What's the beef with banjo players?

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 27 Feb 2009 4:32 pm

I think most of those jokes have already been done, aimed at Poles, Irish, and whomever else. When my kids were young you could send away for storybooks. You just gave the name of your child and the child's parents, siblings, friends, etc., and they would send you back a custom book with all their friends in it. The book was already in the publisher's computer, and they just fed the names in, then the program replaced x with Fred, y with Mary, etc., printed and bound it, and the custom-made book was in the mail next day.

We could do the same thing. People just send in their pet peeves and you feed them in. It would rival "1000 Things to Do With a Dead Cat," which spawned "1000 Things to Do With a Dead Attorney" and "1000 Things to Do With a Dead Realtor."

I'm looking forward to "1000 Things to Do With a Dead Banjo Player."

Or maybe "The Fiddle Haters' Joke and Work Book".

You've just given me an idea for a radio series. It would be like "The Whistler" but it would be the Phantom Banjo Arsenist. As the fire blazed you would hear banjo chords disappearing into the mist and smoke.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 27 Feb 2009 4:55 pm

Here I am having fallen on hard times at one point last year....

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 27 Feb 2009 5:52 pm

John Steele (deceased) · Post by **John Steele (deceased)** » 27 Feb 2009 6:31 pm

http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/df9405/df940520.jpg

-John

Tor Arve Baroy · Post by **Tor Arve Baroy** » 28 Feb 2009 1:36 am

Here is my stage setup.....but whats that standing behind my steel seat....a Lap steel and a!!!!!!! BANJO!

Maybe you should do like me Doug, play a banjo yourself, then you never have to worry about playing hearing steel and banjo at the same time

Well well, 3 or 4 pages more now of this topic then we`ll all start to agree

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 28 Feb 2009 2:06 am

Roger Rettig wrote:Here I am having fallen on hard times at one point last year....

Ole roge, you are a handsome bugger mate, almost look Bristolian!

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 28 Feb 2009 11:14 am

Doug Beaumier wrote:...Okay, I too have a confession to make. I play "Foggy Mt Breakdown" on Telecaster with one of my bands....

Now just feed that Telecaster into a synthesizer and choose "banjo" and you'll be able to get the right sound without actually having to soil your hands by picking up a b**jo.

Hey, here's a dirty little fact... the tuning of the banjo and guitar only differ by one tone on the first string.

In fact, in the major tuning, the tuning of first four strings of the lute, cittern and the banjo are the same....

...and, horrors, some Dobro and lap steel tunings are the same as the banjo...

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 28 Feb 2009 11:41 am

http://www.jaybuckey.com/mp3/Book%20Sam ... ey.com.mp3

Play this at your peril

Michael Pierce · Post by **Michael Pierce** » 1 Mar 2009 8:00 am

For those with an interest in roots music, check out the following website: http://www.blackbanjo.com/

There's an interesting history of the origins of the banjo under the tab, "About the Banjo."

A friend of mine lent me a copy of the new Otis Taylor album, "Recapturing the Banjo," which highlights its use as a blues instrument. Not being a huge fan of bluegrass type banjo, I was prepared not to like this CD, but ended up enjoying it very much. Interesting stuff.

Tommy Shown · Post by **Tommy Shown** » 2 Mar 2009 8:30 pm

Being from the hills of Eastern Kentucky, I like banjos, infact if you listen to Ricky Skaggs "Highway 40 Blues", you will hear a banjo with Bruce Bouton playing steel guitar.Do we have some narrow minded folk here? The banjo is about as country as they come along with the fiddle, dobro,and
harmonica. It's just that certain songs sound good with certain instruments. Tommy

Tommy Shown · Post by **Tommy Shown** » 2 Mar 2009 8:35 pm

BTW, if one watched the Porter Wagoner show, back in the day. One could see Buck Trent playing the 5 string electric banjo, and Porter had a steel player also. Jus t thought I would mention that to you .
Tommy

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 3 Mar 2009 5:27 pm

Tommy Shown wrote:...The banjo is about as country as they come along with the fiddle, dobro,and
harmonica. It's just that certain songs sound good with certain instruments. Tommy

Exactly. I coudn't have said it better. Good on you, Tommy.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 3 Mar 2009 8:16 pm

How come you guys are taking this seriously?

