Dead of Winter

Walked through Washington Square Park with the Martin today (1/28/07) on the off-chance that a) someone would be there, and b) the sun would come out. Temperature: 39 degrees Fahrenheit.

No guitarists were out. Some big orange Chinese mythical animal made of 2 guys in a suit dancing around, someone beating on a kettle drum. Later we saw them carrying everything up 5th Avenue.

But I did get an email from Peter Bud, who is a fixture in the park when the weather is warm.

Bluegrass Jam Paddy Reilly's 1/28/07

The turnout was a little better than last time. There were a couple of banjo players, Dave the dobro guy, a guy came with an accordian towards the end. The usual fiddler players (one good one, one novice who just did fills), guitarists, mandolin players. No harmonica this time.

I am getting to know a couple of the regulars--Steve is a very nice guy who bought me a pint of guiness last week. A good, versatile mandolin player. Tony, a soft-spoken guitarist (also mandolin and bass and decent singer), looks a bit like Jerry Garcia, plays very well. Arthur, a guitarist / mandolin player. Tom, who knows a lot of great songs and sings and picks equally well. Then I met another Tom, a younger guy, who is an excellent picker and a good strong singer. He was giving out some old CDs he no longer needed, and gave me a 1995 recording of David Grier and Tony Trishka (as he puts it "the best guitar player on the planet playing with the best banjo player on the planet")

I only did one song: the old Jack Elliot / Woody Guthrie 3 chord version of "House of the Rising Sun". I thought it sounded great with backing instruments and solos, though I didn't know how to end it, and it just sort of died on the vine at the end.

Afterwards, Arthur showed me the A minor Animals version of the song (as if I wasn't already aware of this big hit version).

I'm happy to be getting to know some excellent musicians and nice people at this jam. On the other hand, the "cast of thousands" can be a little daunting (there must have been 20 people there tonight). I am looking forward to playing in the park this Spring.

Some other songs that we did:
I Know What it Means to be Lonesome
I'll Fly Away
Crazy Arms
Blue Eyes Cryig
Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms

If you are interested in this jam, it is every Sunday from 5-8 at Paddy Reilly's bar at 2nd Ave and 29th Street.

Bluegrass Jam 1/21/06

I am just getting back from the bluegrass jam which takes place every Sunday evening at 5pm-8pm at Paddy Reilly's bar on 2nd Ave and 29th St.

This is the 2nd time I've gone to this jam. The first time I just strummed along and didn't do any songs. I also didn't take any solos because I don't know how to. This time, I led (sang) three songs:
My Bucket's Got a Hole in it (Hank Williams)
Worried Man Blues
Lost Highway (Hank Williams)
I also did Cabin in Caroline with a couple of guys before the jam started.

There were some excellent musicians at this jam: a couple of great guitarists, fiddlers, mandolin players. There was also a guy playing stand-up bass. This time there were no banjo players or harmonica players (last time there were a couple of good banjo players, a harmonica player, a guy playing slide guitar and an accordian player).

I heard a bunch of songs that I didn't know. I am able to follow along with most of them. I wish I knew how to do solos, though.

Some of the songs that I didn't know were:
Red Wing
Banks of the Ohio
Your Love is Like a Flower
Deep Water
Memories of Mother and Dad
Another Day (Del McCray)
Take Your Shoes Off Moses
Whisky for Breakfast

A couple of the songs I like the best were done by a singer-guitarist named Tom.

A few of the songs I did know were:
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams)
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
I Saw the Light (Hank Williams)

I have seen Scott at this jam a couple of times, but he was not there last night.

Websites

A couple of websites that are good to know about.

1) www.umo.com This seems to be Joe Budnick's website, a guy who is in the park a lot, playing and singing (see previous post). This website has a lot of great pictures and advice. I would love to see pictures of Peter Budd, Jimmy from the Bronx, and Curtis (the harmonica player).

2) www.honkingduck.com This was put together by a guy named James Reidy in Trumansburg, NY. He was nice enough to post a bunch of great old country songs from the 20's, 30's and 40's on his website. In his own words:

Contents
This site contains 701 recordings of 78 rpm records in Realaudio format. The music is early country music, string bands, dance calls, sacred harp, skits, ballads, popular songs, etc. The recordings were made in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. SourcesAll the 78s were from a collection formerly owned by famous banjo expert Jim Bollman. The collection was sold at auction in the 1980's. The approximate issue dates are based on the tables and techniques described in The Almost Complete 78 Rpm Record Dating Guide. by Steven C. Barr. The recording dates are as reported by Tyrone Settlemier in THE ONLINE DISCOGRAPHICAL PROJECT.

Sound Quality
The sound of these recordings is not great. Each tune started on a 'well loved' 78, then went through 2 generations of cassette tape, then MiniDisc, AIFF, and RealAudio. A few of the beginnings and endings got chopped off along the way. I didn't try to remove any scratches or pops. I encourage everyone to buy the excellent reissues of 78s that are available today. People who make these reissues spend hours on each cut to bring back the best sound possible. LyricsHonkingduck.com does not provide any song lyrics. Many of the songs here can be found at The Mudcat Cafe, either in the Digital Tradition lyric database hosted there, or in the Forum of lyrics, chords, and discussions of song variants and artists. To search the DT and Forum click here. To participate in the all-volunteer, ongoing project at Mudcat to post the lyrics of the songs at Honkingduck, please e-mail motormice@hotmail.com, using the word MUDCAT in the subject line.

