Jug band
A jug band is a
History
Early jug bands were typically made up of
The jug sound is made by taking a
The swooping sounds of the jug fill a musical role halfway between the
In the early days of jug band music, homemade guitars and mandolins were sometimes made from the necks of discarded manufactured guitars fastened to large gourds that were flattened on one side, with a sound-hole cut into the flat side, before drying. Banjos were sometimes made from a discarded guitar neck and a metal pie plate.
Original bands
Jug bands from
Jug bands from the Memphis area were more firmly rooted in country blues, hokum, and earlier African-American music traditions. Will Shade's Memphis Jug Band and Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers recorded for Ralph Peer, starting in 1927,[4] many great songs that became the basis for the later jug band revival, including "Stealin'," "Jug Band Music," "On the Road Again," "Whoa, Mule," "Minglewood Blues," and "Walk Right In". Many songs had "blues" in the title, including "Coal Oil Blues" and "Lumpy Man Blues," but were not traditional 12-bar blues.[5]
The Memphis Jug Band and Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers featured harmonica played by Will Shade and Noah Lewis, respectively. Other bands from the Memphis area were Jack Kelly and His South Memphis Jug Band,[6] Jed Davenport and Dewey Corley's Beale Street Jug Band, and Noah Lewis's Jug Band. Ma Rainey's tub-jug band featured the first recordings of the slide guitarist Tampa Red, who later formed his own Hokum Jug Band. Big Bill Broonzy and Memphis Minnie cut a few sides each backed up by their own jug bands; Memphis Minnie also sang and played with the Memphis Jug Band. Memphis jug band music is closely associated with Memphis blues.
The Cincinnati Jug Band recorded for Paramount Records in 1929, with Stovepipe No. 1 on the stovepipe.[7]
The Seven Gallon Jug Band, including
The
Daddy Stovepipe and Mississippi Sarah recorded for Vocalion Records in 1931.
The 1930s depression and the devastating effect of radio on record sales reduced the output of jug band music to a trickle. The last sides by Cannon and the Memphis Jug Band were made in 1930 and 1934, respectively. Cannon and Will Shade were recorded again in 1956 by
Revival
One of the first recordings of the folk era jug band revival was by the Orange Blossom Jug Five, Skiffle in Stereo, made in 1958 for the poorly-distributed
Gus Cannon's "Walk Right In" was a number 1 hit for the Rooftop Singers in 1963, the only time a jug band song topped the charts. These one-hit wonders even made an appearance at that year's Newport Folk Festival before fading into obscurity.[10] The song's success brought Cannon himself back into the Stax Records studios in Memphis for his last recordings that same year at age 79. The album, Walk Right In, features Cannon on banjo and his old friends Will Shade on jug and Milton Roby on washboard. The album consists of 13 of his old hits, with Cannon interjecting comments and telling stories about the songs. Also in 1963, Starday Records released The Original Talking Blues Man, by Robert Lunn with Jug & Washboard Band.[11]
This brief flurry of interest in the genre sparked the formation of a few jug bands that reached national prominence. The
The musicians playing in jug music revival groups went on to form other bands.
Pop-rock tributes to jug band music include Willy and the Poor Boys, by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and "Jug Band Music" by the Lovin' Spoonful. The Spoonful also mined the old songs. In addition to doing versions of songs from the classic jug band repertoire on their first album, Do You Believe in Magic (1965), such as "Blues in the Bottle," "Sportin' Life," "My Gal," "Fishin' Blues," and "Wild About My Lovin'," Sebastian's "Younger Girl" used the melody of Gus Cannon's "Prison Wall Blues." Indeed, the song "Do You Believe in Magic," a Top Ten hit,[12] mentioned the genre in its lyrics: "If you believe in magic, don't bother to choose / If it's jug band music or rhythm and blues / Just go and listen, it'll start with a smile / That won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try." That instantaneous joy many have felt upon first listening to jug band music contributes to its fans' long-lasting affection and the genre's longevity.