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 4 Mar 2009 7:49 am

Roger Rettig wrote:How come you guys are taking this seriously?

...because it comes up so often, and we all joke about it, but there must be some truth in it. It's like all those Irish jokes which must get Irishmen down at times, and Polish jokes, etc. Everyone has someone else to make fun of, and the worse case is the Belgians, who are poked fun at by both the French and the Dutch. Case in point...

How do you recognise which are the Belgian oil rigs in the North Sea ? The guys are standing on top, throwing bread to the helicopters.

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 4 Mar 2009 12:40 pm

I like banjo jokes a lot, and we toss 'em around with great vim in various bands. (Maybe not as much as drummer jokes). But just like I love hearing or playing with a great drummer, and still joking about them, I love and respect good musicianship anywhere. Bela Fleck, anybody?

I suppose I should know better than to watch a thread like this, but there's a long distance between good natured ribbing and declarations that an instrument or style you personally don't appreciate is simply not music. No wonder outsiders sometimes think steel guitarists are narrow-minded hicks.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 4 Mar 2009 1:25 pm

Good point, Mark.

I've always enjoyed ribbing other musicians, and have had lots of fun getting my share in return; it's always directed at players whose competence, or even excellence, is self-evident. That way, it's so clearly a good-natured joke that no offence or slur could possibly be inferred. I would never direct such a remark to a player who is only holding his own, as it could easily be taken the wrong way.

The banjo jokes are such a well-established tradition amongst players everywhere that I'd be surprised if any half-way decent banjoists hadn't heard - and laughed at - all of them.

I was lucky enough to tour with Bela Fleck when he was a part of Newgrass Revival in the late-1980s. I can assure you that he knew more banjo-jokes than the rest of us put together, and bore it all with a very good grace.

Mac McGhee · Post by **Mac McGhee** » 4 Mar 2009 4:55 pm

Buck Trents banjo was built by Shot Jackson.
Porter's steel man was Don Walden

Glen Derksen · Post by **Glen Derksen** » 4 Mar 2009 9:31 pm

Does anyone remember a band called the Earl Scruggs Revue? Back in the late 70's I had (and still have) a copy of their live album recorded at Austin City Limits. There was a steel guitar player named Jim Murphy in that band, and I would like to say that Jim's and Earl's playing never clashed because they knew when to lay back and not step all over each other. These guys were professionals.

Tommy Shown · Post by **Tommy Shown** » 6 Mar 2009 7:12 pm

I remember the Earl Scruggs Review back in the late 70's and 80's, they were a good group. BTW, I almost forgot Keith Urban uses a banjo too. Tommy

Steve Feldman · Post by **Steve Feldman** » 7 Mar 2009 7:09 am

OK - So who here has ever heard of Fred Cockerham, Charlie Poole, Wade Ward, Roscoe Holcomb? How about some easier (later) ones: Dave Macon, Kirk McGee? Just curious....

Joe Naylor · Post by **Joe Naylor** » 7 Mar 2009 9:35 am

This is a good one - at a show in Texas, Willie said, "Perfect pitch was when you thorough an accordion in a dumpster and Hit a Banjo" - Two people walked out ---- the guitar player said, "Anybody else here from West Virginia, Kentucky, Wisconsin or Minnesota? Just go ahead and leave now because we want to pick on you some more till you are all gone." True story ----- later in the concert Willie said, "I still stick by my banjo comment since there is only one song and they keep changing the speed to try to make it sound different."

Willie said it I belive it but I do have my income tax filed (I draw the line on advice from ANYBODY)

True story ---- BUT the 250 jokes are going in my MC notebook - those are great.

I was in Vegas once a couple of years ago and they had an accordion convention

- I felt so young.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 7 Mar 2009 12:07 pm

I am currently designing a pedal banjo. 13 strings 11 pedals and 13 knee levers. Will be at the Dallas show. Look for my room in the sub-basement.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 7 Mar 2009 12:12 pm

Steel players hate everybody: singers, lead guitarists, etc.

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 7 Mar 2009 12:37 pm

Other than anything by Bela,my favorite banjo cd is Earl Scruggs and friends,with Albert Lee, Elton John,Hornsby,Forgerty,etc,some great picking on this one. DYKBC.