Return
to Voyager Recordings Home Page
Liner Notes
DUDLEY HILL - GUITAR: FROM A NORTHERN FAMILY
VRCD 317
This is an album of Dudley Hill’s very personal, special and beautiful
guitar music. It was recorded in the early 1970’s and issued on Lp. It
was one of the first recordings of fiddle tunes being played masterfully on
the guitar, and became an “underground” classic, encouraging many
flattop guitar players to start playing lead on fiddle tunes. This album reflects
the many different styles, sounds and personalities in the Pacific Northwest
that influenced Dudley at that time.
Dudley started playing the guitar when he was very young, first on an acoustic
and then rock on an electric. When he got out of the Navy, Dudley was back to
playing country music again, and this time he started meeting more people in
the Northwest who played “traditional” music of various types: Bluegrass,
Western Swing, Old Time Southern, Canadian and Texas fiddle styles. This album
reflects Dudley’s involvement with these people and their music.
Dudley’s biggest involvement at this time was with Benny Thomasson. He
first heard Benny’s fiddling on a County record. As soon as he heard the
first tune on that record he knew that this was the style of music he had been
searching for. One can imagine Dudley’s amazement when he heard the news
that Benny Thomasson had moved to Kalama, Washington, less than one hundred
miles away! He tracked Benny down at a local fiddle contest. Dudley was nervous.
He leaned over to a friend and said, “Gee, this is kind of like meeting
Babe Ruth.” Finally, there was a pause and Dudley asked if he could play
along on a tune. So they played “Bitter Creek” and Benny was very
impressed when he heard his tune being played on the guitar with so much good
feeling. This was the beginning of a long and warm association between Benny
and Dudley, and it is very fortunate that some of the music that grew out of
that friendship can be found on this album.
Dudley also had been performing with Frank Ferrel and Mark Graham in the “Irish-American
String Band,” and, from time to time, with Ellen Marx and Jeff Thorn of
the “Old Hat Band,” and with Northwest fiddlers Vivian Williams and
Barbara Lamb, and their band, “Tall Timber.” Dudley wanted to play
a few tunes with each of these musicians, resulting in the fascinating mix of
fiddle styles found on this recording. The one constant factor, however, is
Dudley’s stunning lead guitar playing!
1. Leather Britches. “I always get that earthy dry and dusty feeling
when I hear this tune.” In open G tuning.
2. Spotted Pony. “Benny calls this one ‘Snowshoe.’ When
you hear him play it, you’d swear he has fifty feet of bow!”
3. Buffalo Gals. This one was worked out so that the last time through
it is played as a ‘round.’
4. Off She Goes. “This is one of the many tunes I’ve learned
from Frank Ferrel.”
5. Fisher’s Hornpipe. “This is a fine old dance tune that’s
a lot of fun to play.”
6. Weber’s Drift.“This was the first tune I ever heard Benny
play. He called it ‘Dry and Dusty’ on his County record, but that’s
yet another tune, so in the confusion we renamed it after the name of the place
where Benny and his wife Bea lived, Weber’s Drift. It is played in open
D tuning, a trick I picked up from Benny.”
7. Bitter Creek. “This was the first tune I ever learned of Benny’s.
It has that irresistible Texas beat.”
8. Panhandle Rag. “I like to play different styles of music, not
the least of which is a good ‘hot’ one like this.”
10. Sally Ann. “I like to get lost in this tune. It is so simple,
but it brings a lot of nice images to me.” Done in open G tuning.
11. Whiskey Before Breakfast. “I first learned this tune from Tall
Timber.”
12. St. Anne’s Reel. “I first heard this in Canada.”
13. Downfall of Paris. “Benny says that he was well into his fiddling
years before he learned that this tune was also called ‘Mississippi Sawyer.’”
In open D tuning.
14. Marching Jaybird. “This was an old banjo piece that I heard
and reworked for the guitar.”
15. Herman’s Hornpipe. “Benny showed me this tune while sitting
around his place one night.”
16. Cotton Patch Rag. “This is a good old Texas rag. Benny and I
played this one a lot.”
17. South. “Well this is my music folks. Thank you very much and
good night.”
Musicians: Benny Thomasson, fiddle, Jerry Thomasson, tenor guitar, Phil Williams,
bass, on Spotted Pony, Bitter Creek, Herman’s Hornpipe, and Cotton Patch
Rag. Ellen Marx, clawhammer banjo, on Sally Ann and The Downfall of Paris, along
with Jeff Thorn, rhythm guitar on Buffalo Gals and Weber’s Drift. Frank
Ferrel, fiddle; Mark Graham, harmonica; and Ellen Marx, piano on Off She Goes
and St. Anne’s Reel. Barbara Lamb and Vivian Williams, fiddles; Phil Williams,
mandolin; Barney Munger, banjo; Dick Marvin, rhythm guitar; and Lou Harrington,
bass on Whiskey Before Breakfast and Fisher’s Hornpipe. Scott Smith, piano;
Vivian Williams, fiddle; Jeff Thorn, rhythm guitar; and Phil Williams, bass
on Panhandle Rag and South.
Engineering by Phil Williams, Richard Ponshock, Ellen Marx.
Lp Cover Design: Kathy Martin.
© 2002 Voyager Recordings, 424 35th Avenue, Seattle WA 98122
(206) 323-1112, FAX (206) 329-2416, www.VoyagerRecords.com
Return to CD & Cassette Catalog
Return
to Voyager Recordings Home Page