Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 51 to 75 of 83

Thread: The "High Lonesome" Sound Defined?

  1. #51
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Cincinnati, OH
    Posts
    1,958

    Default

    " For example what a baritone singer was to attempt this sound? #I can't think of an example off the top of my head, but I'm going to look around and see if I can find one. "

    Doc Watson might fit that description on occasion, but he doesn't always do those tight harmony arrangements.




  2. #52
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    PA
    Posts
    445

    Default

    I just saw Doc Watson 2 nights ago in a small theater in Harrisburg, PA. IMO some of the best 2 hrs. of "high lonesome" I've ever heard. At 81 yrs old this man is truely awe inspiring.

    Also, I think some of John Hartford's stuff fits the bill here too.
    mick meinsler

  3. #53
    Registered User evanreilly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Asheville, North Carolina
    Posts
    4,318

    Default

    As I should hope everyone really knows, in addition to his immense personal contributions to the preservation and continuance of old-time music, John Hartford was a friend of Bill Monroe. John recorded "The Cross-eyed Child" as his tribute piece to Monroe. The song contains several monologs of Hartford giving historical insights into the young Monroe, which contributed to the later shape of Monroe's music. He talks about the young Monroe listening to the returning World War I veterans returning home and walking down the local railroad tracks and laying back & giving their backwoods hollers and how the young Monroe would do that also, pitching his hollers as high as he could, and how that formed the basis of Monroe's singing style.

  4. #54
    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Clearview, WA
    Posts
    7,219

    Default

    Yes, I think that combined with listening to Jimmie Rodgers probably gave Monroe quite a bit of inspiration in the area of singing (and yodeling!).

    I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the tune "I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome". With the line about the lonesome sound of a train going by, I would think this to be a definitive high-lonesome song.
    2015 Chevy Silverado
    2 bottles of Knob Creek bourbon
    1953 modified Kay string bass named "Bambi"

  5. #55
    Registered User evanreilly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Asheville, North Carolina
    Posts
    4,318

    Default

    Monroe recorded 12 of Jimmie Rodgers' songs. At one point, Decca wanted to release an album or Rodgers' material recorded by Monroe. Unfortunately, Decca never released most of the recordings.
    Rodgers was clearly an influence on Monroe. Somewhere I have a picture of Bill (& maybe Charlie & Birch) at Jimmie's grave in Meridian.

  6. #56
    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Clearview, WA
    Posts
    7,219

    Default

    Okay, for those who might care about this sort of thing, here's the list of tunes I decided on:

    Bill Monroe & Jimmy Martin - I'm Blue, I'm Lonsome
    The Stanley Brothers - Another Night
    Tim O'Brien - Highway Of Sorrow
    Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard - TB Blues
    Vern Williams - Cabin On A Mountain
    Bill Monroe & Del McCoury - True Life Blues
    Bill Monroe - Lonesome Moonlight Waltz
    Open Road - Cold Wind
    Del McCoury - Bluest Man In Town
    David Davis - The Lonesome Sound Of The Wippoorwill
    Bill Monroe & Mac Wiseman - Can't You Hear Me Callin'

    ......and if you want to hear them you can tune in at 12:00PM (Pacific) on Sunday, April 25 via the KBCS website and check out Bluegrass Ramble



    2015 Chevy Silverado
    2 bottles of Knob Creek bourbon
    1953 modified Kay string bass named "Bambi"

  7. #57
    Registered User Yonkle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Boise Idaho USA
    Posts
    968

    Default

    Monroe "Body and Soul" "Wayfaring Stranger"
    Shalom,Yonkle (JD)

  8. #58
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    96

    Default

    Memories of Mother and Dad, by Monroe. Or White Dove by the Stanley Bros. Songs about your parents dying- that's pretty high and lonesome.

  9. #59
    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Clearview, WA
    Posts
    7,219

    Default

    So, does anyone notice something unusal about my list?
    2015 Chevy Silverado
    2 bottles of Knob Creek bourbon
    1953 modified Kay string bass named "Bambi"

  10. #60
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Newark, Delaware
    Posts
    1,592

    Default

    mandopete: DITTO!! - Just wonderin' how many times - on this Board - this question has been asked. Yes, it is a valid inquiry. Perhaps it's from a "nebie"...eh?? .. hee hee.. Carry on. EL MOOSO.

