowing that the song is still being played on classic R&B radio stations as well as appearing in a number of commercials and soundtracks, royalties are still going to Johnson and Kibble’s estate (he died in 1999). A wonderful thing would be to see Janice Marie Johnson receive more recognition for her amazing bass playing.
Chew on it and comment (and listen to her bass, yeah!).
Luegra 