JanetB - Posted - 01/29/2014:  06:33:27

Hearing Jim Britton perform Jim Reed's version of "Beth" got me thinking about sharing tunes we've learned from his playing.  I'm a BIG fan of Jim Reed, so I'll start with a tune he says he learned from his dad.

Hope lots of us admirers chime in and Jim, you're the most welcome of all!

Run Rabbit Run

James Stiltner - Posted - 01/29/2014:  07:08:13

This isn't one of Jim's songs, but there is a little Jim Reed-inspiration with it.......I seen how Jim wrote his own songs, so it inspired me to try writing my own, and here's what I came up with.....

Old Man - Posted - 01/29/2014:  07:22:38

Jim is a good one ,We all can learn alot from Jim.I love hearing Him pick .

JanetB - Posted - 01/29/2014:  07:46:47

That was a good one, James.  I can hear Jim Reed influence, both in the fluid melodic picking and that little ending.  Here's one that Jim wrote after visiting a friend in Leopold who invited everyone to jam at his house.  I clawhammer it, Jim picks it, but he doesn't mind at all.

Road Back from Leopold (CH)

Jim Britton - Posted - 01/29/2014:  08:49:51

I first heard Jim Reed play this tune in the chat room. If I'm not mistaken Jim said he learned the tune back in the early 70's from a claw-hammer player. (Thus the "galloping rhythms" that show up in the tune.) I've poked around online unable to find anything about the tune or it's origin. There's also a good video of Jim and Don Couchie playing "Beth" showing the 3-finger and clawing at the same time on his home page.

While Jim opted for the steady work of the coal mines of south eastern KY, He could have easily spent the last several decades with any number of professional groups.

-JB

 

VIDEO: Banjo Raga Number Two - Jim Britton, Banjo (click to view)

Jack Baker - Posted - 01/29/2014:  09:08:16

Janet,

I love your interpretations of Jim Reed's tunes. They are really quite wonderful to hear...Jack

---

Originally posted by JanetB

Edited by - Jack Baker on 01/29/2014 09:08:36

jimh269b - Posted - 01/29/2014:  09:22:51

wow what a honor this is,thank you all so much,this gave me a very warm feeling,you don't get this kind of thing happen to you very often

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 01/29/2014:  09:53:16

JIm Britton,

If that ain't kickin" butt and takin' names there's not a cow in Texas and Texas is a heifers hangout!!

Ken

 

Laurence Diehl - Posted - 01/29/2014:  12:32:35

Jim wrote a tune for me a while back and I tried to return the favor with this one more recently. I can't match Jim's smoothness, but very few can.

VIDEO: Kentucky Banjo (click to view)

bhniko - Posted - 01/29/2014:  13:43:34

Enjoyed the playing of all of you and never miss a post when each of you are associated with it.

Janet your soft, mellow sound is greatly admired....someday hopefully I can find out how you do it.

ramjo - Posted - 01/29/2014:  14:27:48

Janet, this is a great idea, and I'm so happy to hear the various tributes to one of my favorite bajoistas collected in one place. Jim's extraordinary picking sets the bar really high, but these players come mighty close with their great renditions. Thanks all.

A while back Jim posted his tune "Molly Sue," and its modal, old timey sound made me want to try a clawhammer version. It doesn't have Jim's liquid style, but I hope it honors him and his music. I think a lot of his tunes can adapt well to clawhammer, right Janet?

Molly Sue (CH) by Jim Reed

JanetB - Posted - 01/29/2014:  14:30:12

Jim must have the most tunes on record written in honor of one of his BHO friends.  Each one is a gem.  Here's one he wrote for me called "Song for Janet," but he said I could change the name if I wanted, so it became "Silver Buckle."  He made me feel like a winner!  My clawhammer version is still on-going, so here's my picked version.  Jim can play it twice as fast.

Silver Buckle

JanetB - Posted - 01/29/2014:  14:33:29

quote:

---

Originally posted by ramjo

I think a lot of his tunes can adapt well to clawhammer, right Janet?

