I couldn't find this posted here before and thought it pretty cool. Can't swear it's the Mandocaster playing, but it sounds like it could be.
Johnny Olenn & The Blockbusters (Mandocaster)
I couldn't find this posted here before and thought it pretty cool. Can't swear it's the Mandocaster playing, but it sounds like it could be.
Re: Johnny Olenn & The Blockbusters (Mandocaster)
That was great, Frank. What a treat to hear some rockabilly mandolin from the late 1950's.
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.
Re: Johnny Olenn & The Blockbusters (Mandocaster)
Interesting video, but I don't think anybody was actually playing for that video. No mics, no cords and the 'mandolin' sounds a lot like a Telecaster. Fun though.
Ymmv.
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Re: Johnny Olenn & The Blockbusters (Mandocaster)
Then there was the part where he was dancing around, not touching the mandolin while the solo was happening.Originally Posted by Bill McCall
"it's not in bad taste, if it's funny" - john waters
Re: Johnny Olenn & The Blockbusters (Mandocaster)
What Bill said. The stage performance and the soundtrack are totally different. Hard to play a lead (at 46 sec) when he only has one hand on the mandolin! It was fun tho.
Charley
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Re: Johnny Olenn & The Blockbusters (Mandocaster)
Aw c’mon, you gotta give credit for the incredible one-handed Mandocaster solo while cuttin a rug.
I think we are hearing the Mandocaster. You can get a good twang out of them, especially with 50s amps.
Lip-syncing and fret-syncing the studio recording was the norm for televised performances from those days. Sometimes still is.
These guys got game! Dig the piano player too.
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Mandoline or Mandolin: Similar to the lute, but much less artistically valuable....for people who wish to play simple music without much trouble —The Oxford Companion to Music
Re: Johnny Olenn & The Blockbusters (Mandocaster)
I'm embarrassed to realize that I was listening to and not watching the video, while doing other things, and apparently not listening closely besides. There's definitely no mandolin on the soundtrack. Great tune though. And, who knows? Maybe the TV show inspired some kid to take up mandolin!
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.
Re: Johnny Olenn & The Blockbusters (Mandocaster)
Or the telecaster, great tune. Thanks Frank!!
Len B.
Clearwater, FL
Re: Johnny Olenn & The Blockbusters (Mandocaster)
That kid's now a bitter old man, who never got that "Johnny Olenn" mandolin sound he was working on all his life.
Last edited by Ranald; Apr-17-2023 at 7:22pm.
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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