Ask and I shall receive (evidently).  So here it is!

Directly from 1918 it is the "Banjo Players Favorite", a collection of seventy familiar melodies progressively arranged by Zarh Myron Bickford in C notation.

Mostly "short pieces," I love this sort of thing for a relaxing evening of light reading.

There is something for everyone here and it is worth the cost you'll have to pay to get it-- only one "click!"

https://archive.org/details/BanjoFavoritesBickford

First person to post a video of "Spring Song" wins (a free digital copy of the book and the title of Champion Banjoist of the Ning Classic Site).

As it is in the public domain you can do what you want with it.  You can even try to sell it to suckers who don't know how to use google on Etsy and Ebay as a "digital download."  

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Steve-- I'll try my best.  For this post when I write "banjo" I mean regular 5-string banjos.

By about 1900 the banjo was on the way out in the US.  By the mid 20s it was no longer a major player in the musical goods industry.  In other words, banjos and banjo stuff was not selling in the US.

It is important to understand a little about the how life was for the target market during the 1880s and 90s.  First (and often forgotten) is that most people worked 12+ hours a day 6 days a week only getting Sunday off.  They walked or rode a trolley to work.  They heated their shaving water on a stove. That does not leave a lot of time for banjo practice.

So the music had to be pretty easy to play.  It was also a social activity.  You get together with friends and play.  The easier the music is, the more fun you can have.

With any hobby that becomes a big fad a few will advance beyond the average to a very high level.  There comes a certain point where those few get so good that the average person attempting to get into the hobby can't catch up.  This happened about 1895ish in the US.  About when the fad starts to die and the mandolin comes in.

The people who were still playing wanted more advanced music. That is when Lansing's publications start to show a up swing in playing level.  George Gregory and Fred Stuber, etc. hit the scene.

It was about that time when we see more advanced pieces published.  But the banjo had run its course and the few trying to make money with it were doing what they could to stay in business forming the Guild and changing to Universal or C notation.

Over on the other side of the pond the British were mostly publishing (plagiarizing) US pieces till the Morley Grimshaw era came along. The British were coming into their own with the banjo-- and doing a hell of a job!.  They were also catering to people who had more money and time (as far as I can tell, but I don't know much about it).  It did take you guys some time to figure out how many strings to have on a banjo though.

Back in the US you still had stuff being published.  A good bit of it was piano and band music arranged for banjo (and a lot of that done by George Lansing).  Have a look at the Wm. Smith publications on this site like "12 Radio Favorites" from the 20s and also the A. J. Weidt mentioned above.  I've got some later works on my Internet Archive page too.  It did not completely vanish.

I would like to point out that all of these guys, Lansing, Weidt, Bowen, etc.turned to the tenor or plectrum banjo to pay the bills.  Bradbury and Bacon held on to the 5 string, Bacon is known for his business that built tenor and plectrum banjos.  Basically there was no money in the 5 string. FVE had his banjo company but still made a lot of tenors and plectrums.

Fast forward to the 1940s and the American Banjo Fraternity. Started by retired men as a Fred Van Eps fan club and as a way to find music.  They had no idea what had happened (been happening) in England.  When they found out about the CE/Grimshaw publications the latched on to them as they had mostly A notation stuff that they were hand copying when they would get together (I have some if that if you want to see it).

Up until that time people in the US had almost no idea about TBJ, Morley, Oakley and Grimshaw and the continuing BMG movement.

Sure, Ossman had his famous trip.  The best that I can guess is that American banjoists figured it fell out of favor in England like it did in the US.

(In the Hobbies interview FVE did not know Darktown Dandies.)

The banjo had become associated with the nostalgic (or as Henry Ford put it "return to values") music from the late 10s and 20s and later revisited as a nostalgic version of nostalgia by the "folk revival."

The banjo was only "remembered" as a "folk" instrument and some how the popular mania of 50 years before was selectively forgotten except by a few that nobody cared to listen to.

Sorry about how convoluted this was-- it is hard to explain as there are so many facets to it.

You and Bickford are both right about the origins of the mandolin craze. But as I said, that does not mean that there was no mandolin presence in the USA before that.  You are also right about the harmonica. And I am right when I say that people in India who are now saying that the mandolin is an ancient instrument from south India are also deluded. (they are particularly impervious to good sense, as the mandolin they believe is anciently theirs is a solid body model with an electric pickup and volume and tone knobs!) .

I'll leave the Morris dancing argument to the English members. For that I'll just say that the melodeon is certainly recent but that does not mean that (the village of)  Bampton's claim to have had Morris dance every year for the last 400 years is false. they do not claim to have played melodeons before they were invented. 

The bodhran information is wrong. The use of the frame drum in the context of performance music is the doing of O Riiada, yes.  O Riada's influence was very much analogous to the Mandolin craze. He used it as a symbol. But his audience was mostly urban. In the west of Ireland the bodhran has a long history. The whole world has frame drums, why wouldn't Ireland? But I know that is not proof.  

