QUOTES AND MIS-QUOTES FROM MISSOURI OLD-TIME FIDDLERS
Fiddling Techniques and Styles
"That's just belly-rubbin' music" --- Taylor
Don't be puttin' no blue note in a hoedown. --- Preston on flatted 3rds
Don't be pattin' your finger like that. --- Taylor on triplets
Dan Duffee passed on your quotes and they had me going. To add to them, I remember being around Bob Holt and when Charlie Walden started hot dogging, he 'd say something like "Charlie's playing that trash again". I can't say that's the exact quote (so Dan wouldn't have me putting quotes around it) but Bob would crack me up by referring to that as trash... --- Barb Kuhns.
That Texas shit almost ruined Charlie Walden --- Virgil Smith
That Canadian shit almost ruined Charlie Walden --- Virgil Smith
That Irish shit almost ruined Charlie Walden --Virgil Smith
Pete -- "We played all kinds of tunes, square dance, round dance, popular and semi-popular."
Accompaniments to Fiddling
Well, that's a Mel Bay chord. Jim Gilmore on closed chords
'Course, there ain't no minors on the bass. --- J. A. Gilmore
On Book Learnin' and Note Readin'
Actually Russell asked me if I had taken lessons once. I responded by saying "I give lessons." I was never sure if that was better or worse. --- JGS
That Dennis Schubert plays a pretty good guitar, but, did you know he took lessons." said as if it were cheating.
That Dennis Schubert plays a pretty good guitar, but, did you know he took lessons."
"Well, you can tell he took lessons." Russell Orchard dissing Dennis Schubert
That Hayden is good stuff... Jim Gilmore on the classics
"You play by NOTE don'cha boy" (meaning I could read), Unknown
Dont ever let them know you can read, boy. --J Gilmore
High Praise
There's very few white men and no n*****s that can play it that way." Pete McMahan
That Charlie Walden can't keep his G-string tuned. Virgil Smith explaining CW's disappointing 3rd place finish at Boonville.
I don't mean to be a smart ass, and, I ain't telling you anything you don't already know, but.... --- Keith Orchard
I don't mean to be a smart ass son, but you don't have that low part of Leather Britches quite right, son. Preston
"... a good old Indian." Pete McMahan on Ace Sewell of Oklahoma
Conversation between Ace Sewell and Pete McMahan:
Ace: "In
this day and age, a tune's got to come out even."
Pete: "Well,
you guys play it so slow you can't dance to it."
Ace: "I'm not here to dance. I'm here
to fiddle."
No one likes a smart ass fiddler --- Jack Deck
Hey, n*****s are people too!! --Russ Orchard
I was proud of that old n****r. He played better than any of us white fiddlers. --- Russ on Bill Caton.
'course, he played n****r-music. --- Gilmore on Bill Caton.
Well, he was a n****r. --Pete Mac on Bill Caton
That Doc Weinninger knows over 300 tunes and can't play a one of them. --Keith Orchard.
I thought George was a fiddler. --- Taylor on George Portz
If I couldn't play it any better than that, I just wouldn't.
Fiddle Contests
"Now when a man starts playing Sally Goodin in the middle of Grey Eagle, that's where I draw the line." --- Virgil
Now, if you are going to have a butt shaking contest, you ought to call it a butt shaking contest. --- Preston on teenage-girl-fiddlers. Also attributable to Virgil Smith.
That Pete MacMahan thinks he should win the contest just for showing up.., Gilmore?
I ain't scared of no hornpipe fiddler. Taylor on Cyril
Don't be playing over the judge's heads. Preston on Bb hornpipes
Don't wanna go to a fiddle contest dressed like a bum. --Taylor.
"I ain’t paying Forrest. He was just on the road, you see." --- Taylor after winning the Tebbetts fiddle contest while dividing up the spoils.
"That Leroy Canaday played Redwing as his tune of choice. That's no tune, that's a goddamn song! That's where I draw the line." --- Virgil Smith
Gilmore on stage at the Tebbetts fiddle contest, looks at the
judges and
starts tuning his fiddle -- "You don't mind if I tune do you? I like to
play in tune."
Mike Wells -- "I know this contest was rigged if Bob Hagan placed ahead of me."
McMahan -- "Rusty, that was awful."
Misc B. S. and General Advice
Gotta go roll up my windows --- J. A. Gilmore, always returning from the parking lot with whiskey breath
Everything always happens in groups of threes... --Taylor
Variant to the above: "Everything in the Civil War happened in threes..." --Taylor
Don't let Henry Thompson around your bows --?
I used to be able to play that. Cyril on Jack Danielson's Reel
How about Pete, in describing a near miss car accident said, "You couldn't a pounded a flax seed up my ass with a post maul."
Used to be Pete didn't think he could play the fiddle unless he was so drunk he couldn't stand-up or sit-down.
A man has got to draw the line somewhere. Virgil?
Now that’s where I draw the line. Preston.
Whoa, I don't go that route! --- McMahan as a women tried to hug him after he played.
The women folk are in the kitchen. --- Preston to a 'girl' guitar player.
"If everyone keeps taking so many breaks, somethin's gonna get broke" --- Taylor
If your going to choke there Johnny, play that Grey Eagle first. --- Jake H. This was said to Murdock as he choked on some chaw.
I used to be able to play it. I don't know. That's what happens when you get old. Some things get stiff and others go limp." --- Jake Hockemeyer when asked to play Woodchopper's
You ought to use a thumbpick. --- Taylor to John Stewart --
"Pills and booze ruined that <INSERT NAME OF FAMOUS FIDDLER HERE>." --- Virgil Smith
Gilmore -- "Looks like a stray bull got in the pen."
Taylor -- "I cut my teeth on a fiddle."
"He went off like a ruptured duck." --- Taylor
Jake -- "It wasn't much of a dance if at least two or three fights didn't break out."
"I was the biggest drunk in Boone County." --- PM
Keith Orchard -- "Vee Latty used to sneak over to Bill Caton's house at night."
I've forgotten more tunes than I ever knew. --- Anon.
"There's no shame in being poor, just sometimes it's mighty inconvenient." --- Pete McMahan
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