Olly Oakley ON MOONLIGHT BAY

[thereallyniceman]

Here is a great old tune featuring Mr. L Curtis (who?) on vocals and Olly Oakley with an unusual but very good accompaniment on banjo. I can’t make up my mind whether Oakley is playing fingerstyle or plectrum style as it sounds like a bit of both!

 

Nice banjo playing, shame about the crooner! 

 

On Moonlight Bay

[Richard William Ineson]

Yes, very good accompaniment, and a lovely, true, singing, zither banjo tone. They used really light wire strings on the 1st, 2nd and 5th, that's how they got that tone. Most modern banjo strings are too thick to produce any true zither banjo tone.

[Trapdoor2]

I suspect ol' Olly was fingerpicking...and a nice job of it too.

The vocalist (and I use that term loosely) sounds like he needs medical attention. Something of a purging nature ought to do nicely...

[Jody Stecher]

There is no question in my mind that no plectrum is being used here, Ian. This is fingers.

Richard, you are right about very light gauges for the wire strings being a component of the sound. However the same gauges that Olly Oakley used are available today, and are much easier to find actually. Even lighter gauges may be found anywhere strings are sold. Thank the electric guitar for that.  Another factor in getting zither-banjo tone as heard on this recording is the materials and gauge of the lower strings, especially the bass. Its overtones color the sound of the upper strings and every type of lower string produces a different tone on the upper strings. The open secret of z-b tone is that there is not one secret but many. One is technique. Some (Cammeyer himself for instance) would argue that Olly Oakley did *not* get true zither banjo tone as he employed his nails as a picking component in an unusual way. I always like his sound(s), which are many, depending on the recording technique, microphones used, and what Olly had for breakfast. Whether he always used the same banjo or same model of banjo I can't say, but it seems to have always been a very bright, high model Windsor. I don't know if he could get those sounds from a Camm, Weaver, or other brand. Maybe.  I've noticed that musical artists manage to sound like themselves no matter what equipment they use.  

Marc, the vocalist is not my cup of tea either, but he is of his time, and sings in the way expected of him. Your comment reminds me of something I heard my dad say when I was very young. There was a performer of "folk songs" in the 1940s who sang in an over-trained conservatory influenced style that was not appropriate to the repertoire, although he had musicality all the same. His name was Richard Dyer-Bennet. My father punned his name and called him Richard Diabetic and said he sounded "like he needs a Richer Better Diet".  I just about fell on the floor laughing when I heard that. 

[Mike Moss]

Great recording! I don't mind the singer, he's pretty standard for the times. It adds to the nostalgic charm.

Apparently Camm gave Oakley a different banjo than his usual when they recorded "Handy Jack" as a duet -- he insisted that he should use a Cammeyer Vibrante of his own make which gave Oakley a more legato tone than the one he usually got from his Windsor hollow-neck ZB.

[Richard William Ineson]

Yes, the strings are available, it's just that a lot of people have got into the habit of playing on these tow ropes and so the manufacturers of standard sets supply what is required. I'd like to see and hear banjoists playing on lighter strings. As regards the name Dyer Bennet, there used to be a famous lawyer in England in the 1930s called Manningham-Buller, he won a lot of his cases by brow beating the defendant, he inevitably came to be nicknamed Bullying-Manner.

Jody Stecher said:

There is no question in my mind that no plectrum is being used here, Ian. This is fingers.

Richard, you are right about very light gauges for the wire strings being a component of the sound. However the same gauges that Olly Oakley used are available today, and are much easier to find actually. Even lighter gauges may be found anywhere strings are sold. Thank the electric guitar for that.  Another factor in getting zither-banjo tone as heard on this recording is the materials and gauge of the lower strings, especially the bass. Its overtones color the sound of the upper strings and every type of lower string produces a different tone on the upper strings. The open secret of z-b tone is that there is not one secret but many. One is technique. Some (Cammeyer himself for instance) would argue that Olly Oakley did *not* get true zither banjo tone as he employed his nails as a picking component in an unusual way. I always like his sound(s), which are many, depending on the recording technique, microphones used, and what Olly had for breakfast. Whether he always used the same banjo or same model of banjo I can't say, but it seems to have always been a very bright, high model Windsor. I don't know if he could get those sounds from a Camm, Weaver, or other brand. Maybe.  I've noticed that musical artists manage to sound like themselves no matter what equipment they use.  

Marc, the vocalist is not my cup of tea either, but he is of his time, and sings in the way expected of him. Your comment reminds me of something I heard my dad say when I was very young. There was a performer of "folk songs" in the 1940s who sang in an over-trained conservatory influenced style that was not appropriate to the repertoire, although he had musicality all the same. His name was Richard Dyer-Bennet. My father punned his name and called him Richard Diabetic and said he sounded "like he needs a Richer Better Diet".  I just about fell on the floor laughing when I heard that. 

[Alan Sims]

the singer is no Al Bowlly  thats for sure, but i love the sound of the zither banjo. I would like to know the  string gauges as i am part way though a banjo project at the moment.

[Jody Stecher]

Alan, the gauges depend on the type of z-b and the scale length (bridge to nut).

The first string may be .008" or .009". Some like the fifth string the same as the first, some like the fifth just a bit heavier (not me). The second may be .009 or .010".. Generally Cammeyer zeebees need to be strung lighter as the scale is long.  I have used both gut and nyglut for the third string. I have used aquila "type D" copper wound on nylgut for the bass . Number 108 and number 112, depending. These are not gauges. Clifford Essex makes at least 2 sets of zeebee strings but for my touch and preferred sound the two low strings have more mass than I would wish to have. Others have used them to good effect.

Richard, thanks for the clarification. My dad would have liked your joke as much as I did. ( a lot)

[Alan Sims]

cheers Jody , when i get the neck finished i will go for 0.9 like my strat. regards .