Bonnie and Clyde and the "dulcimore"

folkfan
@folkfan
11 years ago
357 posts

That's the commercial that I was thinking about. The one with the "really handsome, clean cut" French male model. I just have a lousy memory.

Carrie Barnes said:

Can't put ANYTHING on the Internet that isn't true.....................BONJOUR!24.gif

Patty from Virginia
Patty from Virginia
@patty-from-virginia
11 years ago
231 posts

The one big thing Bonnie and Clyde had a talent for was breaking the law and it caught up with them. Maybe they were the inspiration for "I Fought the Law and the Law Won",

John Henry
John Henry
@john-henry
11 years ago
258 posts

Would have loved to haved peeped inside her 'carry case' ??? And would her ultimate playing mode have been 'Dead' ?

JohnH

folkfan
@folkfan
11 years ago
357 posts

Everyone knows that you can't put anything false on the internet, Right????????????

This was a hoot. Someone had fun coming up with it.

John Keane
John Keane
@john-keane
11 years ago
182 posts

3.gif Grin.gif

John Henry said:

(and would'nt you just know JK would be in frame somewhere's ???)

Scott Collier
Scott Collier
@scott-collier
11 years ago
14 posts

Hey, I missed that Dusty! Things that make you go hmmmm! 39.gif
Dusty Turtle said:

How aboutthe musicologist Professor Herbert Nositall?

Scott Collier said:

Well i don't know but with a "music professor" named Will E. Playmore? Still makes me wonder, lol. It may or may not be a true story but it's thought provoking non the less!
Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
11 years ago
1,720 posts

How aboutthe musicologist Professor Herbert Nositall?

Scott Collier said:

Well i don't know but with a "music professor" named Will E. Playmore? Still makes me wonder, lol. It may or may not be a true story but it's thought provoking non the less!



--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
Scott Collier
Scott Collier
@scott-collier
11 years ago
14 posts
Well i don't know but with a "music professor" named Will E. Playmore? Still makes me wonder, lol. It may or may not be a true story but it's thought provoking non the less!
Mike Slone
Mike Slone
@mike-slone
11 years ago
18 posts

I'm surprised that y'all aren't familiar with this bit of history. It is well known is these parts, maybe because Bony's favorite delcimore was made by a famous Knott county builder, Clyde's paternal uncle Wheel.

Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
11 years ago
1,720 posts

Ifear we may find out that Grandma Adams (Spencer) taught Bonnie how to use a machine gun, too.

Randy Adams said:

This is actually a true story and has been told in our family for years. My Grandma Adams, maiden name Spencer, grew up in Texas, played the dulcimer, and knew the Parker family. She showed Bonnie how to play the basics on the dulcimer, the modes and tunings and so forth, and she said she had never seen anyone with such a natural aptitude for music like Bonnie Parker. My Aunt Jackye Sue has pictures of Grandma and Bonnie with their dulcimers and a couple of crude home recordings of them playing. I will try to get them and will post them here.




--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
11 years ago
1,720 posts

Folks, for the record, I am skeptical too, for I've been unable to corroborate most of the information in Gibson's article. I do know Ralph Peer was indeed a recording engineer and producer who pioneered the makingof field recordings, but I can't seem to find references anywhere else to a most of this intriguing story.

In this case, perhaps, hearing is believing.




--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
11 years ago
2,111 posts

Bring it on Randy!

Robin Thompson
Robin Thompson
@robin-thompson
11 years ago
1,415 posts
I'm curiouser and curiouser. . .
John Henry
John Henry
@john-henry
11 years ago
258 posts

Well, just goes to show that any assumption that this little 'ole island I live on has some sort of monopoly on interesting historical snippets, just ain't correct ! Nice one Randy, would be good to hear them, and interesting to know who made the instrument ?

JohnH

(and would'nt you just know JK would be in frame somewhere's ???)

Robin Thompson
Robin Thompson
@robin-thompson
11 years ago
1,415 posts
:)
Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
11 years ago
2,111 posts

Yeah... I want to see primary source information... the recordings labels and how they were ID'd, a photo of Bony with a dulcemore rather than a revolver, an official list of items found after the final shootout... something substantive.

Scott Collier
Scott Collier
@scott-collier
11 years ago
14 posts

I have to agree with John. Sounds a little suspect. First, I'd like to find out how the recordings were identified as to the performers. But with a story like this, you just want to believe that it's true. More research is needed.

John Keane
John Keane
@john-keane
11 years ago
182 posts

That is a fascinating read. I hope that it's all true, but it does have a little "April 1st" feel to it lol. Bonnie & Clyde had their criminal careers ended 35-40 minutes from my house, and the small town of Arcadia houses a Bonnie & Clyde Museum very near the ambush site. Karen and I should drive over there one day this summer and see what we can find out (if anything). This is pretty cool stuff!

Shawn McCurdy
Shawn McCurdy
@shawn-mccurdy
11 years ago
12 posts

Very interesting article! Thx for the link. I would also love to hear the recordings.

Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
11 years ago
1,720 posts

I am surprised no one here has noticed this yet, but Ohio luthier Ron Gibson has published an article on his website about three recently discovered recordings by the famed bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde in which Bony Parker played a ducimore musical instrument. The two were killed in 1934, so it is likely the recordings--if genuine--date from a year or two before then.

What is even more striking than the mere fact that Bonnie played a dulcimer is the fashion in which she did so. In one song she combined counterpoint melodies withjazz chord inversionsas well as playing percussion by tapping on the soundbox. In another song she played guitar-like riffs that would be associated with Chuck Berry two decades later. Another song includes "raps and rhymes" and can only be described as original gangster rap.

You can find Ron Gibson's article here: Did Bonnie and Clyde Play the Dulcimer? .

These recordings were supposedly discovered by the Library of Congress, which might mean they either are or soon will be made available to the public. I am sure many of us will be eager listeners and won't really believe the descriptions of the music until we hear for ourselves.




--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie

updated by @dusty: 02/25/19 08:09:02AM