---

I asked Jim about playing Run, Rabbit, Run with clawhammer, and he was quite happy about that.  Jim says his dad played clawhammer banjo, but he was always a picker, from five years old when he first snuck out his father's banjo.  I'm playing clawhammer in Road to Leopold, too.  Jim's melodic style encourages melodic clawhammer.

jimh269b - Posted - 01/29/2014:  15:11:18

im Kane for my pop paw

VIDEO: pop paw post-a-thon (click to view)

Don Borchelt - Posted - 01/29/2014:  15:59:45

Some great Jim Reed tunes posted here, a real fine homage to a sincere gentleman and an awesome picker.  Here is my contribution:

VIDEO: Banjo Hell Tune (click to view)

jimifive - Posted - 01/29/2014:  18:45:47

recently Jim Reed has become an important  inspiration & influence in my banjo life

i will never be a flawless or accomplished musician, having started playing banjo seriously just a couple years ago at an old age (just messed around a bit as a kid)

jim's playing is so solid & flowing & deep

i thank him for the opportunity to try to play some of his stuff

when i started playing Bullfrog Spit in a Tomcat's Eye, this is how it came out...

VIDEO: Bullfrog Spit in a Tomcat's Eye (click to view)

RatLer - Posted - 01/30/2014:  05:44:16

I've appreciated Jim's presence here on the Hangout for quite some time. He's always there for encouragement. His pickin' is as smooth as butter...by the way, I've tried soaking my picks in butter over night, but just doesn't seem to work for me...guess I'll stick to clawhammer...LOL   Jim did inspire me by all the tunes wrote for many folks, that a while back, I thought  I'd put together a tune for him in honor of his work in coal mines............Thanks Jim!!!

Kentucky Coal Miner

JanetB - Posted - 01/30/2014:  05:45:19

I definitely hear Jim's influence in these posts.  Little Kane has begun his banjo journey, too, and he gets to wear that cool blue thumb pick.  What a dear little guy!

Jim wrote a song whose title fit like a glove--Old Man in a Rocky Chair.  I'm sitting in a rocking chair now, but I wonder who Jim was thinking of when he wrote that one...I used a small scale oak gourd banjo to claw this tune.

Old Man in a Rocking Chair

kenelk - Posted - 01/30/2014:  15:36:20

Just found this blog and tribute to Jim Reed: the epitome humility and fine (not flashy) bluegrass back-porch pickin'.

I've enjoyed Jim's generous postings here... and remember the night i heard his "Beth" and was immediately inspired to learn it straight away.

So here was my cobbled clawhammer attempt at this wonderful Jim Reed tune, which i will always associate with his fine playin', and recently reminded of how it still inspires, by Jim Britton's masterful rendition:

Thanks Jim!

VIDEO: Beth (clawhammer) (click to view)

Paul Roberts - Posted - 01/30/2014:  16:20:11

Kane, that was real good.

Regards, Paul

JanetB - Posted - 01/30/2014:  19:13:09

Jim is an inspired composer.  One of my favorite tunes of all time is Reed's Hornpipe.  The melody is poetic and flows like the prettiest creek in the hills.

Reed's Hornpipe

ChiefBrody - Posted - 01/31/2014:  01:46:22

New here and I've gotta say, Kenelk, I loved that. I'm going to have to seek the original out.

kenelk - Posted - 01/31/2014:  07:12:09

Much obliged 'Chief'... but all credit to Mr. Reed.

rickhayes - Posted - 01/31/2014:  13:36:12

Can't resist paying homage to one of BHO's great pickers. Maple Blossom is a lovely tune from Jim's CD.  I'm giving it a shot translated into my clawhammersih style.

Maple Blossom (CH cover)

JanetB - Posted - 02/01/2014:  22:44:31

I'm so glad to hear Maple Blossom posted here.  It's a favorite of mine, too, from Jim's recent CD, Jim Reed and Friends.

