Comment by Jody Stecher on December 6, 2015 at 18:36

Ben, thanks for making your presence known.  I look forward to seeing the photos. Do you play banjo?

Comment by F. Chris Ware on December 6, 2015 at 22:40

Dear Mr. Stephens,

Wow, what a connection! Vess Ossman, Sr. is indeed a glowing hero around these parts.

I’ve posted this photo once before, but here it is again: a signed photo of your great grandfather, Vess, jr. which you of course may already have a copy of, but anyway. Quite a while ago I bought a few photos on eBay of your great grandfather which also included a two of Vess, Jr (left, with violin) and Vess, Sr (right) in Miami in 1919 at the Beverly Hotel (the fellow off to Vess, Sr’s right is unidentified — though maybe you know who he is.) I would be more than happy to send you high-resolution scans of what I have if you “friend” me (is that the proper term? I dunno!) Mostly, I wonder how they found their way to eBay.

Anyway, wow again, and all my very best wishes,

Chris Ware.

Comment by Shawn McSweeny on December 6, 2015 at 23:02

Ben

It is fascinating that you have found your way to this site.

Perhaps the best one page biography of Vess L. Ossman on the web, also with some info on Vess Jr,, an accomplished banjoist in his own right, can be found here :

 http://ragpiano.com/perform/vossman.shtml    

Regarding the various banjos Ossman played during his career : :

Mid 1880's : Dobson (newspaper article)

1888 : ordered his first SS Stewart ( SS Stewart Journal letter)

Mid 1890's : Morrison ( from photos)

Late 1890's SS Stewart (from photo)

1903-04 : Fairbanks Whyte Laydie No 2 and No 7 (photos and letter)

1906  :  Bacon Professional No 3 with a custom, 12" rim. (letter)

Pictures of the only known 12" Bacon No 3, and Ossman's letter as it appeared in the 1906 Bacon catalogue, are here :

http://classic-banjo.ning.com/photo/bacon-ff-custom?context=user

This may be the very instrument that once belonged to your gg grandfather (presently belongs to me).

In the "Sales Opportunity" photo of Vess Jr and Rex Schepp (page 2 of this discussion), both are playing B&D Silver Bell No 6 NPU 5 strings, but Vess Jr's has what appears to be an oversize rim.

Just three No 6 NPU 5 strings are known to exist today, only one of which has an oversize rim. It may very well be the instrument originally belonging to your great grandfather (presently belongs to a professional musician).

Look forward to seeing your family photos when posted.

 

Comment by Benjamin Stephens on December 7, 2015 at 17:34

Hello!

Everyone is amazing for bringing this information to light! 

Jody- I do not play the banjo, however I used to play the guitar! Maybe ill see if my genes are strong enough after a few generations to keep up the banjo tradition!

Chris- Thank you for posting these photos! I do have one signed by Vess as well, but the other two I'm not sure if i have them or not. I will do my best to identify the man on the right!

Shawn- Wow, amazing link, definitely a great source to add to the family tree! Crazy all of the knowledge with the different types of banjos used over the many years, and to think maybe they are still around and you have one! Do you happen to know the name of the individual who may be playing Vess Jr's?

Everyone has been such a great help I really appreciate it!   

Comment by Jody Stecher on December 7, 2015 at 19:05

The rag piano link is certainly exhaustive and also exhausting  to read. But there are a number of inaccuracies on small points that most of us on this forum could easily spot and this casts doubt on the accuracy of the unfamiliar information in the article.  The writer has young Vess playing both the four-string and plectrum five string banjo. This may be a typo and was meant to be five-string and plectrum four string banjo. It goes on to say he played both styles. Now I don't mean to suggest that no one ever tried to play a banjo with a plectrum in the 1860s and 70s. But this is a glaring anachronism. There was no "plectrum banjo" instrument until quite a bit later.

Then we are told that gut strings have less volume than steel strings. We all know the reverse is true. The sentence then presents an hard-to-comprehend-in-context contrast between volume and resonance. 

Then we are told that the Fairbanks Whyte Laydie banjo was named after a yacht in England.  This contradicts everything that is currently believed about the origin of its name. The prevailing thought is that it was called that because the wood was not stained dark. ( I don't believe it was a ploy to get Caucasian women to buy the banjo). 

There are a number of such oddities. I'll mention one that turned out to be true. We're told that George Dudley (who played with Vess in the Ossman-Dudley trio) played a 36 string harp-guitar. I doubted this but apparently it had 2 necks and double courses so yes, I think that's actually correct. I found this :

http://www.harpguitars.net/players/dudley/george_dudley.htm#hg

There is another item that I'm curious about. i don't think it's wrong, I just don't understand it. Why was "The St Louis Tickle" controversial?

Comment by Joel Hooks on December 7, 2015 at 20:22

The WL was named after a boat-- Lillie Langtry's yacht.  There is a Music Trades article that confirms this. 

Comment by Trapdoor2 on December 7, 2015 at 20:50

B part of "St. Louis Tickle" is a quote from a popular but "bawdy" tune of the period. No idea what that tune was but the lyrics were considered offensive...yet "every schoolboy knew them".

Comment by Shawn McSweeny on December 7, 2015 at 21:07

The author is a ragtime pianist, not a banjoist. What  appear as glaring errors to the people on this forum are minor subtleties to somone less devoted to the banjo and its history than we. Apart from a few minor points, the article is well researched and largely accurate.

Comment by Trapdoor2 on December 7, 2015 at 21:07

After a short bit of research, the B part to "St. Louis Tickle" is also known as "Funky-Butt" or "Buddy Bolden's Blues". It is somewhat of a chicken-egg controversy as to who stole the melody from whom. There is some claim that the melody predates the ragtime era by 40 yrs.

It is claimed that "Funky-Butt" is the very first documented reference to the word "funk"...meaning 'smelly' (and as it references flatulence, I have no doubt about the "every schoolboy" comment).

Comment by F. Chris Ware on December 7, 2015 at 23:07

Since somewhat incredibly this particular recording of Jelly Roll Morton singing “Buddy Bolden’s Blues” (recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1938 — probably the most enjoyable, in-depth and priceless many-hours-of-sound document regarding popular music recorded in the 20th century — anyone interested in this stuff should have a copy of the complete, unexpurgated version) isn’t actually apparently available on the internet, I’m posting it below. Morton sings the original words Marc refers to, which were cleaned up or changed in his commercial recordings of the piece.

The “author I don’t know anything about” whom Morton mentions is Theron C. Bennett; “Buddy Bolden’s Blues” was thus lifted and regimented into the second strain of “St. Louis Tickle.”

Jelly Roll Morton sings "Buddy Bolden's Blues/St. Louis Tickle".mp3

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