Credits
Thanks to the great musicians who made all this music.Thanks to the early recording companies who captured and preserved this music.Thanks to Jim Bollman who once owned this collection of 78s, and who allowed Jacki to copy it .Thanks to Jacki Spector who recorded these 78s onto 23 cassette tapes in the mid-1980s, and let me copy her tapes and logbook.Thanks to Bob Jordan who helped me chop up the MiniDisc version into 746 separate tracks.Thanks to Annie Campbell who designed the honkingduck logo!MiniDisc is a very cool format.Thanks to Steven G. Barr for "The Almost Complete 78 RPM Record Dating Guide (II)".Thanks to Tyrone Settlemier for The Online Discographical Project.Thanks to Christian Roth for Coaster, a Freeware direct to disk recording utility.Thanks to the makers of NetPresenz, formerly Shareware.Thanks to the makers of Flash Renamer, a Freeware file name changer.Thanks to the makers of dBpowerAMP Music Converter, the RealAudio and AIFF Codecs from Daren Ford, and the Blade Codec from Tord Jansson. Thanks to Monte Ohrt for the excellent SmartyPaginateThanks to all the people who are working on Ogg Vorbis.

Donations
If you use this compilation please make me a donation in some denomination showing your appreciation!You can donate on or off line if you click here. CopyrightThis compilation web site, all the text, ID3 tags, filenames, and other information are © 2005 James Reidy, all rights reserved. The "sound recordings that were fixed before February 15, 1972" are "Preexisting Material" and are covered by other copyright laws (see http://www.copyright.gov ).
www.honkingduck.com
Copyright © 2005 James Reidy

Washington Square 1/14

A gray, wet afternoon. I played a bit by myself on the Ovation. Tried to accompany myself on harmonica but it sounded pretty awful. I realized later that it was in the wrong key (for cross-harp in the key of E you need an A harp, not B. I found this out the hard way)

I had Vince and Jeff as an audience, and a couple of passers by, including a very interested toddler with intense blue eyes.

A young guy with a guitar came by looking for Scott. I directed him to the bluegrass jam at Paddy Reilly's, where I've seen Scott a couple of times.

I did St Louis Blues and a couple of Dylan songs at Jeff's request (Don't Think Twice, Tambourine Man, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues). Also did Worried Man Blues and Busted. Did Springsteen's State Trooper, which Vince got a kick out of.

When I was in the park earlier today (practicing harmonica), a guy with a guitar case and a dog came by and asked to borrow a pick. I happened to have one in my pocket and gave it to him. He said that he had been commissioned to do the music for a movie being produced in Europe, and was going to go work on a new song. Nicely dressed guy with an accent.

Arthur was in the park today, showed me how to play "Dance With Me" in key of D. Anthony was there with his Martin, told me he couldn't wait till Spring.

Washington Square 1/13

It was in the low fifties, not quite raining. It had been raining lightly all day, and everything wet. I went out around 3:30. I took the Ovation.

Playing under the arch a good dry place surrounded by an audience of about 40 were Joe (guitar, singing), Skip (lead and backup singing), Dan (backup singing and recorder). They did
*Get a Message to You, BeeGees
*Shadow Dancing,BeeGees
*Bad Moon Rising, CCR
*Drift Away (nice singing by Skip)
*Soul Man, Sam & Dave
*In the Midnight Hour

They did a bunch of other songs, almost all of which I recognized. They perform well, and draw a big crowd--very good singing and harmonies, and all well-accompanied by Joe on guitar.

I tried to strum along on my Ovation, but stayed in background for most of them, they were a little hard for me to follow.

I did my version of "St. Louis Blues". Something with more opportunities for the others to sing along might have gotten me more invitations to sing, but this song was running through my head at the time. I think the crowd liked it, especially one woman in the front who was dancing.

Then I got to do a couple more songs when Joe broke a string. I did Me and Bobby McGee, Dan stepped up and accompanied on recorder--I asked him to close out the song. Then I did Hank Williams' Your Cheating Heart and Dan did harmony and took a solo on the recorder. There was a real feeling of give and take in the performance--totally enjoyable. And it definitely kept the audience. Didn't get them too excited, but I'd say it drew them in closer, actually.

Nice crowd, there seemed to be a fair amount of foreign tourists, people taking photos, some older folks, some kids. A couple of people from the audience came up and sang some harmony while Joe, Skip and Dan were doing their "first set".

Brooklyn Open Folk Sing 1/3/07

On the first Wednesday evening of every month the Folk Music Society of New York (AKA New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club) sponsors an open folk sing at the Ethical Culture Society near Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

I went for the first time on January 3. I brought the Martin. There were about 25 people sitting in a big circle, maybe six or seven people with instruments (guitars mostly), most without. Songs included Sea Chanties, Mining Songs, Hank Williams songs, Carter Family songs, original takes on old classics like "Blue". One guy named Brian plays 12-string guitar and does excellent country/folk songs that I do not recognize. I am not sure if this is his original work.

There was a good range of ages, from old-timers to college students. No kids this time, though the website says they are welcome.

Most of the songs are oriented towards singing (about half were done with no accompaniment), and when everyone sings along in this big open room with good accoustics, it really sounds terrific.

A guy named Ben asked me a couple of times if I wanted to play something. I was a bit nervous, but did "Dark as a Dungeon" (a mining song by Merle Travis) and "Worried Man Blues" (a traditional church-type blues). As these are very well-known songs, nearly everyone was able to sing along on the chorus, and it sounded good to me.

Highlights for me were:
1) I really appreciated Ben encouraging me to do a couple of songs, then welcoming me into the group afterwords.
2) When I did Worried Man Blues, a guy in a sweater with gray hair in a pony-tail picked up a squeeze box I didn't even know he had, and accompanied me. It sounded great!
3) After the show, Brian (the 12-string guy) told me I had to come back because the group needed more "country music people". I am happy to be classified as a "country music person", and to be welcomed back.
4) I really enjoyed singing along to the sea chanties. One red-faced Irish-looking fellow was very good at leading these.

I plan to attend the next one, which will be held on February 7, 2007.