One tune I first heard from Jim that I just had to investigate and then learn is Bells of Saint Mary's.  He plays this with his remarkably fluid style and syncopated the melody in a way to really get my attention.  My version is more simple, but I'll always associate this tune with Jim.

Bells of Saint Mary's

John Steele - Posted - 02/02/2014:  00:07:19

I'm In ! 

banjohangout.org/myhangout/med...archived=

- John 

jimh269b - Posted - 02/02/2014:  08:07:11

don couchie and I playing beth

VIDEO: beth (click to view)

Denton - Posted - 02/02/2014:  08:12:22

Great!

JanetB - Posted - 02/03/2014:  05:49:39

Well, Jim, I've got just one more from your inspirational picking to share--Maple Blossom.  But also I want to let you know that your influence helped me to listen to both Paul David Smith and Owen Snake Chapman's music.  I learned Devil Ate the Groundhog because you asked Don Borchelt to play it and he posted it.  It even inspired me to research it for Tune of the Week a while back. Then I learned Paul's Lost Indian.  I'm still learning from Paul and Snake's tunes.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this thread honoring Jim Reed--a treasure I got to discover only through Banjo Hangout. 

Thanks for posting your own videos, Jim, especially with Kane.

Edited by - JanetB on 02/03/2014 05:53:27

Maple Blossom

The Devil Eat the Groundhog

Lost Indian

jimh269b - Posted - 02/03/2014:  07:51:25

thank you janet this was very nice of you to do this,and to all others who played my tunes and even to those who made me a tune,i think this the greatest thing to share our music like this I know I really enjoyed listing to every one,again thanks janet so much,it really means a lot to me

jim reed

bhniko - Posted - 02/03/2014:  08:58:46

Jim, Janet, Rick

Do any of you have Maple Blossom tabbed out. Ears love that tune...fingers want to learn.

I tried the tab archives but Maple Blossom is not listed.

 

Edited by - bhniko on 02/03/2014 08:59:54

rickhayes - Posted - 02/03/2014:  11:47:29

Richard, sorry from my end.  I have never tried to tab anything and even have some difficulty reading it.  If I look at a tab file that is in pdf format, I'm just about helpless.  When it's in tefview, I can play it and hear how the tune sounds, and then the tab is more helpful.  But most of the time I do it by ear,which is how I figured out Jim's tune.  I can play it in the freeware VLC player, which you can set up to play at reduced speeds without a key change.  I used that feature in part for Maple Blossom.  But I am lucky to have a good ear.

rickhayes - Posted - 02/03/2014:  12:05:53

By the way, I forgot to mention that I enjoyed everyone's submissions.  Nice of Janet to get this started.

jimh269b - Posted - 02/03/2014:  12:12:01

Richard I made the tune but the tab stuff I know not a thing about,if I did send them to you in heart beat,but janet can help you

bhniko - Posted - 02/03/2014:  15:42:17

Jim and Rick and Janet,

Not sure if I should be envious of your playing talents and perfectly pitched ears...but I am more thankful for players like you and others who post and give me great listening joy..



Jim, I marvel not only of your playing but composing gifts. Have to admit I have tried to wear out some of the songs in your hangout archive but they only seem to get better.

However if you decide to play the song again please tape it like the Whiskey Before Breakfast where the focus is totally on the full neck with fingers where one can really slow it down and possibly tab it out. From my last inquiry do you want one finger at a time to teach or all fingers at at one time.

Hopefully Janet will have it tabbed...sure is a beautiful song and I am sure others, who are trying but not as gifted as you, would enjoy playing the tune.

I will check out some music programs and see if i can break iit down.

Edited by - bhniko on 02/03/2014 15:43:03

bhniko - Posted - 02/03/2014:  15:58:34

No sooner did I post that i had an email from Janet saying she will tab it out in three finger.

Have to admit there are wonderful, super people in banjoland. Thanks to all again.

