This review has been a long time coming. Lew Stern contacted me in March regarding his latest book, Tommy Thompson: New-Timey String Band Musician. Some of you may recall Stern's biography of Dwight Diller, which we wrote about in 2016. His latest book brings a similar approach to Thompson's life and banjo playing.
Published in March by McFarland, the 247-page biography provides an in-depth look at Thompson's life, his roll in establishing the old-time music scene in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the evolution of his banjo playing from starting on a Pete Seeger-style long-neck banjo to playing with the Hollow Rock String Band, Red Clay Ramblers and beyond.
Stern conducted detailed research and consulted with a host of musicians who knew Thompson and played music with him, providing a thorough profile of Thompson and his peers from his school years until his untimely death in 2003.
There is also a companion book of banjo tabs, titled "He Could Surely Make a Banjo Talk," which Stern produced with the help of Louisville, Kentucky-based banjo player and teacher David Brooks (not to be confused with the New York Times columnist). The tab book features 109 tunes sourced from handwritten tabs by Patrick Couton that were created under Thompson's guidance in the 1970s. The book includes scans of the original handwritten tabs by Couton and reformatted tabs from Brooks. However, Brooks noted in a Banjo Hangout forum post that the tabs from Couton did not indicate tunings or other guidance, such as where to use hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides or drop-thumb.
"Since the scans are there, readers can make their own decisions how to play the tunes," Brooks wrote. "I created tabs in an effort to add these details to help others. My decisions were based on how the tabs sounded in various tunings to determine the 'correct' tuning. I also used recordings where they were available and the book of Henry Reed fiddle transcriptions by Alan Jabbour. I expect there are some mistakes in my tabs though I did my best to avoid them."
Stern says he became interested in Thompson as a book subject after a discussion with Diller about Thompson's playing.
"Dwight met Tommy at the 4th Annual Old Time Fiddlers and Bluegrass Convention in Hillsville, Virginia, in June 1970, and was significantly impressed with the banjo work of this West Virginian-born musician who was then firmly ensconced in the Durham/Chapel Hill old time scene," Stern told me in an email. "Dwight was more than surprised at how close his own banjo playing sounded to Thompson’s spirited banjo style."
That led Stern to explore how Thompson's "West Virginia-ness" played a role in his musicality. Stern says he was not especially familiar with Thompson’s career with the Red Clay Ramblers when he began working on this biography, so he sought out ways to better understand Thompson's playing and the old-time music community that developed in Durham and Chapel Hill in the 1960s and 1970s. He interviewed former members of the Red Clay Ramblers, including Bill Hicks, Al McCanless, Mike Craver and Jim Watson, as well as Alan Jabbour, Gail Gillespie and many others. Stern also had full access to the Tommy Thompson Collection (1970s-2002), housed at the University of North Carolina.
"During the course of my research and writing work, it became clear to me that Tommy Thompson brought a special touch to the five-string banjo in both his work with the Hollow Rock String Band and the Red Clay Ramblers that contributed to the distinguished musical accomplishments of those two bands," Stern told me. "In the Hollow Rock context, he brought a precision to his banjo playing that complemented Jabbour's fastidious fiddle work in a way that accurately replicated the traditional tunes played by fiddlers such as Henry Reed and meshed seamlessly with the rhythmic guitar playing of Bobbie Thompson and the driving mandolin work brought to the mix by Bertram Levy.
"In the Red Clay Ramblers," Stern added, "Tommy's personal equation for mixing uncannily strong melodic playing with a firm rhythmic way of getting at a tune on the five string banjo lent itself to the edgy ventures of the Ramblers into all manner of music — Tin Pan Alley, jazz, folk, as well as traditional southern mountain fiddle tunes and more contemporary country music alongside of original music and lyrical compositions by Tommy and Mike Craver, and by Bill Hicks."
Through these interviews and research, Stern creates a vivid portrait of Thompson as a consummate musician who was both dedicated to learning the tradition of old-time banjo, but also innovating on the instrument once he had mastered it.
While Stern's research was vast and thorough, the deep dive into Thompson's life and musical career sometimes goes too deep. There large sections of the book that give a detailed look at, for instance, Thompson's school years. These portions get into some minutia that may not be of interest to all readers. There are also some frustrating (to me) copy editing mistakes that the publisher should have cleaned up before publishing.
