Clarence Ashley performs "The Cuckoo"
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2009
- Mountain music legend Clarence Ashley talks about his experiences in the "hillbilly" recording business, and performs "The Cuckoo." From the DVD "Legends of Old Time Music."
More info at www.guitarvideos.com/#!/Legen... - Hudba
Born 1895 and we get to watch and listen to him today. What a time to be alive.
AMEN
A Greil Marcus quote - “Clarence Ashley was one of the greatest of the old-timey singers-those who, in the first third of the twentieth century, sang as if the new century was a trick that would disappear soon enough…”
I do believe this to be the best video I have ever heard on Facebook. 💐
it is precisely video footage such as this that makes me believe youtube to be the most important media technology of the last 50 years. What a pleasure indeed, to witness something of the personality of someone you've heretofore only heard sing and play a banjo, a pleasure which cannot be overemphasized. Thank you so much for posting this video, cannot stop watching it. A mighty, mighty man!
Beautiful
amen interweb brother!
Well said Kevin Galli ghig .... however you spell it. You are right as rain!
Kevin Gallaugher q
wew lad
Billy Strings brought me here. Here I am. Thank you Billy.
Same!
I don't know how but the Joker brought me here. 🤡
This is a priceless piece of footage I like to see the joy on his face when he starts to play his song.
THIS is 'folk" music! And thanks for a great upload preserving this awesome piece of American history.
Our grandchildren will see and hear for themselves the cultural history of this country!
True. You have to be born country/folk to play country/folk.
It is refreshing to see such laid back kind gentlemen do their thing.
The tuning is
1st string - D
2nd string - C
3rd string - G
4th string - D
5th string - G
+2
@@dustinh4937 No, he's correct.
@@dustinh4937 So, that's the right tuning? It's easy to say: You was wrong. Show us you are right.
Sawmill Tuning
Looks like Dustin H. Deleted his comments...butthurt much? Lol
On 12/6/2020 Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson, et all, were used in an episode of FARGO on FX. The song was DANIEL PRAYED in 4 part harmony.
It should be Larry 'Tex' Isley playing the guitar here. Clarence 'Tom' Ashley recorded an album for Folkways with him. The same tune is on a Lomax video of Ashley & Doc Watson called Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass DVD.
Wow! First heard this on the album in '72 or so. Someone reminded me about it today and lo and behold, here it is on youtube! Thanks so much and thanks to youtube for making it possible; still sends shivers down my spine.
Incredibly beautiful. Thanks for posting!
I am most thankful that material like this was captured...this fellow, Ashley, is a treasure, as are the rest of those musicians from the early era, and I am glad too that the revival of interest in the music and times came about when the whole lot of them were still in their prime musically...great video and a chance to see the definitive (IMO) version of the tune played..
Thanks
This is a great vintage clip. Tom Ashley one of the all-time best old-time thumb banjo players ever. Looks like it's shot in the 50's, so I guess he's in his 60's. His Gibson RB-250 bowtie archtop banjo is new. Who's interviewing? a Lomax? Anyway, yes, Clint Howard (guitar) and Fred Price (fiddle) standing there and Ike Isley (guitar) backing Tom on guitar. Love Tom's lassie makin' sawmill tuning. The Cuckoo Bird is real old going back to OLD England...Willie is William the Conqueror. Doc Watson also played this on banjo like Tom and did a super job. Thanks so much for posting this wonderful film.
William the Conqueror, 1066? Wow. I'm curious, where did hear or read that? I do know "the Cuckoo" is old, 1500s-1600s, maybe. But I know there were a lot of guys (including some Kings) named William in the centuries intervening. So, I'd guess it might be one of them? At any rate, a great old song with lot of folklore attached to it. Clarence was a tough old bird himself. ;) "Lassie-making" was sorghum molasses boiling.
Hey ya MrMusicguyma - thanks for the reply. I had read this somewhere but I hear ya - other Brit kings named "William" since the Conqueror in 1066. A song going back that far and still existing would be something, so, honestly, I really don't know - just threw it out there but probably shouldn't have without truly knowing. Thanks for the observation. Good comment about Tom Ashley, too, and, yes, "lassie-making" is boiling down sorghum to molasses.
Hey Danny C, One verifiable historical thing though, there are a lot of old folk songs in the USA with verses like "over the river to feed my sheep, over the river to Charlie" where Charlie refers to Bonnie Prince Charlie of Scotland. After Charlie lost at Culloden in 1745, a lot of Scots clans fled to (or were deported to) the Appalachians and Nova Scotia. Music and history are fun, huh?
You are right on top of this, my friend. Good info and correct. Music and history IS fun!
I think the interviewer was Peter Pickow, Jean Ritchie's husband.
What an amazing piece of americana. Magic. Thanks for posting.
Fantastic footage , lovely tune .