 

Couchie - Posted - 02/03/2014:  20:19:31

Amazing to see the videos of Jim and I playing music.  I have banjohangout to thank for these wonderful opportunities to play some fantastic music with some great musicians.

Couchie - Posted - 02/03/2014:  20:39:57

Here is one that I made for  Jim a while back.  I call it "Reed Hollow".

banjohangout.org/myhangout/videos.asp

Toothless in Kentucky - Posted - 02/03/2014:  21:10:27

Who is Jim Reed?? I need to Google....

JanetB - Posted - 02/03/2014:  21:40:00

quote:

---

Originally posted by Toothless in Kentucky

Who is Jim Reed?? I need to Google....

 

---

I like good questions.  Here's a link to Jim's homepage on Banjo Hangout.  banjohangout.org/myhangout/hom...?id=26440  For several years he's posted videos and MP3s that amaze and enchant the listeners with his intriguing melodic, smooth style that sounds only like him.  He's also a big-hearted fellow from the mining hills of Pike County, Kentucky who's played banjo since age 5.  Check it out and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Toothless in Kentucky - Posted - 02/03/2014:  21:51:32

Thank You.

banjerman - Posted - 02/04/2014:  09:08:45

I need to add my 2 cents I guess. Jim is the real deal. I have met him and he has inspired me more than any other picker cept Earl himself. Jims picking style sets up a bridges between clawhammer and Scruggs style in my musical eye. Listening carefully to his picking one can hear the clawhammer down beat heavy boom chuck with nuanced 3 finger style licks to back up. Myself and a few others on the chat consider Jims style "sneaky" in the best kind of way. I never like melodic style before hearing Jim do it. Im a Scruggs style guy at my core of musical taste. That being said Jim's melodic style isnt a scale-run wall of  1/8th notes but much more precise and IMO tasteful arrangement especially for fiddle tunes. His picking is the best example I have ever heard for fiddle tunes on a 3 fingered style banjo. Thanks so much for the tunes Jim.

Wally

jimh269b - Posted - 02/04/2014:  15:33:04

thanks wally so much those were some nice comments I don't deserve,but I really thank you bud

Couchie - Posted - 02/05/2014:  10:12:44

banjohangout.org/myhangout/videos.asp

Don Couchie

ᒪᑲᑌᓂᑦᑭ

JanetB - Posted - 02/05/2014:  18:19:14

Here's a tab of Jim's Maple Blossom.  Don Borchelt generously helped me with suggestions and also provided the links for videos of Jim's playing.  Hope this helps bhniko and anyone who wants to try it.

Right Hand:

youtube.com/watch?v=TXnL-E7AG2s

Left Hand:

youtube.com/watch?v=DxQnekfdy34

Maple Blossom by Jim Reed tab

rockb59 - Posted - 02/06/2014:  04:11:37

Good job Janet!

This is an original Jim Reed song I learned from his music posts here on the hangout!

"Jim's Blugrass Take"

I have not posted much lately but I like Jims original tunes and this one is great!

Key of A-min

on my late 20's  Gibson style 5

Rock from Kalamazoo

Jims Bluegrass Take

bhniko - Posted - 02/06/2014:  08:00:52

Jim and Janet,

Many...many...many thanks for the tabs and videos. Boosted my playing confidence in that I could follow along.

Janet a special thanks to you for tabbing the song and starting the post. Hopefully a lot of players will play along.

It might be a good thing to start another post and just say tabs and videos are available for Jim's Maple Blossom

as many are not following this original posts of JIm.

Edited by - bhniko on 02/06/2014 08:01:28

bhniko - Posted - 02/06/2014:  08:23:01

Don Borchelt

Forgot to thank you for your help in collaborating with Janet on the tab. It is heartening to known that there

are people like all of you, and others on the Hangout, that take valuable personal time to help others.

jimh269b - Posted - 02/06/2014:  10:42:05

Richard looks like janet has done it again,she has fixed you right up