My Gal (Jim Kweskin Jug Band cover)

Ron Brenton-Guitar and Vocals; Greg Ashbaugh-Washtub

Jam at Ron's House

Old Grey Mule_Brenton & Ashbaugh

Soul R#3

This is a medley of two songs with global roots, both learned from mamboriffic versions, translated to a rock steady cadence with eclectic folk instrumentation. Typical stuff.
The Peanut Vendor, originally 'El Manisero,' is a song of vast historical importance. Written by Cuban-born Moises Simons (the son of an immigrant Basque musician) and recorded by Rita Montaner in NY in 1927, both the initial recording and sheet music were an immediate hit which exposed American audiences to Cuban rhythms and instrumentation and helped start the bridge between Latin music and jazz. Considered the first authentic US recording of Latin dance music, it is in both the US National Recording Registry and the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame.
Skokiaan was written by August Musarurwa, who recorded it in (reportedly, but not definitively) 1947 with the African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia, named after the state corporation where the members lived and worked. In 1954 an apparently new recording by Musarurwa's rechristened Bulawayo Sweet Rhythm Band became a hit in South Africa, and then in the US; in both countries it spawned huge numbers of cover versions, making its way into standard territory in the US, complete with asinine English lyrics (by Tom Glazer, otherwise best known for 'On Top of Spaghetti') of the post-minstrelsy, casually racist type still common in the '50s. The various versions in combination made Skokiaan the #2 single of 1954 on the Cash Box charts.

Greenwood & Burns play: guitars; banjos; mandolin; pennywhistle; melodica; ukulele; glockenspiel; bass;  percussion.

More listening for The Peanut Vendor:
Rita Montaner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVDs1Uho5vk
My favorite version is by Noro Morales, but I can only find a live version which is faster and a touch more hectic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUKWHLU2gI8
Tommy McCook's ska version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r91GjgXvgs

More listening for Skokiaan:
Bulawayo Sweet Rhythm Band:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxnXcBBdUBU
The Four Lads for full milquetoast factor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpndaJnGzz0
My favorite, by Perez Prado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzTtE4l9wsU
The Dynamites with an early reggae take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJNeBVQol2Q
Southern All Stars steel band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOeuTDcmV4M

Skokiaan the Peanut Vendor

Jeff and I met up with Hank the first weekend in August. We stayed up late, and we played a lot of music. Hank culled this one from the Saturday afternoon (I think) sessions. As is typical, we'd swapped instruments left and right and jammed on this and that and developed some of the stuff that stuck. This is a standard that both Hank and Dan have recorded separately but like all good folk songs it's fun to keep trying different and new settings.
Dan's playing Jeff's doctored Deering Goodtime Midnight Special banjo and singing.
Hank is playing Jeff's electric bass.
Jeff is playing Dan's son's electronic drum kit. 
The whole thing is being engineered by Hank and recorded to his new Zoom 16-track.

Pic: Mssrs Tilbury and Burns in the pocket

The Cuckoo (TG&B, Live from Dan's Basement 8-5-17)

Take The Fall

Yesterday I tried making a version with just three accordion parts.  Dan lent me his guitar version to mix with added accordion.   Dan has some even bigger future plans for this tune I believe.    Below find list of various versions.

Another soundcloud favorite, Hilary Dirlam joins us here in this track
see: https://soundcloud.com/hilary-dirlam/walking-in-the-parlor-with-dan-greenwood-and-alan-ingall

Check out Dan's version here:   https://soundcloud.com/lonesomedstringband/walking-in-the-parlor

Check out Hilary's version here:  https://soundcloud.com/hilary-dirlam/walking-in-the-parlor-1

Or my accordion only version here:  https://soundcloud.com/newshoe/walking-in-the-parlor-accordion-bros

Or this version slower - good for learning here: https://soundcloud.com/hilary-dirlam/walking-in-the-parlor-d-mp3 

Or this fiddle version from WVa here:  https://soundcloud.com/wvbanjo/walking-in-the-parlor
 

Guitar : Dan Greenwood
Alan Ingall : Accordions, Mix

12-2-2017 rev. 1 : equ for guitar only (better / worse / no difference ??)
12-2-2017 rev, 2 : shift guitar to center

Walking In The Parlor (with Lonesome D)

A long-held dream of mine has now been realized with my recent purchase and assembly of a gourd banjo kit from Carver Banjos.  It was cheap, easy and fun, and who doesn't like that?  Learn more about Brian Carver's quest to ebanjelize the world: http://carverbanjos.com/

So now, I've got little Ranger Gord (any Red Green fans out there?) standing by when I get a break in afternoon chores and want to blow off a little musical steam...which is what this is.  Being new to a fretless instrument, my intonation is a little dodgy, and my fingernail keeps hitting the gourd with an annoying click, but I'm having fun.  Hopefully, you will, too.  If not, don't despair--it's only a minute-and-a-half, and I'll be outta here in no time.

The name of this monkeying around comes from an epithet my grand-dad used to hurl at me whenever I played a trick on him or got the upper hand in one of our wrestling matches (which I always did, of course).  "You cockeyed monkey!", he'd say, in fake(?) exasperation.

My other grandfather called me a "cooteroo".  There's a simple tune for that, as well: https://soundcloud.com/hanklebury/cooteroo

Cockeyed Monkey

Another new cut -- turn it up for best results.

Clout Stamp

When I was 5, inspired by my pop's tenor guitar, I begged my parents for a ukelele, and got one. When I was 35, I put the uke - now down to 3 strings and abridge that looks like it's going to pop off anyday - together with my dad's guitar, my guitar, and a little mandolin for an experiment in arranging a folk tune to a reggae-ish beat. Washtub bass rounds out the bottom, and I bought a cheap melodica specifically to use on the lead. Learned of curse from Pete Seeger, but more immediately inspired by John Gorka's lovely version x Nora Dean's 'Barb Wire.'

The Water Is Wide

Pigmeat 3 - They’re Red Hot 2018-12-31

The Hearsay Prophets are an American junk-blues outfit who play an assortment of real, toy, homemade and makeshift instruments. The tools of their trade range from ukulele, guitar and banjo to pots, pans, boxes, cans, whistles, kazoo, washtub, paintbucket and anything else that works. And it turns out that just about anything works.

Zealous promoters of the Homemade Music movement, the Prophets bring a welcoming -- and welcome -- rawness and bare musical honesty. They are dedicated to the old, time-honored American tradition of making music at home, with whatever and whomever you've got at hand and without any ambition other than filling your hearts with joy.

My Gal (Jim Kweskin Jug Band cover)

The Hearsay Prophets

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