Jug band

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A jug band is a band employing traditional (usually stringed) instruments, and objects adapted to or modified for the making of sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, jug, spoons, stovepipe and comb & tissue paper (kazoo). The name jug band implies the inclusion of a jug player, but that is not always the case. Other names for the same sort of ensemble are spasm band, skiffle band, and juke (or jook) band (see juke joint).

Instruments are often improvised, and in the early days of jug music, guitar and mandolins were sometimes made from the necks of discarded guitars fastened to large gourds. The gourds were flattened on one side, with a sound-hole cut into the flat side, before drying. Banjos were sometimes made from a discarded guitar neck and a metal pie plate.

The eponymous jug is just that: a jug (usually made of glass or stoneware) played by buzzing the lips into the mouth of the jug, from about an inch away. As with brass instruments, changes in pitch are controlled by altering lip tension, and an accomplished jugplayer could have a two octave range. The stovepipe (usually a section of tin pipe, 3" or 4" in diameter) is played in much the same manner, with the pipe rather than the jug being the resonating chamber. There is some similarity to the didgeridoo, but there is no contact between the stovepipe and the player's lips.

Early jug bands were typically made up of African American vaudeville musicians. Beginning in the urban south, they played a mixture of Memphis blues (even before it was formally called the blues), ragtime, and Appalachian music.

It has been said that "The history of jug bands is the story of the birth of the blues". W.C. Handy said that he learned blues style from street musicians, playing improvised instruments. The informal and energetic music of the jug bands also contributed to the development of rock and roll.

Original Jug Bands

The first jug bands to record were the Louisville and Birmingham jug bands. These bands played popular dance band jazz, using the jug as a novelty element. The Memphis, Tennessee jug bands were more firmly rooted in country blues and earlier African-American traditions. Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, Charlie Burse's Memphis Jug Band, and Sleepy John Estes' Three J's Jug Band with Yank Rachell recorded the great songs that became the basis for the later jug band revival: Stealin', Jug Band Music, Whoa, Mule, Minglewood Blues, Walk Right In and many others. The hard times of the 30's depression, combined with the rise of big bands and swing put an end to their recording careers.

The Jug Band Revival

New York folksinger Dave Van Ronk made the first recording of the 'folk era' jug band revival in 1959. Sam Charters, author of 'The Country Blues', played horns on this album. Jim Kweskin of Boston soon followed with a series of records with his band, The Jim Kweskin Jug Band. He was a bit weak on traditional jug material, but his jug and stovepipe player, Fritz Richmond, was magnificent. John Sebastian played in various New York jug bands before starting The Lovin' Spoonful, a pop music group. His song (The Doctor Said, Give Him) Jug Band Music, was a tribute to the genre. A more sincere tribute was the group's song A Younger Girl which used the melody of Gus Cannon's Prison Wall Blues.

Among mid-20th century jug bands, Jim Kweskin's Jug Band was the most successful. The Even Dozen Jug Band was also well known and featured Maria D'Amato (Maria Muldaur) and Joshua Rifkin. Mungo Jerry, who had evolved from an earlier blues group Good Earth, were in effect a jug band on their first live performances and recordings, thanks to their use of jug (played by the group's banjo player Paul King, who left in 1972), and washboard, contributed by regular 'extra member' Joe Rush.

Modern tributes to the jug band include "Willie and the Poor Boys" by Creedence Clearwater Revival and "Jug Band Music" by The Lovin' Spoonful. John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful also led the J-Band, that included not only musicians from the modern folk revival such as washtub/jug virtuoso Fritz Richmond from the Kweskin band, but also Yank Rachell, mandolin player and jug band leader from the original era. Fritz Richmond played jug on Warren Zevon's "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead."

A well known children's Christmas special, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, based on a book written by Lillian Hoban and Russell Hoban, features a jug band comprised of woodland-creature Muppets and a soundtrack composed by Paul Williams. The show first aired in 1977 and is still a seasonal favorite.

Jug bands have continued to exist and evolve to the present day. Some bands remain faithful to the original roots, while others continually expand the jug band repertoire to include other folk music, popular music, and classical music forms.

There has been an Annual Battle of the Jug Bands in Minneapolis, Minnesota held since 1980. Over 20 jugbands compete for the "Coveted Holliwood Waffle Iron" trophy, including the Jook Savages, a jugband that predates Kweskin's band and is still together. The competition is held the Sunday after the SuperBowl.

An annual JugFest gathering of jug bands is held each October in Sutter Creek, California, and a Jug Band Jubilee is planned for Louisville, Kentucky, the probable birthplace of jug band music, in October 2006.

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