Van Eps speaks of Ossman at a train station

[Jody Stecher]

Ian posted a link a while back:

http://saggyrecordcabinet.blogspot.com/2009/02/fred-van-eps-1952.html

I recommend it to all members. It's a radio interview with Fred Van Eps done at a train station in 1952. Van Eps is on his way to a banjo rally and is between trains. Two points he made that were of particular interest to me were both on the subject of Vess Ossman. Van Eps speculates that the origins of the Ossman style were in the playing of Tommy Glynn. I've seen photos of Glynn but as far as I know there are no recordings of him. I would be so happy to find out I'm wrong about that. Another interesting point is that on the heels of acknowledging Ossman as his early hero he calls Ossman a *rough* player. I wish I were as bad a player as Vess Ossman! His touch on the strings, (not just the strength of attack) is one of his most appealing features to me. Van Eps is right to point out Ossman's ability to accent at the right times. Van Eps did that too but his choice of banjos with no bottom end at all tended to work against highlighting his rhythmic abilities. I wonder what Van Eps thought of Olly Oakley. When I record my own playing and listen back and cringe at the errors I sometimes comfort myself by noting that Olly Oakley often did worse and that these train wrecks were actually offered for sale. I like him anyway. He has great spirit. And when his timing is calm there's really nothing quite like it.

[Trapdoor2]

I have several of the Gatcomb published Glynn pieces. They're all large format but at least I can put my hands on those pretty quickly (I have the large format stuff in a couple of oversize binders).

As I recall, there is a rare tutor/tunebook (my copy is in England) that contains a bunch of Glynn pieces. I can't recall the name of the book but it was published by Brainard & Sons (St. Louis, I think) in the 1880's...Huntley's? It is quite thick and full of fairly short pieces. Last time I saw a copy offered on ebay it went for $160...

[Joel Hooks]

Wow, what a gem.

My favorite part is when they make fun of people who use picks.

It is interesting that he notes that the 5-string was the only banjo until 1912. It is also funny that 50 years after Queen Vic. died he is still "analyzing" the banjo and improving the "system." I was waiting for him to discuss the scientific approach to banjo playing.

I guess by his time S.S.S. was dead and Converse was probably mostly retired. Or perhaps they were just the older generation and were not with it. Of course Glynn died in 1897. There is a great pic of them together on page 177 of The Banjo Entertainers.

I found a scan of the back of his album on the Banjo Hangout.