published on
Old Crow Medicine Show - James River Blues
On the album Big Iron World this is played with a capo on the third fret
My rendition is in open tuning if you want to play along
C F
James River blues
C F
I just heard the awful news
C F
I could steer around the rocks
C F
But they're bustin' down the docks
C F C F
C F
James River blues
C F
That train came on through
C F
And the works getting slow
C F
Now where's a boat man to go?
Am F
I think I'll float on down
Am F
To Richmond town
Am F
They don't need us anymore
Am
Haulin' freight from shore to shore
F
That big iron hauls much more
Am
Than we ever could before
C F C F
C F
I've seen good men going wrong
C F
I've seen bad ones get it right
C F
As that river rolls along
C F
I'll be stepping out tonight
Am F
On the cool flow
Am F
Floatin' down, down below
Am F
The bridge to the waters edge
Am F
From the ridge to ledge
Am F
From the hills to the sea
Am F G
I'll become a memory
C F
James River Blues
C F
James River Blues
C F
James River Blues…
Most banjo gurus agree that the earliest American banjos used gourd bodies. A pre-1800 painting of a banjo in the New World shows a gourd banjo with a flat, fretless fingerboard, a "slab" peghead with three tuners and one drone string
A similar banjo discovered in Haiti apparently shows many of the same features, enough so that banjo luthier Pete Ross was able to build a replica that most people feel is faithful to the "banjars" and "banzas" of that era
White musicians were enthralled by the sound of those "slave" instruments, enough so that they took the time to befriend black musicians and learn how to play the "banjars" of the day. Some were respectful of the traditions and cultures that led to the invention of the gourd banjo. Sadly, many were not
By the early 1920s, Tenor banjo was as popular in the U.S. as electric guitar was in the 1970s. Many thousands of "student" Tenor banjos were made at the lower end of the price spectrum, usually lacking tone rings and resonators (which, to be fair, made it possible for kids to learn banjo without driving the rest of the family out of the house). Even after early forms of Jazz had been supplanted by Swing and Modern Jazz, Tenor banjos continued to be made, although mostly at the low end of the scale
A style of playing was developed at this time that is still used by Dixieland and New Orleans Traditional Music players. The banjo was/is strummed with a flat pick, but the chords were/are structured so that the top note of the chord plays the melody
The Tenor Banjo redefined Jazz, and it's big brother, the 6-string banjo got in on the fun, too. After all, they had been around since the 1880s, and it wasn't that hard for folks who already played guitar or 6-string banjo to adjust to playing Jazz. One of the most notable Jazz 6-string players was Johnny St. Cyr, who used his 6-string to play bass lines with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. No, a 6-string banjo doesn't usually play bass, but it does go almost half an octave lower than a regular banjo, so it is closer at least
On this tune is my 1928 6-string Gibson GB (guitar banjo), my 1962 5-string Vega Folklore (both open back) - also mando, micro bass, C harp, and riverboat steam horn sounds sampled from the real deal legendary Nactchez steamboat
JTS
- Genre
- Indie