Would you agree that saying the mandolin did not exist in the usa before the confused interest caused by the Spanish Students tour or that there were no bodhrans in Ireland prior to O Riada is a bit like saying there were no black people in the usa before the appearance of black face minstrelsy?  It doesn't hold up to logical scrutiny. None of these things were conjured up whole out of nothing. But my opinion about logic is also not proof.

Long ago I learned my Irish music from Irish immigrants here in San Francisco. Through them I heard about the drum called bodhran and how it was used,  mostly with flute, in Galway, Sligo, and other rural parts of the west of Ireland. These immigrant musicians did not like the music of O Riada or of the Chieftains. Why would they make up having seen, heard, and played bodhrans? This was before bodhrans were popular, before they had been seen in the USA. they had nothing to gain by making up a story. 

Will you believe photographic evidence? Here are some wren boys in Kerry in the 1940s. I don't think the date is faked or that Sean O Riada got them to pose with his new invention.



Joel Hooks said:

Jody-- the quoted site insinuating that the mandolin was common in US in the 1850s is incorrect and total wishful thinking.  What I liked about Bickford's history is that he links it to names of actual people that started the craze.  Because or the prevalence of ACW reenacting this subject has been scrutinized.  Yet the "1850s" date persists despite the lack of any evidence at all to substantiate it.

The same thing happens to the Richter model harmonica.  The popularity of the 10 hole Richter harmonica in the US can be linked to J. K. Emmett and his character "Fritz"-- he is worth googleing as he was quite popular and his songs "Emmett's Lullaby" and "Sweet Violets" were very popular.  Despite this the old "civil war soldiers played harmonicas in camp" and even better "newly freed slaves picked up discarded harmonicas and played the blues" myths keep getting told (and written) time and time again.

The best explanation that I have found for this logic is from the "Talk" tab on the wiki article about the bodhran-- I'll quote it, then back on subject.

"The bodhran is a modern invention, ie. from the 1950's and involving Seán Ó Riada. When played well it is a fine instrument and has found it's place in Irish traditional music in the same way that, for instance, the guitar has.
Some people seem to feel insecure with this history and wish to invent ancient roots to the bodhran (eg. the war drum myth). This tendency for romantic invention comes up in many other places (just see all the urban myths and beliefs about Morris dancing). I play the melodeon (a type of button accordion) which has a well known history over the last 150 years approx. It doesn't go back into the mists of time and I don't need to imagine a history to justify my playing of one. Many bodhran players understand and are happy with the truth, many prefer whimsical imagination instead. "
Oops, sorry. I thought I was clear with the word "common"-- that the mandolin was not common in the US. ACW would very likely not have known what they were.

Not convoluted at all. An excellent essay!  I take issue with one point though. If the early ABF people  and other Americans were unaware of English banjo compositions how do you explain Shirley Spaulding (who was a really good player…. I was just listening to her today)  recording Grimshaw's " A Footlight Favorite"  in 1922 for Edison Records?   

Joel Hooks said:

Steve-- I'll try my best.  For this post when I write "banjo" I mean regular 5-string banjos.

By about 1900 the banjo was on the way out in the US.  By the mid 20s it was no longer a major player in the musical goods industry.  In other words, banjos and banjo stuff was not selling in the US.

It is important to understand a little about the how life was for the target market during the 1880s and 90s.  First (and often forgotten) is that most people worked 12+ hours a day 6 days a week only getting Sunday off.  They walked or rode a trolley to work.  They heated their shaving water on a stove. That does not leave a lot of time for banjo practice.

So the music had to be pretty easy to play.  It was also a social activity.  You get together with friends and play.  The easier the music is, the more fun you can have.

With any hobby that becomes a big fad a few will advance beyond the average to a very high level.  There comes a certain point where those few get so good that the average person attempting to get into the hobby can't catch up.  This happened about 1895ish in the US.  About when the fad starts to die and the mandolin comes in.

The people who were still playing wanted more advanced music. That is when Lansing's publications start to show a up swing in playing level.  George Gregory and Fred Stuber, etc. hit the scene.

It was about that time when we see more advanced pieces published.  But the banjo had run its course and the few trying to make money with it were doing what they could to stay in business forming the Guild and changing to Universal or C notation.

Over on the other side of the pond the British were mostly publishing (plagiarizing) US pieces till the Morley Grimshaw era came along. The British were coming into their own with the banjo-- and doing a hell of a job!.  They were also catering to people who had more money and time (as far as I can tell, but I don't know much about it).  It did take you guys some time to figure out how many strings to have on a banjo though.

Back in the US you still had stuff being published.  A good bit of it was piano and band music arranged for banjo (and a lot of that done by George Lansing).  Have a look at the Wm. Smith publications on this site like "12 Radio Favorites" from the 20s and also the A. J. Weidt mentioned above.  I've got some later works on my Internet Archive page too.  It did not completely vanish.

I would like to point out that all of these guys, Lansing, Weidt, Bowen, etc.turned to the tenor or plectrum banjo to pay the bills.  Bradbury and Bacon held on to the 5 string, Bacon is known for his business that built tenor and plectrum banjos.  Basically there was no money in the 5 string. FVE had his banjo company but still made a lot of tenors and plectrums.