  11. #61
    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Clearview, WA
    Posts
    7,219

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by (Moose @ April 23 2004, 07:39)
    mandopete: DITTO!! - Just wonderin' how many times - on this Board - this question has been asked. Yes, it is a valid inquiry. Perhaps it's from a "nebie"...eh?? .. hee hee.. Carry on. EL MOOSO. #
    Not sure what this response means....no, the odd thing is that the tune Lonesome Moonlight Waltz is an instrumental tune. #I really think Monroe captured the notion of a high-lonesome sound in the melody on this one! #I also think that Lonesome Fiddle Blues might be appropriate for this list as well.



    2015 Chevy Silverado
    2 bottles of Knob Creek bourbon
    1953 modified Kay string bass named "Bambi"

  12. #62
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Newark, Delaware
    Posts
    1,592

    Default

    Well, let's start another "thread'...: "Who's the BEST mandolin player ever...!? (I ain't got much work at my desk here today..)

  13. #63

    Default

    Me. Work on my desk, however, I'm not going to miss this segue....

  14. #64
    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Clearview, WA
    Posts
    7,219

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by (LeftCoastMark @ April 23 2004, 15:01)
    I'm not going to miss this segue....
    Not sure how that is gonna work........

    Okay, Chris Thile ?
    2015 Chevy Silverado
    2 bottles of Knob Creek bourbon
    1953 modified Kay string bass named "Bambi"

  15. #65
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    South of Cincinnati
    Posts
    399

    Default

    Since he's my hero, it would have to be William Smith Monroe, since he developed all the mando licks that all players use today and all the cross-tunings that he came up with. He set the stage for all the mando players that have or ever will come up. All the classic Bluegrass songs that he wrote on the mando, and, had it not been for Monroe, the mandolin probably would have gone the way of the harpsicord, zither, etc. and this may have been the "ViolaCafe".[B]
    What The ....

  16. #66
    Registered User evanreilly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Asheville, North Carolina
    Posts
    4,318

    Default

    Well, Bill described himself as a "...farmer who played mandolin & sang tenor..."; an interesting self-description. Wonder how his farming skills were; he ploughed with mules as long as he was able to farm, of course!!!

  17. #67
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Boston
    Posts
    215

    Default

    Many of the band members who became Bill's farm laborers were a little less thrilled than Bill about his farming.
    Aaron Garrett

  18. #68
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Newark, Delaware
    Posts
    1,592

    Default

    "...we make money the old-fashioned way ; we EARN it". heee... hee.. Carry on boys.. Moose.

  19. #69

    Default Re: The "High Lonesome" Sound Defined?

    Quote Originally Posted by danmills View Post
    I heard Ricky Skaggs interviewed on NPR a while back saying that the placement of the tenor vocal harmony above the lead is what defined the "High Lonesome" sound. Or something like that. I forget the details, and I don't know enough about harmony vocals or the history of who was doing what when to make any more sense out of this.
    My ? is,: isn't the tenor harmony ALWAYS above the lead ? That means that songs like Rose Of Old Kentucky and My Little Georgia Rose are both examples of the "high lonesome sound",..however,...-they were solos for Bill because their melodies are so high in the register that no one can sing tenor to them !

  20. #70
    bass player gone mando
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Brooklyn and Rhinebeck NY
    Posts
    458

    Default Re: The "High Lonesome" Sound Defined?

    Quote Originally Posted by mando-tech View Post
    My ? is,: isn't the tenor harmony ALWAYS above the lead ? That means that songs like Rose Of Old Kentucky and My Little Georgia Rose are both examples of the "high lonesome sound",..however,...-they were solos for Bill because their melodies are so high in the register that no one can sing tenor to them !
    I don't know. But you've done us a service by reviving this interesting thread after 11 years of dormancy!
    Collings MT O
    Collings MF5 0
    Weber Gallatin Mandola
    Weber Bitterroot Mandola
    Weber Sage Octave

  21. #71
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Colorado and Florida
    Posts
    145

    Default Re: The "High Lonesome" Sound Defined?

    This may be off the subject, but when I met my now wife four years ago she had no knowledge of Bluegrass, being from Brazil, although she had great appreciation for lots of different styles of music. So, after a few dates we got in the car, and a Del McCoury CD was on. I said, there, that's what bluegrass sounds like. After listening for a couple of minutes I asked her what she thought.
    Her words were " I like it, it seems really well played, but do they have to sing like that?" Of course, the answer is "Yes"!
    Riley

    Kentucky KM-250

    Guitars:
    RainSong SMH
    Blueridge BR-142
    The Loar LH-250
    Recording King RPS-9
    A Strat and a Tele

  22. #72
    Registered User grassrootphilosopher's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    2,117

    Default Re: The "High Lonesome" Sound Defined?

