The 2016 TOTW (OT) is off to a great start with Citico and Waterbound. This week I am adding Jaybird. Just to clarify any confusion, there are several other Jaybird titled tunes: Marching Jaybird, Jaybird in a High Oak Tree, and Jaybird Died of the Whopping Cough. All wonderful, and all different.
Jaybird is a tune that I learned way back when I first started playing the banjo, and it has stuck with me through the many years of on-and-off playing. I first encountered Jaybird in Jon Burke’s tab book, Old Time Fiddle Tunes for Banjo (1968). I partially deciphered the tab for Jaybird, but I mostly learned the tune at festival jams in the ‘70s.
In his tab book (p. 77), John Burke attributes the tune to Art Rosenbaum, and further states that “Art Rosenbaum played this tune at the Indian Folk Neck Folk Festival in 1966.” Art Rosenbaum apparently learned Jaybird from the Indiana fiddler, John Summers. The Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes also cites John Summers as the source player.
Jane Rothfield recorded Jaybird on the 2008 album i Fiddle they Banjo. Other than this, I am unaware of other commercial recordings of the tune by Old Time musicians. Jaybird does get played in Bluegrass circles, so I wouldn’t imagine that there are some commercial recordings by artists of that genre, but I haven’t done the research to find out.
According to the Traditional Tune Archives (TTA), Jaybird is a multi-regional tune, with roots in Missouri, Pennsylvania, and New England, as well as Indiana. Not surprisingly then, there are several slightly different variations of the tune. Call this tune at a jam session, and you are likely to spend a few go-throughs getting in sync with the other players. The TTA also reports that Samuel Bayard considered Jaybird to be a derivative of the British air “Ladies Breast Knot."
There are several lyrics for Jaybird, but rather than reproduce them here, you can go to the TTA to get them if you are interested (linked above).
Until I started the research for TOTW, I only knew one version of Jaybird. I now refer to this as the “Revival version” because it was the version that was popularized during the Old Time revival of the 60s-70s. Brendan Doyle, Adam Hurt, and Beth Hartness play this version in a BHO contribution.
But there is also an older version that I now call the “John Summers version.” You can listen to Mr. Summers play his version at the Slippery Hill website.
The John Burke tab fits with the Revival version. It would be interesting to know how the changes evolved as the tune passed from John Summers to Art Rosenbaum to John Burke and then to the festival world. Any insider clues out there?
So, here is the pop quiz part. I’ve listed and linked below, several recordings of Jaybird by different artists. You be the judge of each of the renditions---Revival, John Summers, something in between, or yet another version?
Cathy Fink and friends (YouTube)
Old Time Contrarians (YouTube)
Lastly, I’ve included my takes on both the Revival and John Summers versions. I’ve also posted tef files associated with my Tabs tab on my personal page.
Of course, please add your knowledge and rendition(s) of Jaybird. Go forth, dance a clog while sittin’ on a log, and re-revive this delightful tune.