Stoneman Family
Kerry, Sheila, Louise or Mirabelle Blech
>Digging through the LP stacks at the radio station where I DJ, I
>discovered a batch of country gospel and trad bluegrass albums by one
>Stoneman family, which seem to have been recorded in the 70s and 80s.
Do
>these Stonemans bear any relation to Ernest V Stoneman and kin? (And I
>know you all _love_ Ernest Stoneman ;-) )
>
> Jonah H.
Jonah,
I bet that Joe Wilson knew the Stonemans. Maybe he'll post?
Ernest assembled a band of his children to
perform with him, I think beginning in the '40s, definitely through the
'50s. I saw them at a coffeehouse in Kent, Ohio (The Blind Owl)
about 1966.
They put out numerous LPs. Scotty Stoneman also had a successful
career playing with other bluegrass bands outside the family band
(they had sort of evolved from E.V.'s vision of old-time and gospel into
a folk and bluegrass entity, even playing on the "Hootenanny" TV show
in the '60s, I think. Scotty's sister Roni was a whiz on the mandolin
and also
did blacked-out-teeth-and-pigtails-with-ribbons "humor." Naturally,
she became a regular on "Hee Haw."
Ernest still could sing well and they did reworkings of many of the
songs he popularized on 78s and in appearances in teh '20s and
'30s.
The extensive liner notes to the mid-1970s LP of 78 reissues(Rounder
1008) discusses Ernest's entire career, with some photos
and his appearance on a national TV quiz show (which he won, I
think). It's worth seeking out for the information.
I also believe there
is a book biography of Ernest currently available,
though I haven't seen it (written by Ivan Tribe; I
saw it advertised in the County Newsletter).
I hope this helps answer some of your questions.
Regards,
Kerry
--
***** ****** ***** ***** ***** ***** ******
Kerry, Sheila, Mirabelle Rose & Louise Marie Blech
blec...@wolfenet.com + http://www.wolfenet.com/~blechfam
"The Old Tunes Are the Best Tunes." -- Luther Davis
Oldtime1
Kerry is correct in assuming that I met the Stonemans. The Ivan Tribe book is
very good, tells all about this family that ranged from to oldtime to bluegrass
to nashville-style country.
Pop Stoneman is the only artist I can recall whose working recordings ranged
from the Edison Cylinder to the LP. (Sure, lots have been spread far on
re-issues, but Pop did 'em alive.)
. Kerry's outline of their times is good. I met them first in Washington in
1956 when they sere playing a fine dive called, "The Famous." I was working at
the Grand Ole Opry in 1960 when they did a guest shot that literally stopped
the show. Soon after they relocated to Nashville, but I'd moved to Birmingham
to work on civil rights matters.
Scott was the only one that I really knew. He was fiddler and the stage leader
until the bottle nailed him. He tried to wrestle Jack Daniel, and Jack usually
wins such contests.
He was bright, articulate, and had a delightful sense of humor. He had dropped
out of school early, but was long on native ability and sensibility. He knew
the country side of life from trips back down to the family home near Galax,
but he had grown up in the Washington area and was also an urban kid, wise to
the city and the array of folks that inhabit cities.
He is still my favorite bluegrass fiddler and many younger bluegrassers love
his playing. Of course he also knew oldtime fiddlers. Hub and Earl Sweet,
originally from Damascus, Virginia, were favorites stringband musicians. They'd
recorded with his father and lived a few miles north of Baltimore. At least one
of them - and possibly both - were on a country jamboree on Baltimore radio
that he heard when the family lived in Caramondy Hills, Maryland.
I'm sure there were scores of influences that I didn't learn about or can't
recall. I was just hanging out; not doing research. But I recall a special
genius in his playing and a genial from-the-heart quality in the man.