The 1971 children's book
Jug bands have continued to exist and evolve to the present day. John Sebastian still leads the J-Band, which included not only musicians from the modern
A documentary by Todd Kwait about the history and influence of jug band music, Chasin' Gus' Ghost, first screened at the 2007 San Francisco Jug Band Festival. The film features numerous well-known musicians in interviews and performances, including John Sebastian, Jim Kweskin, Geoff Muldaur, David Grisman, Fritz Richmond, Maria Muldaur, and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, as well as Sankofa Strings, precursor band to The Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Taj Mahal as the voice of Gus Cannon. Many of these musicians performed at a sold-out concert at the San Francisco Jug Band Festival. Chasin' Gus' Ghost had its film festival premiere in October 2007 at the Woodstock Film Festival.[16] Kwait produced Sankofa Strings' second album, The Uptown Strut, which featured John Sebastian as guest artist.
Festivals and competitions
The annual Battle of the Jug Bands in
The National Jug Band Jubilee was launched in Louisville, Kentucky, the probable birthplace of jug band music, in October 2004.[17]
In California, an annual San Francisco Jug Band Festival has been held in
The Chicago Battle of the Jug Bands has taken place each fall since 2007. Contestants compete for "Stuffy," a gilded sausage-stuffer.[18] The Chicago battle was initiated by Arlo Leach, then a teacher at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. Two years later, when he moved to Portland, Oregon, organizing the battle fell to Skip Landt, another Old Town School teacher. The Chicago competition, which takes place on a single evening, is judged by the audience, who "vote" for the winner on a replica of an official Chicago election ballot.
Contemporary bands
The 1990s and 2000s saw another generation of jug band revival, which might be termed postmodern jug band movement. These bands range from traditionalists (covering 1920s and 1930s jazz and blues) to modernists (creating new music from jug band instrumentation and aesthetics).
Scenes of this nature have developed in New York City (centering on the Lower East Side and Red Hook, Brooklyn), Minneapolis, Chicago, Southern California (primarily the Los Angeles area), in the San Francisco Bay area, the Pacific Northwest, and Taipei, Taiwan.
The Muddy Basin Ramblers, based in Taiwan, have composed over forty contemporary jug band songs across five albums since 2002. Two of their albums were nominated for the Grammy Awards for their unique and creative design.[19]
The
Footnotes
- ^ Oliver, Paul (1998). The Story of the Blues. New ed. Boston, Mass.: Northeastern University Press.
- ^ "The Jug Bands" (PDF). Smithsonianfolkways.org. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ Layne, Joslyn. "Whistler & His Jug Band | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ "Jug Band Hall of Fame: Ralph Peer". Jughall.org. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ "America's DIY Music—-Jug Band". The Attic. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-306-80743-5.
- ^ Lewis, Uncle Dave. "Cincinnati Jug Band | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ "The Seven Gallon Jug Band". Redhotjazz.com. 1929-12-06. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ Mathews, Burgin. "Birmingham Jug Band | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ "Rooftop Singers Music News & Info". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ^ "Robert Lunn - The Original Talking Blues Man Robert Lunn With Jug & Washboard Band (Vinyl, LP)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ "The Lovin' Spoonful Music News & Info". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ^ "The Juggernaut Jug Band Homepage". juggernautjugband.com. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
- ^ "The Jugadelics Homepage". Jugadelics.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ "Washboard Slim and The Bluelights". washboardslim.com. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
- ^ "Woodstock Film Festival – (845) 679-4265". Woodstockfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ^ "Jug Band Jubilee | the Courier-Journal | courier-journal.com". www.courier-journal.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ "Mark your calendar: Chicago's Second Annual Battle of the Jug Bands - jrjenks' Blog". Banjo Hangout. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ https://www.taiwan-panorama.com/en/Articles/Details?Guid=3382175d-05de-4ba1-9292-c1604cddab52&CatId=8&postname=Jazz%20Played%20with%20Freedom%20in%20Taiwan-Muddy%20Basin%20Ramblers%20and%20Tokyo%20Chuo-Line
References
- Santelli, Robert (2002). American Roots Music. ISBN 978-0-8109-8223-9.
External links
Organizations
- Jugband.org
- Jug Band Hall of Fame
- National Jug Band Jubilee
- California Jug Band Association
- Minneapolis Battle of the Jug Bands
- Chicago Battle of the Jug Bands
Media
- Chasin' Gus' Ghost jug band documentary Archived 2020-09-19 at the Wayback Machine
- "But Only Use a 10-Cent Comb", Time, December 27, 1963
- "Jug Band Hootenanny: Local folkies gather to honor down-home, old-timey music", Minnesota Daily, February 10, 2005
- Images of Louisville jug band the Ballard Chefs, Caufield & Shook Collection, Photographic Archives, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky. Accessed 21 Jan 2016