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Thread: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

  1. #26
    Registered User Kirk Higgins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    In the 70’s, I had the privilege of hearing John Allan perform at my neighbor’s house when I was living in Truro, NS. Including John Allan, there were four of us. It was a true pleasure to meet and listen to him play the tunes and songs he wanted to play on his Martin 12 string. He stayed with my neighbor when performing in Truro.

    I had been to Dave MacIsaac’s place in Halifax many years back. I purchased and my daughter still has the Gibson LG-3 he used when touring with Natalie MacMaster. I believe he has been living in Halifax for many years. I don’t recall ever hearing that Jerry Holland was living in Halifax but it certainly is possible. Like Ronald mentioned, I think he lived in the Sydney area of Cape Breton but certainly performed in Halifax from time to time.

    With global urbanization, many (most) of the young people have had to leave rural areas for the larger cities. In Atlantic Canada this has been Halifax and outside Atlantic, our young people have traditionally gone to Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

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  3. #27
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Quote Originally Posted by Kirk Higgins View Post
    With global urbanization, many (most) of the young people have had to leave rural areas for the larger cities. In Atlantic Canada this has been Halifax and outside Atlantic, our young people have traditionally gone to Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
    And, in my parents' and grandparents' generations, Boston, New York, Montreal, Hamilton, Detroit and Windsor (the two cities both having auto plants), where my father moved with the family. These were mostly cities with a great deal of industry and plenty of jobs, paying better than most work back home.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  4. #28
    Registered User JH Murray's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    I live in the Ottawa Valley, which straddles the border between Ontario & Quebec. The Ottawa River area was a rich source of lumber, and it brought together the French, Irish, Scots and English. It also produced a unique fiddling tradition. The bagpipe tradition is all gone now. Like Cape Breton, it has an expressive style that is tied to dance. Reading the article Dagger Gordon shared reminded me of a quote from a British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. Whitehead said the art of progress is to hang on to stability in the face of change, and to embrace change in the face of stability. It's fascinating to see how Scottish and Irish traditional music has changed, and now the new world is seen as a way of reconnecting with their roots. This is a video of April Verch, an Ottawa Valley fiddler and dancer. Enjoy.

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  6. #29
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Thanks for that, JH, There's a real French-Canadian accent on the tune. I first saw and heard April when she was about 14, fiddling and dancing in the aisles between periods at a 67s game. She was part of the official entertainment, and was certainly good. April was immersed in folk fiddling, but is also a sophisticated, formally-trained musician as well, a Berklee graduate(or at least a Berkelee student) in fact.

    https://aprilverch.com/about/
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  7. #30
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    Ranald: do you know if that recording is still in print? I highly doubt but would love to hear more of that. Looks like that YT channel has lots more.
    Now, to answer your question, Jim, which I must have missed or forgotten -- it hasn't been quite two years yet -- THE MUSIC OF CAPE BRETON VOLS. 1 & 2 were printed by Topic, a British label. Its website directs you to Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and Amazon to stream theses albums. Topic provides a link to download the booklets that go with the records. See the following webpage: https://www.topicrecords.co.uk/2013/...ton-2-tsdl354/
    I see copies of VOL. 1 for sale online in LP format, at fairly high prices. Careful not to go astray with other albums with similar titles.

    If you have any more questions just ask. I may answer...eventually.
    Last edited by Ranald; Jul-16-2023 at 8:41pm.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

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  9. #31
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    While in Cape Breton last week, I bought a CD called my celtic strings by Pius MacIsaac, featuring Pius playing guitar, mandolin, and fiddle. I'm still in Nova Scotia, and have been listening to this CD in the car and enjoying the mandolin music very much. A highlight of my trip down home was a couple of days spent in Inverness County, along the west coast of Cape Breton, an area famous for its fiddlers and its cultural tourism. We went to three events with fiddle and piano in two days, the best being a dance at the hall in Glencoe Mills, 'way out in the country, with Neil Beaton on fiddle and Hilda Chaisson on piano. The beaches in this region are beautiful too. Pius was from Mabou in the area. I learned that he died this year.

    There isn't much publication information on the CD, which I bought at the Gaelic College in St. Anns, Nova Scotia. Perhaps it could be ordered from there or from the Alexander Doyle Public Library in Mabou, NS, where Pius recorded. Anyway, here's Pius (if the link doesn't work, search YouTube for "Pius MacIsaac-fiddle and guitar"):




    For those interested, here's some information on Pius:

    https://www.invernessoran.ca/enterta...aac-love-music

    https://www.facebook.com/driftwoodtr...8535164180925/ (Pius mentions here having a "disability"; I have no idea what disability he was referring to.)

    Here's a dance with Neil Beaton and Hilda Chaisson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGDe...nel=NeilBeaton
    Last edited by Ranald; Jul-16-2023 at 10:08pm.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

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  11. #32
    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Great video, Ranald. As a resident Scot I love all the Scottish placenames you are quoting in your posting, reinforcing the strong links between my little country and your part of the world.
    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOldBores

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  13. #33
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Quote Originally Posted by Ranald View Post
    Now, to answer your question, Jim, which I must have missed or forgotten -- it hasn't been quite two years yet -- THE MUSIC OF CAPE BRETON VOLS. 1 & 2 were printed by Topic, a British label. Its website directs you to Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and Amazon to stream theses albums. Topic provides a link to download the booklets that go with the records. See the following webpage: https://www.topicrecords.co.uk/2013/...ton-2-tsdl354/
    I see copies of VOL. 1 for sale online in LP format, at fairly high prices. Careful not to go astray with other albums with similar titles.

