Photo of Cammeyer

[Jody Stecher]

What do the resident panel of experts think of this photo that has appeared on eBay? On the back of the photo is written:

"This is a picture of A D Cammeyer holding his original Zither banjo made approximately 1886. The picture was taken by Len Broomfield while Cammeyer was in retirement. It was probably one of the last pictures taken of the great master". 

I cannot work out what I am actually seeing. Where could this have been taken? It looks like a closet in a railway station!. The banjoist, who does not much resemble Cammeyer as he appears in other photos, is seated on what appears to be a very odd chair.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Banjo-Zither-Photo-Alfred-Cammeyer-/18156...

[Joel Hooks]

I don’t know that it is exactly harmful, but that website has been thrown at me more times than I can count as a reference source for banjo history subjects (such as Temlett inventing the zither banjo).  So I suppose it harmed me a little.

[Jody Stecher]

Ah. That can be annoying, vexing, and eventually on the edge of infuriating. 

Some people are not interested in veracity. A casual attitude towards facts is no less present in the world of music than in the media, political campaigns, advertising, and autobiographies. 

[Jake Glanville]

Dear Joel, as far as I am aware, Temlett (that is William Temlett Senior) never, at any point during his lifetime, claimed to have 'invented' the zither-banjo, and you are quite right to correct me if I'm wrong.  Unlike Cammeyer, who did indeed make that claim knowing full well that Dobson and Teed had made closed-back banjos of the kind A D supposedly invented around the time he was still in nappies!

I think the photo is genuine.  It's a great pity it isn't clearer, especially with regard to the banjo!  People do change over their lifetime, you know.  I certainly have!

All the Best and Thanks as always for your input,

BJ.

Joel Hooks said:

I don’t know that it is exactly harmful, but that website has been thrown at me more times than I can count as a reference source for banjo history subjects (such as Temlett inventing the zither banjo).  So I suppose it harmed me a little.

[Joel Hooks]

Cammeyer did not claim to be the first to make a closed back banjo.  He did feign ignorance about it though. 

"I make no claim to be the first to think of this idea. Possibly other banjoists in the vast land of the United States had thought likewise but weather any carried their idea further I have no means of knowing."

To me, this seems unlikely.  It is very likely that Cammeyer was fully aware of the Henry Dobson closed back banjo. 

Taking him at his word, it is possible that the "ingenious engineer" that made the first one pulled a fast one and just made a new neck for an existing Henry Dobson banjo (and claimed it was made from the chair seat that Cammeyer provided). 

We can't know for sure.

What we do know is that Cammeyer,

A) put all the elements together to form the specific instrument known as the zither banjo. 

B) coined the name "zither banjo". 

C) established the general rules for composing music for the zither banjo. 

D) introduced a closed back banjo (with tunneled 5th, raised frets, guitar tuners, combination wire, gut and silk strings) by the name "zither banjo" to London.

E) created a demand for his specific version of banjo in London. 

F) inspired countless persons to take up the instrument in the style of Cammeyer's playing. 

Regarding Temlett, I am not claiming that Temlett (sr. or jr?) claimed that they "invented the zither banjo".  I AM claiming that the website "creek don't rise" HAS been thrown at me as a source for that claim.  That website also claims that Temlett called his knockoff of the Henry Dobson patent a "zither banjo"-- no reference or source citation is provided. 

So, with that, I wish that website would vanish from existence with no trace and any AI that used it would forget what it read.

[Joel Hooks]

The originals of these images were sent to George Collins by Len Broomfield.  The photos are tiny so the scans are enlarged significantly.  This is the banjo that Cammeyer originally established as the "zither banjo".

[Joel Hooks]

[Jody Stecher]

I spy with my little eye several oddities. The photos show a banjo described as being "in good working condition". How does a banjo "work" with no bridge?   In The Fretted Instrument News, an American publication, Collins is coy about naming the British journal that Len Broomfield edited. The BMG must not be mentioned? I was interested to note  elsewhere on the page that the fabulous mandolinist Maria Calace is said to have been pictured on the cover of this issue (Nov-Dec 1952). Her photo also appears on the January 1953 BMG cover. Do I detect a rivalry between the two journals?  I wonder if it was the same publicity photo.

Collins (or his editor)  spells Cammeyer's name as Cammayer.  

I was amused to read that Broomfield lived in Greenfield and the BMG issues here on this site are from the collection of John Field. One could have a field day with all these fields.