Comment by Jody Stecher on July 22, 2023 at 16:11

Thanks for posting this!  A banjo-nerdy question if you don't mind:  The banjo in the photo looks like a Clifford Essex Paragon.  Was this the banjo she played in the duet?

Comment by Barbara Dryden on July 22, 2023 at 16:48

I'm pretty sure it is, as she had a Clifford Essex for years; it's the one I remember. Yes, she played it in the duets. A critic said he wished she hadn't! I have a list somewhere of all the different banjos she had and I'll post about that later.
Glad you like the pic; I love it. Beat all the old men, ha, ha.

Comment by Richard William Ineson on July 23, 2023 at 5:41

I remember Bert and Myrtle they were lovely people and excellent banjo players. I used to see and hear them, at the meetings of the Westminster Banjo Circle, formerly the London Banjo Club which were held in the Abbey Rooms but moved to the Old Rose on Medlock Street in the 1990s when it became the British Banjo Circle. I was playing the banjo with Paul Whyman at the time and used to drive down to his house in Norfolk from Sheffield, where we would run through a few tunes before driving down to the Old Rose the following day and afterwards, driving back to Sheffield.We were both very enthusiastic about the banjo in those days.

Comment by Barbara Dryden on July 23, 2023 at 7:45

Thank you, that's nice to know.

Comment by Jody Stecher on July 24, 2023 at 1:33

Thanks, Barbara.  I was asking about this particular model of Clifford Essex banjo, the Paragon. It seems it was not favored by either British or American players for playing the repertoire and style now known as "classic banjo". Other models, less expensive ones were preferred. I've played only a few Paragons and I found the tone and response similar to each other but quite different from other Clifford Essex models. So I was surprised to see it in the photo.

Why did the critic wish she had not?  

Comment by Barbara Dryden on July 24, 2023 at 7:53

When I have time, I will double check that it is a Paragon; it will be on the album sleeve and I can't easily get at it just now.

The critic: he raved about the playing so I suppose he just didn't like the Clifford Essex banjos.

Comment by Barbara Dryden on July 24, 2023 at 8:29

Hello again Jody. My sister has just found the answer for me. On the album, Mum is playing a pre-war, nylon-strung Clifford Essex Paragon.

When she was young and had a few lessons with George Morris, he recommended changing to gut strings, which she did. Why she changed back, I don't know but she knew her banjos, obviously.

Comment by Jody Stecher on July 25, 2023 at 4:49

Thank you, Barbara. Nylon lasts longer than gut and is less expensive and eventually gut strings became hard to obtain so using nylon strings may have been the practical thing to do.

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