To assume clawhammer was simply a primitive style of banjo playing that ultimately evolved into the three-finger Scruggs roll is to miss the point: Clawhammer was — and is — its own animal. Two and three decades after bluegrass gained a national following, this music was still widely popular across the upland south.
Widely acknowledged as classics when first released in the mid-to-late 1960s, these recordings are essential listening for any student of the music. Extensive liner notes, with photos and an introduction by Bob Carlin — an artist who frequently collaborated with the late John Hartford — accompany each disc. Charlie Faurot, who made the original field recordings, provides biographical information on the performers, as well as a detailed discussion of the tuning used for each song.
Some names — Wade Ward, Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed — may be familiar to fans of old-time music. Other standouts include Gaither Carlton, Doc Watson’s father-in-law; Glen Smith, a true master of the fretless banjo; and Matokie Slaughter, one of only two women featured throughout. All the musicians come from the vicinity of western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia and, with the exception of one track taken from a homemade 78, were recorded between 1965 and 1971.
The real strength of this collection is, in fact, its diversity. Like the thumbpicked guitar of Merle Travis and Mose Rager, the banjo can at once be rhythmic, percussive and melodic. Each artist brings his or her own distinct voice to the instrument. Operating within the bounds of a single tradition, the performers get a broad range of sounds depending on the setup of their instrument (standard or open back, fretted or fretless), through altered tunings, and by using a complex arrangement of hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides and rolls.
The project offers nearly two hours of music. By anyone’s count, that’s a lot of banjo playing. Those looking for something less substantial might settle for just the third volume, which includes several well-known standards such as “John Hardy”, “Little Birdie”, “Cluck Old Hen” and “Arkansas Traveler”. A sampling of fiddle and banjo duets adds variety. There are also three numbers with vocal accompaniment, and the one that lingers is Jarrell’s stark ballad, “As Time Draws Near”: “I wish my breast was made of glass, wherein you might behold/For there your name lies wrote, my dear, in letters made of gold.”