Towards the end of our interview with the Canebrake Rattlers (Old Time
Herald, Feb.-Mar. 2008), we talked a little about their attraction to
what Pat called "crippled music." That part of the interview didn't
make the cut in the article (it was already long, and the question was
more about the Otis Brothers than the Rattlers), but I think it's
interesting and relevant to what attracts some of us to certain weird
renditions in OT music.
Lyle
(P = Pat Conte; T = Tom Legenhausen):
Q: This is a little off subject, but the Otis Brothers, the Flying
Crow record, has "Casey Jones" on it...
P: I play both bass and accordion on that.
Q: What was there about the Virginia Traditions recording (by Isaac
Curry, on Blue Ridge Institute LP BRI-001, "Virginia Traditions: Non-
Blues Secular Black Music," which was Pat's source) that attracted you
to it? The original is one of the strangest pieces of music I've ever
heard. You could have listened to it and said "This is an incompetent
old guy who can't even play the accordion."
P: That's what attracted me. I can't play the accordion. It sounds
good in a bad way, but in a good way. There's something about crippled
music in general that, if the spirit is there, it doesn't matter. And
I thought I had that guy's spirit -- at least I tried. There's some
struggle and some fun, and they're both mixed in there. Then again,
that's another caricature. There isn't a bass on the original, but I
heard a bowed bass, so I put a track on there -- you know, I can't play
bass, either -- and when two things I can't play come together, it sort
of makes something. If you remember the Virginia recording, the guy
doesn't even remember the words, you know he's about on his last legs,
and that's what I loved about him. He's so fragile. It's such a bent,
fragile sound, it sounds like he's gonna topple over at any time.
Q: I haven't heard anyone else cover that piece. As a band, are the
Rattlers attracted to similarly crippled music?
P: Absolutely, yes.
T: One of the first pieces we wanted to do was "Indian War Whoop," so
we were on an esoteric bent from the start.
P: That was a kind of old-time equivalent to "Casey Jones." Something
that's really crippled and tottering. But we were also attracted to
very simple things that had very stark contrasts. Like that thing with
the fiddle and a slide guitar behind it. These guys were not good
players, but when they come together, it's good.
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