All in all, I would say Tommy Thompson: New-Timey String Band Musician is worth your time. Thompson's banjo playing was pivotal in keeping old-time music alive in the 1960s and 1970s, and provided a road map for adhering to tradition and exploring new sounds for the banjo.
Where to Buy:
Stern conducted detailed research and consulted with a host of musicians who knew Thompson and played music with him, providing a thorough profile of Thompson and his peers from his school years until his untimely death in 2003.
There is also a companion book of banjo tabs, titled "He Could Surely Make a Banjo Talk," which Stern produced with the help of Louisville, Kentucky-based banjo player and teacher David Brooks (not to be confused with the New York Times columnist). The tab book features 109 tunes sourced from handwritten tabs by Patrick Couton that were created under Thompson's guidance in the 1970s. The book includes scans of the original handwritten tabs by Couton and reformatted tabs from Brooks. However, Brooks noted in a Banjo Hangout forum post that the tabs from Couton did not indicate tunings or other guidance, such as where to use hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides or drop-thumb.
"Since the scans are there, readers can make their own decisions how to play the tunes," Brooks wrote. "I created tabs in an effort to add these details to help others. My decisions were based on how the tabs sounded in various tunings to determine the 'correct' tuning. I also used recordings where they were available and the book of Henry Reed fiddle transcriptions by Alan Jabbour. I expect there are some mistakes in my tabs though I did my best to avoid them."
Stern says he became interested in Thompson as a book subject after a discussion with Diller about Thompson's playing.
"Dwight met Tommy at the 4th Annual Old Time Fiddlers and Bluegrass Convention in Hillsville, Virginia, in June 1970, and was significantly impressed with the banjo work of this West Virginian-born musician who was then firmly ensconced in the Durham/Chapel Hill old time scene," Stern told me in an email. "Dwight was more than surprised at how close his own banjo playing sounded to Thompson’s spirited banjo style."
That led Stern to explore how Thompson's "West Virginia-ness" played a role in his musicality. Stern says he was not especially familiar with Thompson’s career with the Red Clay Ramblers when he began working on this biography, so he sought out ways to better understand Thompson's playing and the old-time music community that developed in Durham and Chapel Hill in the 1960s and 1970s. He interviewed former members of the Red Clay Ramblers, including Bill Hicks, Al McCanless, Mike Craver and Jim Watson, as well as Alan Jabbour, Gail Gillespie and many others. Stern also had full access to the Tommy Thompson Collection (1970s-2002), housed at the University of North Carolina.
"During the course of my research and writing work, it became clear to me that Tommy Thompson brought a special touch to the five-string banjo in both his work with the Hollow Rock String Band and the Red Clay Ramblers that contributed to the distinguished musical accomplishments of those two bands," Stern told me. "In the Hollow Rock context, he brought a precision to his banjo playing that complemented Jabbour's fastidious fiddle work in a way that accurately replicated the traditional tunes played by fiddlers such as Henry Reed and meshed seamlessly with the rhythmic guitar playing of Bobbie Thompson and the driving mandolin work brought to the mix by Bertram Levy.
"In the Red Clay Ramblers," Stern added, "Tommy's personal equation for mixing uncannily strong melodic playing with a firm rhythmic way of getting at a tune on the five string banjo lent itself to the edgy ventures of the Ramblers into all manner of music — Tin Pan Alley, jazz, folk, as well as traditional southern mountain fiddle tunes and more contemporary country music alongside of original music and lyrical compositions by Tommy and Mike Craver, and by Bill Hicks."
Through these interviews and research, Stern creates a vivid portrait of Thompson as a consummate musician who was both dedicated to learning the tradition of old-time banjo, but also innovating on the instrument once he had mastered it.
While Stern's research was vast and thorough, the deep dive into Thompson's life and musical career sometimes goes too deep. There large sections of the book that give a detailed look at, for instance, Thompson's school years. These portions get into some minutia that may not be of interest to all readers. There are also some frustrating (to me) copy editing mistakes that the publisher should have cleaned up before publishing.
All in all, I would say Tommy Thompson: New-Timey String Band Musician is worth your time. Thompson's banjo playing was pivotal in keeping old-time music alive in the 1960s and 1970s, and provided a road map for adhering to tradition and exploring new sounds for the banjo.
Where to Buy:
- Tommy Thompson: New-Timey String Band Musician is available from McFarland for $39.95 or from Amazon for $35.
- "He Could Surely Make a Banjo Talk" is available from Amazon for $18.
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