Fife and drum blues
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2021) |
Fife and drum blues is an
tom, and bass drum
players. A large military-style bass drum is preferred. Fife and drum performances are often family affairs held at reunions, summer community picnics, and on holidays.
History
Pre-
A "march" becomes more of a swaying dance, sometimes led by a dancer, and singing comes in sporadic shouts, whoops, and moans from the different players. While spirituals are sometimes played, gatherings of drum and fife music are not religious in nature and not held on Sundays or in church.Alan Lomax first recorded black fife and drum music in 1942. He found a group, including Sid Hemphill, near Sledge, Mississippi consisting of a cane fife, two snare drums, and a bass drum. These same musicians constituted themselves as a string band, using violin, banjo, guitar, and bass drum, and also incorporated quills.[2]
Notable performers include Napoleon Strickland, Othar Turner, Turner's granddaughter Shardé Thomas, Turner's daughter, Bernice, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Ed and Lonnie Young, and the Mitchel Brothers from Georgia.
See also
- Ancient Fife and Drum Corps
- Excelsior Brigade Fife and Drum Corps
- Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps
- Hill country blues
- Music of Mississippi
References
- ^ "Othar Turner - Como". Mississippi Blues Trail. Mississippi Blues Commission.
- ^ David Evans (1972). "Black Fife and Drum Music in Mississippi". Mississippi Folklore Register. 6 (3): 94–107. Archived from the original on 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2005-10-01 – via Folkstreams.
Further reading
- Howard W. Odum, "Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern Negro," American Journal of Religious Psychology and Education 3 (July 1909): 265-365.
- Eileen Southern "The Music of Black Americans: A History"
- African-American Music from the Mississippi Hill Country: "They Say Drums was a-Calling", by Bill Steber, 1999.
- Lesson plan by Patricia Shehan Campbell Archived 2015-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
- David Evans (2003). "Fife and drum Band". In John Shepherd; David Horn; Dave Laing; Paul Oliver; ISBN 978-1-84714-472-0.
Further viewing
- American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America, part 3: "The Land Where the Blues Began" (1990). Written, directed, and produced by Alan Lomax; developed by the Association for Cultural Equity at Columbia University and Hunter College. North Carolina Public TV; A Dibb Direction production for Channel Four. (Watch film: The Land Where the Blues Began Archived 2017-09-20 at the Wayback Machine)
- Deep Blues (1991). Directed by Robert Mugge.
- Gravel Springs Fife and Drum (1971). Filmed by Bill Ferris, recorded by David Evans, and edited by Judy Peiser. (Watch film: Gravel Springs Fife and Drum Archived 2017-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
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