Fast forward to the 1940s and the American Banjo Fraternity. Started by retired men as a Fred Van Eps fan club and as a way to find music.  They had no idea what had happened (been happening) in England.  When they found out about the CE/Grimshaw publications the latched on to them as they had mostly A notation stuff that they were hand copying when they would get together (I have some if that if you want to see it).

Up until that time people in the US had almost no idea about TBJ, Morley, Oakley and Grimshaw and the continuing BMG movement.

Sure, Ossman had his famous trip.  The best that I can guess is that American banjoists figured it fell out of favor in England like it did in the US.

(In the Hobbies interview FVE did not know Darktown Dandies.)

The banjo had become associated with the nostalgic (or as Henry Ford put it "return to values") music from the late 10s and 20s and later revisited as a nostalgic version of nostalgia by the "folk revival."

The banjo was only "remembered" as a "folk" instrument and some how the popular mania of 50 years before was selectively forgotten except by a few that nobody cared to listen to.

Sorry about how convoluted this was-- it is hard to explain as there are so many facets to it.

Good point! That skipped my mind. I can't. The pros might have known, but the amateurs did not. I'm still putting this altogether -- work in progress. And you don't know how much it means to me to be able to have this exchange with you and the others here to work it all out!

Okay-- just did some reading in back issues of the 5-Stringer on Spaulding.  She even played a Ellis piece at a Guild meeting to endorse Lange banjos.  So I'll revise my brain on the "did not know about the British BMG movement."

If *anyone* can work it all out, it'll be you, Joel. 

Joel Hooks said:

Good point! That skipped my mind. I can't. The pros might have known, but the amateurs did not. I'm still putting this altogether -- work in progress. And you don't know how much it means to me to be able to have this exchange with you and the others here to work it all out!

And  she recorded Joe Morley's "Danse Arlequin" too. 

Joel Hooks said:

Okay-- just did some reading in back issues of the 5-Stringer on Spaulding.  She even played a Ellis piece at a Guild meeting to endorse Lange banjos.  So I'll revise my brain on the "did not know about the British BMG movement."

I'll add that the banjo sheet music collection of Stella Ives (which I own) has lots of Brit. publications in there...quite a bit of it actually. She was a student of Lansing in the 19th cent and eventually an ABF member. She had copies of the Ellis Tutor as well as lots of Grimshaw pubs., Morley, etc. I would say that at least *somebody* in Boston was selling Brit. banjo publications right around the turn of the century.

Back to the book.

Having played through it a few times, I like it.  There are a few numbers that are pretty much note for note from the Carl Fischer book (another of my favorites).  Some are fun arrangements that make simple pieces interesting.

Zip Coon is very similar to Van Eps' from Dixie Medley (same key) as is the version of Sailor's Hornpipe.

I agree with Marc, Spring Song seems like it would be not too difficult to work up.  One I am going to play with is Dancing in the Barn.

The arrangement if Hot Corn is slightly more fleshed out than the Carl Fischer version with the additions of chords in some spots.  Funny that it is in this book-- it was a standard in the old minstrel book using different titles and variations.  This also shows up in "field recordings" as "folk" music.  It was pointed out to me on Saturday that Flat & Scruggs played it.  From minstrel stage, to "folk" and back to the stage.  This one went full circle.

The Home Sweet Home is also very playable.

Joel, all over the world for hundreds of years there has been a circle of musical origins. From composer to oral tradition to busking at the courthouse to playing on the stage to singing behind the plow to writing it down and publishing it to playing it on a youtube video to singing it as a lullaby to making the basis of a symphonic work, the circle goes round and round.  There may seem to be no starting point, the situation being an apparent circle.  What I have found in two weeks short of 70 years of non-partisan observation is that if there is an origin for any/all music it can be found on the folk side if one digs deep enough.  

The Hot Corn in the old banjo books has in its beginning measures  a vague relationship to the song that Flatt & Scruggs performed. It was a song with many verses. They cleaned it up some.  Very little that is of minstrel origin has its real original origin there. The minstrel performers (Doggone It!  my spell checker once again wants performers to be *perfumers*!!!!)  based their music on something and that something was a portion of the music of black people, both free and enslaved, and with no access to the stage. These are the facts of the matter. Folk music exists. Field recordings do not deserve quote marks around them. Real people were singing into the mic. They did not lie about how they learned their music. Neither was it folklorists pretending to be "native informants". They were not that musically talented. If some ideologues bent the history this way or that way, none of this is the fault of the folk musicians themselves.  If some collectors did not recognize a bad cover performance of a Muddy Waters record or a Bill Monroe record and presented it as traditional folk music, this is a mark of ignorance but its not entirely wrong. The idea that folk music is for noncommercial  purposes is flawed. What constitutes a tradition is a lot more than repertoire.  Certain sounds, ways of thinking, where and how rhythmic is emphasized or not are a part of it.  Folk traditions around the world have professionals and amateurs. The dichotomy is not real.

In my opinion what happens at a bluegrass festival on the stage is Performance Music. What happens in the parking lot is folk music. It would take too much time and space to explain why.

I was of the impression that the Lomaxes, etc., set their recorders up in buildings and homes.  I write "field recordings" because they were not in a field doing the recordings.

Unless they were?

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