Joe Wilson
secret muse
old ernest made it from cylinder to STEREO,actually...that was a
unique position in country music history.
the kids appeared once on an early arthur godfrey showcase-a buddy of
mine caught it years ago on late tv & taped it.scotty was the fiddler
(donna played mandolin with incredible chops,literally)that time,
early fifties,was a trailblazing one for that brand of fiddling
which later would influence the clarence white gang & thereby,
though indirectly, affect the country rock hybrid.scotty's fiddling
appears on the best bluegrass 78 i ever heard(one of the 2 or 3
i'd agonize to pick from)with happy smith on blue ridge.what a
moment in music...a key session.
the OTHER banjo player(yes,two;larry richardson picked & happy thumped)
used to go by tommy jarrel's house & torture him each visit-never being
able to retain completely the song "let me fall"...andy cahan relayed
the story to me once when we listened to the record(an the unreleased
alt. take that appeared on a county lp back then).the whole thing
soars.
so too i think was the case with so much powerful music coming from
ernest.he had a hand in history that is way too underrecognized.
a complete catalogue of his music would cover all the good ground-
trad song,hot fiddling,choral,autoharp,songwriting in every band,
humor,pathos
-and on and on
pvc
--
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itself... -SON HOUSE
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Secret Museum of The Air !
http://wfmu.org or http://wfmu.org/ssaudionet.shtml
Jim Nelson
Kerry, Sheila, Louise or Mirabelle Blech wrote:
> Jonah,
>
> Ernest assembled a band of his children to
> perform with him, I think beginning in the '40s, definitely through
>the 50s. I saw them at a coffeehouse in Kent, Ohio (The Blind Owl)
> about 1966.
>
> They put out numerous LPs. Scotty Stoneman also had a successful
> career playing with other bluegrass bands outside the family band
> (they had sort of evolved from E.V.'s vision of old-time and gospel
> into a folk and bluegrass entity, even playing on the "Hootenanny" TV
> show in the '60s, I think. Scotty's sister Roni was a whiz on the
> mandolin and also did blacked-out-teeth-and-pigtails-with-ribbons
> "humor." Naturally, she became a regular on "Hee Haw."
those Hee-Haw re-reuns, you'll see that Roni was a whiz on the banjo.
Her sister Donna was the mando whiz. Tribe's book, by the way, is a
must have.
Jim
David Sanderson
Got to add a note here, courtesy of Tribe's book. Scotty and the children
(14, I think) grew up mostly after the Depression drove Ernest mostly out
of music and out of the mountains to Washington, where he worked as a
carpenter right on through WWII. They lived in a new, poor section, no
indoor plumbing among other things, and the boys were influenced by the
rough social environment, plenty of alcohol and hanging out. In spite of
it all, Ernest kept the family performing as the kids grew.
Jim Nelson wrote:
--
David Sanderson
West Newbury MA
Ramone
>Kerry, Sheila, Louise or Mirabelle Blech wrote:
>> Jonah,
>>
>> Ernest assembled a band of his children to
>> perform with him, I think beginning in the '40s, definitely through
>>the 50s. I saw them at a coffeehouse in Kent, Ohio (The Blind Owl)
>> about 1966.
>>
>> They put out numerous LPs. Scotty Stoneman also had a successful
>> career playing with other bluegrass bands outside the family band
>> (they had sort of evolved from E.V.'s vision of old-time and gospel
>> into a folk and bluegrass entity, even playing on the "Hootenanny" TV
>> show in the '60s, I think. Scotty's sister Roni was a whiz on the
>> mandolin and also did blacked-out-teeth-and-pigtails-with-ribbons
>> "humor." Naturally, she became a regular on "Hee Haw."
>Right on the mark there, Bub, except that if you go back and check out
>those Hee-Haw re-reuns, you'll see that Roni was a whiz on the banjo.
>Her sister Donna was the mando whiz. Tribe's book, by the way, is a
>must have.
>
>Jim
You're right. In the late 60s the Stonemans had a brief-run
television show that came on Saturday mornings right after the Jimmy
Dean show where I lived. I sometimes slept through Jimmy Dean, but I
never missed the Stonemans because I was madly in love with Donna
Stoneman. She was a good mandolineer and she could wear you out just
watching her hyper-active playing style. Roni took her banjo and went
on to Hee Haw, but I have never seen or heard of Donna since.