Goosebumps every time
I've watched this so many times.
this is so magnificent. history
What great deal to rediscovery this roots!
Thanks for posting it!
so glad that I found this
I listen this every day
This was the tune on Harry Smiths folk song collection that kindled my love for the banjo.
We are truly blessed to be able to witness this rare and extraordinary video of Clarance Ashley
50 years playing because of Tom ... Very thankful this clip exists .. Thanks to Ralph Rinzler for bringing him back out into the folk scene ot the early 60's ... I wish I had gotten to see him .. First heard him in 69 on a record Ralph had given to Nancy Sweezy at Jugjown potter in NC . Clarance Tom Ashley and landing on the moon made that summer for me (Oh and missing Woodstock ) :)
i played in a few heavy metal bands growing up it was mostly drums and guitar, but the in the past few years i started to listing to the 20s-40s i and 1 year ago i bought a cheap openback banjo off of amazon ...i tuned it up in saw mill and playing claw hammor style... the bluegrass bands/fiddlers in NC hate this style of playing so i havnt found people to play with yet.. but man do i love the claw hammor style of picking,,,so all you bluegrass fans/player can go pick in the county fair whyle im playing dark holler my fav song from clarence ashley
So awesome!
Awesome post thanks so much
How the heck did I get to 46 years old without every hearing about this guy?
That's great! Thanks for posting that one. I just got a cello banjo and will have to try this beautiful song on it.
Rick
Awesome.... wish i had this dvd
The edited nod cracks me up, love Clarence Ashley.
Music at its finest, brilliant
Certainly a treat to get to see him on video.
Soo much heart n love. Like a tornado❤️🙏🏻😊
he makes it look so effortless!
Manor from heaven thankyou
Thank you. 🌹
So AWESOME
Hats off to a true pioneer
I love that sound .
My Hero
Wow! And thank you!
You the man
CZcams is today's Song Catcher
Love that type of music....
heard billy string play this in greenboro and it was amazing
Wonderful.
timeless and priceless !!!
this is amazing! i love this song! I love the appalachian culture
Wow! Mike Dowling’s version of this song brought me here. What a haunting melody. Cheers!
OMG I've finally found this sing
This was originally filmed by George Pickow for the WNET (now PBS) series: Lyrics and Legends. Someday I'll post more excerpts from it. It looks kind of dark here. Maybe it's my monitor.
Heard this several years ago. 1st image that came to mind was Sputnik orbiting the earth forever...and, yes, it sends shivers down the spine. You'll want to be sure to hear Clarence's old recording included in the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music.
I love the dog at 4:42
killer edit for sure !
I mean it’s just, SO, fuckin good.
Excellent stuff! Really shows the connection between Bluegrass and the old African field songs.
Two completely different streams of music. Couldn't be more wrong
This was the eventual results of celtic tunes passed down from the British Isles...but Im sure the slave field songs picked up some of tge celtic influence they heard from local whites...
And Im sure visa versa..the whites picked up some of the african ryhthm you hear in a lot of early country music.
But I just dont hear an african influence in this song at all...this is pure celtic.
@@marvinstephanie2085 The words and original song may be English in origin, but the melody is way too bluesy to be considered all-the-way celtic.
@@ProfesserLuigi exactly what you said. This song was originally from England, now also played in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the Appalachian and Ozark mountains. The American version is extremely different than the original English version which likely comes from influence from black Americans. Ain't nothing "pure Celtic" about this song especially since its originally English. This is pure mountain music end of story.
The desire to ignore the how heavily influenced scots irish american music is by african music is just laughable. Whoever could make the claim that this is derived from celtic music has certainly never heard celtic music or simply lacks the understanding of musical concepts to discern the glaring differences. Rhythmically, vocally, melodically, this if far closer to african music of the 1800s than scots irish music of the same time.
Fascinating
@blueridger28,
This was filmed in Morgantown, KY by George Pickow. It origianlly aired as part of an educational TV show about hillbilly music produced by the folklore department at UCLA and introduced by Tristam Coffin.
Do you know the year?
@@chickenfishhybrid44 Not exactly, but early 1960's, when Ashley was still working with Fred Price, Clint Howard and Tex Isley.
Morgan County. West Liberty is the town.
legend....
💥
@Staninec,
Clint Howard is sitting to the right of Ashley. That's Tex Isley to the left of Ashley playing the guitar. He and Ashley made a record together for Folkways in the early 1960s. Isley also played some really nice electric guitar as part of Charlie Monroe's Kentucky Pardners in the late 1940s.
My fave. Hope Facebook allows me to post this
You never know what Facebook will allow you to share
Does not get any finer. 🙏
This is what inspired me to play claw hammer banjo
@velvetunderpants44
well, it's actually an adaptation of an old English folk tune. A lot of people would say that it isn't bluegrass at all. If you were dead set on giving it a genre, it would probably be called "mountain music" or "old-time. In any case, it's fantastic!