    If you have any more questions just ask. I may answer...eventually.
    Ranald: Thanks for answering my query in a somewhat timely fashion. I did check the links on the Topic site and Amazon shows up but doesn't provide any means to buy either the physical CD or in a digital format. And the link to Apple/iTunes does not work at all. So Spotify looks like the only way to listen to it but they require an account. So that is the bad news.

    However, I have a good friend who digitized his entire record collection and copies all the digital files to a hard drive for me and I have both volume one and two of those recordings as well a a pile of other recording, some of which, no doubt are out-of-print.

    Also while we are on the subject, I have uploaded the short article I wrote in 1977, along with few photos I took, about the CB Festival I attended back then. It includes some commentary by Mark Wilson, a well-known expert and field recorder of traditional music plus a transcription of a tune by Dan R. MacDonald.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails GlendaleFiddleFestJG1977.pdf  
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  15. #34
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Here's the Cape Breton band Còig, with Darren McMullen on mandola. If anyone wants more of this music, but without mandola, there are more videos, #1, 2. & 4 from the same evening. Videos #2 & 4 have some great stepdancing by a guest, Cassie MacDonald. This performance by Còig was in 2016 at MacBouch Restaurant in the village of St. Peters.

    For information on Còig, see: https://www.coig.ca/home

    If the connections don't work, search YouTube for: Coig at MacBouch St Peter's 3

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1c3...artyMacDougall

    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

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  17. #35
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Còig again, with Darren McMullen on mandolin.

    If links don't work, search YouTube for: Coig - D Jigs (Old Crow Magazine)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXst...ldCrowMagazine

    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  18. #36
    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Thanks for posting, Ranald. Such fine playing and the group are so together in their performances.
    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOldBores

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  20. #37
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Còig means "five' by the way, so I assume they lost dhà (two) along the way, one of the fiddlers on Post #34 being a guest performer -- a good reason not to name your group, The Five So and So's or The Such-and-Such Trio.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  21. #38
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Here's the Cape Breton fiddler, Jerry Holland, playing his popular composition, "My Cape Breton Home," on mandolin and guitar. Jerry was a Massachusetts transplant. For information about him, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Holland_(musician)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7sI...nel=crisscross

    Last edited by Ranald; Oct-21-2023 at 2:57pm.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

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  23. #39
    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Lovely video, Ranald. This is a tune I really like and I play it often with some of my fiddler pals over here in Scotland. The player on your video is actually Christian DP, a German player who is one of the regular group of posters on the SAW Group. His YouTube channel goes under the name crisscross, as your link shows above.
    Jerry Holland wrote so many gorgeous tunes, one of my favourites being Boo Baby's Lullaby. Hard to believe that he died away back in 2009 at the age of just 54.
    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOldBores

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  25. #40
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Correction noted. A fine rendition by Christian.
    Thanks, John.
    Last edited by Ranald; Oct-21-2023 at 8:13pm.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  26. #41
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Here's Jerry Holland playing his tune, "My Cape Breton Home" on fiddle. It's hard to imagine that Jerry hadn't plucked a tune on mandolin at some time, but I have no idea. ("My Cape Breton Home" is followed by "Mason's Apron" and a tune whose name I can't recall.) If the links don't work, search YouTube for "Jerry Holland/ My Cape Breton Home". This is Jerry's "before" picture (1976):

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Jerry Hollan.jpg 
Views:	28 
Size:	92.9 KB 
ID:	210071

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI06...eyMacIsaacLIVE

    Last edited by Ranald; Oct-22-2023 at 6:34pm.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  27. #42
    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    Many thanks for this lovely video, Ranald. Interesting just how much the traditional tunes mutate when they cross over to Canada (and then come back again in many cases).

    Here is one of my favourite Jerry Holland compositions, Boo Baby's Lullaby, written for his newly-born daughter. It is a delightful little video.

    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOldBores

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  29. #43
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cape Breton mandolin (1976)

    That's a fine tune, John, and a lovely video. It brought back memories of being a young dad with my own little girls, who were also fascinated with the fiddle. I wonder if "Boo Baby" is playing music today. Jerry Jr. was drumming in the video above (Post #41). One of my three daughters is a multi-instrumentalist, including being a fiddler.

    By the way, Jerry was playing his own interpretation of "Mason's Apron," which is often done as a showpiece in Canada, perhaps in Scotland too. If someone here "plays it straight," the tune likely hasn't been in their repertoire for long. As well, Jerry is highly influenced by the popular Cape Breton fiddler, Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald (1914-1987), who had a radio show, made records, and played dances throughout the island. He was christened "Scotty" by a record promoter who wanted to promote Winston's mostly Scottish tunes to an ethnic market. Winston, as his name suggests, added a strong Irish influence to the Scottish music of Cape Breton, e.g., lighter bowing, and less "bagpipe sound". Winston was highly influential in Cape Breton. One Cape Breton musician described him to me as "the Bill Monroe of Cape Breton music," which isn't far off the mark, though that's not to say that all Cape Breton fiddlers followed Winston's path, anymore than all Kentucky traditional musicians took up bluegrass. If I recall correctly, when Jerry was growing up in Brockton, Massachusetts, he heard Winston Fitzgerald playing dances in the Boston area, with its large Maritime Canadian population. Jerry's father, from Atlantic Canada, was an admirer of Winston, and Jerry certainly grew up with Fitzgerald's records.
    Last edited by Ranald; Oct-23-2023 at 10:14am.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

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