Word: banjo
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Even closer to the midstream of popular U.S. taste was Long Islander William Sidney Mount (1807-1868), who once noted in hsi diary: "I must paint such pictures as speak at once to the spectator . . . that will be understood in an instant." In paintings such as Banjo Player (opposite), Mount proved he knew his audience. Infused today with the nostalgic glow of yesteryear, they are kept just this side of sentimentalism by Mount's careful craftsmanship and observant eye. In their quiet way, they look good for many years to come...
Then, in 1948, Bandleader Art Mooney used a banjo in a recording of the 1927 hit, I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover ("that I overlooked before"), and the tune was picked up as Senator Robert A. Taft's presidential campaign song. In 1954 came the Ames Brothers' record of Man with the Banjo, followed by Hey, Mr. Banjo and Banjo's Back in Town...
Heads-made of calfskin specially processed to make it extremely hard-are the bottleneck of the banjo business, and hard to come by. Manufacturers were cautious about ordering skins until they were sure the plinkety-plunk was here to stay for a while. They are sure now. Banjos have been invading TV- notably on the Robert Q. Lewis Show and the Canada Dry commercials. Harvard and M.I.T. students have formed banjo groups, and the University of Wisconsin has hired Virtuoso José Silva to play a "History of the Banjo" series in the fall...
Happy Instrument. Banjo Teacher Walter Kaye Bauer of Hartford, Conn., whose big banjo band fills a 2,200-seat auditorium for its annual concert, believes the instrument is being better played now than in its heyday. "In the '20s a few of us warned that the professionals would kill the goose because they banged out nothing but noisy chords," he says. "Today, the professionals do more than that -they do filigree work, background and single-string playing that bring out the undeveloped qualities of the instrument." Concert Banjoist José Silva, whose educated banjo can romp through complicated pieces...
...prices ranging from $35 to $600, though the additional cost of any banjo over $250 pays for decoration rather than musical quality...