    Quote Originally Posted by mando-tech View Post
    My ? is,: isn't the tenor harmony ALWAYS above the lead ? That means that songs like Rose Of Old Kentucky and My Little Georgia Rose are both examples of the "high lonesome sound",..however,...-they were solos for Bill because their melodies are so high in the register that no one can sing tenor to them !
    No. Listen to the Osborne Brothers and youŽll have high lead.

    Listen to the early Stanley Brothers (I think itŽs their Columbia recordings) and youŽll often have high baritone. That is the baritone harmony vocals above the tenor vocals that are above the lead vocals (Listen to "Hey, Hey, Hey" by the Stanley Brothers).

    Where you put the tenor vocals does not necessarily make them lonesome. If you want "high" and lonesome, youŽll have to put the vocals in the upper registers first of all, not necessarily the tenor vocals.

    Also youŽll have to make shure, that your vocals are not lush. You donŽt want to be crooning. (Tommy Duncan with Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys is a prime example of crooning, also think of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry etc):



    You donŽt want to make youŽr harmony vocals sweet. Sweet harmony vocals were done by the McReynolds brothers.

    Olaf

  23. #73
    Registered User grassrootphilosopher's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    2,117

    Default Re: The "High Lonesome" Sound Defined?

    Lonesome harmony vocals come from rubbing the harmony vocals against the lead vocals, like using flattened thirds in a major context. ItŽs like playing a 7th chord (think D7 before going back to G). That builds up tension.

    This tension along with the high vocals make it "high lonesome".

    Top drawer examples are Bill MonroeŽs "Letter From My Darling", "Travelling Down This Lonesome Road"

    "CanŽt You Hear Me Calling"
    listen to this (Monroe and Duffey on "CanŽt You Hear Me Calling", both died in 1996)

    or "Sugar Coated Love" (here in the "notorious" version):


    YouŽll see that all the above mentioned principles apply.

    The above mentioned "Hey, Hey, Hey" is high/lonesome with a high baritone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BW2...aKfBA&index=15).
    Olaf

  24. #74
    Registered User Gary Hedrick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Martinsville, Indiana formerly of Brown County
    Posts
    1,377

    Default Re: The "High Lonesome" Sound Defined?

    Listen to Daley and Vincent singing Hills of Carolin' . The duet parts are a definition to me.

    My "real" definition will always be listening to my grandmother singing hymns while she stood at the kitchen sink doing the dishes.

    There was a plaintive...haunting sound to her voice....the pain of poverty...too much work and too little hope. She sounded like a female version of Bill Monroe in many ways.

    It will always stick with me though she has been dead for almost 50 years.

  25. #75
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    24,807
    Blog Entries
    56

    Default Re: The "High Lonesome" Sound Defined?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Hedrick View Post
    Listen to Daley and Vincent singing Hills of Carolin' . The duet parts are a definition to me.

    My "real" definition will always be listening to my grandmother singing hymns while she stood at the kitchen sink doing the dishes.

    There was a plaintive...haunting sound to her voice....the pain of poverty...too much work and too little hope. She sounded like a female version of Bill Monroe in many ways.

    It will always stick with me though she has been dead for almost 50 years.
    Beautifully said. Great memory.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  26. The following members say thank you to JeffD for this post:


Similar Threads

  1. I'm tired of the "tinny" sound of my a & e strings
    By stringduster in forum Equipment
    Replies: 14
    Last: Jul-27-2008, 4:01pm
  2. The sound hole "patch" in stew mac's kit
    By Caleb in forum Builders and Repair
    Replies: 28
    Last: Feb-03-2008, 1:05am
  3. Bill Monroe's "I'm blue, I'm lonesome"
    By John68 in forum General Mandolin Discussions
    Replies: 6
    Last: Sep-01-2006, 9:03pm
  4. "Lonesome Rueben"
    By good_ol_al_61 in forum Bluegrass, Newgrass, Country, Gospel Variants
    Replies: 3
    Last: Dec-06-2004, 11:52am
  5. Imported "A"s vs. High end MKs
    By Steve_R in forum General Mandolin Discussions
    Replies: 14
    Last: May-17-2004, 2:12pm

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •