Joe Morley was a fantastic English classic banjoist and banjo composer; his chops, as you will hear, were mind-blowing...all done with the fingers, long befo...

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Comment by Clayton Walter on December 4, 2013 at 0:55
Happy birthday, Joe!
Comment by Mike Redman on December 4, 2013 at 8:57
Interestingly, 1min 4 seconds and 1min 23 seconds into the tune is the 2nd movement to The London Club Parade.
Comment by thereallyniceman on December 4, 2013 at 9:16

Thank you Clayton, for this rare recording of Joe Morley playing "live". He was indeed all of the player we that we expected him to be.

THIS is how Classic Style banjo should sound with that bright snappy, almost staccato, sound of the notes... I love it :-)

ps. Where you been?  Practising I hope!

Comment by Mike Moss on December 4, 2013 at 13:19

Yes, pretty much all of Morley's recordings were "work in progress" compositions, many of which he ended up giving a different name (American Jig -> Shuffle Along) or with parts he would eventually use for a different piece. Many of them don't ressemble their published equivalents at all; for instance, his recording of "Butterfly" is a much more challenging solo than the published one. Thanks for sharing!

Comment by marc dalmasso on December 4, 2013 at 17:11

beautiful ; but it would be useful to  adjust the speed control of your gramophone to  have the right speed Joe & the pianist are playing ; tune perfectly the banjo with a digital tuner or a simple fork , then try to be in tune with the gramo ; the banjo & piano  should play in G and not G#   ( trio in C and not C # ) ;

Comment by thereallyniceman on December 4, 2013 at 18:11

I have a short snippet of Joe Morley playing Polka at the correct speed and pitch:

 

Joe Morley’s Polka pitch adjusted
Comment by Richard William Ineson on December 4, 2013 at 18:59

That's better, the previous recording was making me feel quite faint.

Comment by Clayton Walter on December 5, 2013 at 0:53

Hehehe...for that video I used the one from the Tarrant Bailey collection.  I honestly should have corrected the pitch, but my pedantry level is relatively low on that score.  :) 

I used it on a Joe Morley article on my website: HERE   It was Joe's birthday yesterday, so I thought I'd post it in honour of the master.

Ian,  I have indeed been practicing;  Senegambian Revels and A Desert trail have been, seemingly without result, absorbing a worthy chunk of my Banjo-ing time.  I'm in deep winter here in North Dakota,  so there's lots of indoor time to make these fingers do what the little dots command.  That's the big struggle;  the classic banjo method is taking a bit of getting used to.  A snappy tone and a Ragtime pop will be right along my line once I can get something organised to work with!  :)

Comment by Anthony Peabody on May 16, 2016 at 11:31

Quite a bit behind the times here... I am just about to transcribe "American Jig" which appeared in "The Banjo" No 19.  It is nothing like Shuffle along, and usually Mike Moss is right.  I wonder what I am missing here.  I expect someone will know all the answers

Comment by Anthony Peabody on May 16, 2016 at 11:40

I think that "American Jig" published in Banjo #19 is actually "Popcorn" DAB #384

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