A masterful performance , and i loved the interview. I was one of the lucky ones who got to see Clarence, Fred, Doc, and all many times on the folk music circuit. Please describe and credit who, where, and when we see what is in the video -- there were many comments wasted on speculation, errors, corrections, and amendments and you could have spent two minutes typing it in.
Awesome sauce..
Song starts at 3:30
The video starts at 0:00
by this time , mr ashley had been playing this for a lot more than 15 yrs so dont feel so bad :-D
The quality is great too, considering the age.
What a video! Thanks for posting, had no idea there was footage of him. Is there a video of just the music?
crazy about the showbusiness
Thumbs up to cuz Tom.
@xcso77x
He called it the "sawmill" tuning.
This video is freaking amazing.
Cop this!!
That Was In The 20’s 30’s and 40’s
Just listened to Whitetop Mountaineers playing this, check it out, pretty good.
NICE
oh my god oh my god
thats fred price [fiddle] and clint howard [seated next to clarence] both great musicians in their own right.
Yes, check out my video clip of Tony Ellis' song "Stephen" on a cello banjo.
Rick
nice!! cool bowtie
i in love cryptidlover101
Lawless brought me here :)
2:56 Floyd The Barber!!
3:32 Music Starts!
So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time.
Old man yells at cloud
All the way on the left there, that's Fred Price, and on the back up guitar next to Clarence that's Clint Howard
Love this song, but always wondered who 'Willy' was, and why he was passing by?
Ron Stewart
Apparently this was originally an olde olde song from Chaucerian England - the 1st to be writthen down - it's in the Bodleian Library. Feels like the singer was betrayed by their lover & wistfully muses that even the cuckoo doesn't lie!
A comment I read said that the line about Willy is even older - "I'll build a tower or a scaffold to the sky - to see Willy (William the Conqueror) marching by.. "The log cabin & 4th July must be how the lyrics evolved when it was imported to the US.
+angliase: Thanks for the information! I have been 'wondering' just who Willie was. That was great research and I appreciate your efforts.
@@angliase
The comment you read was incorrect.
This song is not from Chaucerian England (1300's), it is likely 17th or 18th century, and it is not the first to be written down. Perhaps the poster was confusing it with 'Sumer is a cumin in' which is also known as the 'Cuckoo Song' which is the earliest written song in (middle) English (1200's).
'Willie' (or any other name) does not appear in the English versions of the song and is clearly an American addition to the lyrics which for the most part are radically different to those found in England. So, it can be safely said that 'Willie' is not William the Conqueror.
nice
Can someone show me how to play the melody from this?
Someone once told me that the interviewer was folklorist D. K. Wilgus.
Clarence Ashely rocks
STRATMAN firdaus he was my great uncle
Shooter Brown Then I guess we are kin. Enoch was my great great grandfather.
Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith do a lovely version of this - on youtube somewhere..
Homey was real wasn't he? "he couldn't tell if it was tuned or not ( The producer0 Ha!
thumbs up if james franco's movie child of god brought you here...i wish the hell for certain string band (they composed all of the music in that movie) released a soundtrack for that film, but for now the only thing that can suffice is searching for the traditional songs themselves and hear other interpretations of them
Fck James Franco I knew about this song way before that pothead put it in one his shitty movies
And I knew about this song even before you started watching Bob's Burgers, but what do you have against James Franco, he's cool.
Lol you lame... why you care what I say about James Franco?!? Is he your best friend?!?
Can't think of anything you have against him?
@mitchc47 pretty sure he says "lassie making", though I'm not sure what that means.
is that roscoe holcomb on the geet?
The guitar player looks like Clint Howard and the fiddle player, Fred Price who traveled with Doc Watson and Tom Ashley.
+John R yep...those guys are classics...there is a pete seeger Rainbow quest with Fred PRice and CLint Howard sitting in with DOc.
Ohh yeahh...Fred Price the best of the best of all fiddleplayers ever.
Once I owned this fantastic Folkway Recording 1960-62 with Clarence Ashley, Fred Price, Howard Clint and Doc Watson, bot it got stolen. Since I` m been looking for it, but it`s imposibel to find this record here in denmark where I live.
One day I have to go tu USA. Maybe I`ll find it there...I hope.
I just downloaded the whole album from the link below. You need a .torrent program to download, but files are in .mp3
thepiratebay.org/torrent/6609993/Doc_Watson_and_Clarence_Ashley_-_Original_Folkway_Recordings
That's Tex Isley on guitar.
JudgeSturdy no that is Clint Howard
I believe that's Clint Howard on the guitar?
Staninec yes it is tom was my great uncle and my grandfather bud brown played with Tom (his uncle) when they picked up doc Watson for the first time so many good story's
that dog