William Sidney Mount painting “Just in Tune,” 1849. See more paintings at FidlleHangout.
I’ve been meaning to share blogger KerryCan’s 2013 post at “Love Those Hands at Home” about the origins of her musical tastes. Her story about the farmhand with the drinking problem and the inspired fiddle playing really struck me, and I wondered if other people could pinpoint the musical influences in their own lives. I certainly thought about mine.
I commented at KerryCan’s blog that my earliest influences included traditional nursery songs, my father’s loud classical records, one brother’s folk tastes and his later blues show on college radio (http://mydadsrecords.tumblr.com/), the movie “My Geisha” about an opera singer, Broadway, jazz, and Edith Piaf. Eclectic. Like my blog. I used to sing loudly with younger kids on the school bus and on family trips. I got involved in Fire Island’s teenage musicals, for which the brilliant Lynn Lavner wrote the songs I still like to sing.
Here’s what KerryCan reported about her early influences. “Weirdly, the music that I am drawn to has little to do with anything I was exposed to early, except for one faint memory. The music I love best is folk music and the memory is of a man playing the fiddle in our living room at the farm.
“The man was Vic Parrotte (or Parrott); he was an occasional hired hand on the farm when I was very young. As I recall, he would work for a while then take his pay and go on a ‘toot,’ as my grandfather called it; he’d go off and get drunk. Then he wouldn’t show up for chores for a few days and my grandmother would urge my grandfather never to let him come back.
“Then Vic would come back and my grandfather would hire him and the whole cycle would begin again.
“But Vic could play the fiddle. I wasn’t allowed to stay downstairs and watch him play much — this wasn’t really considered appropriate music for a good girl to hear. But I would lie in bed, upstairs above the parlor, and listen to that incredible sound coming out of his instrument. As I recall, he put the end of the fiddle on his knee, instead of under his chin, and, boy, could he play!
“And, it turns out, we weren’t the only people who knew about Vic’s fiddle. Vic was always a sort of tragic-comic character at our house, a rambler who couldn’t hold his drink and played wild music. But years later I mentioned his name to an expert in Adirondack roots music who responded, first with stunned silence and then said, ‘Vic Parrotte was your hired hand?! He played the fiddle for you?!’ Vic was famous in some circles — imagine my surprise!”
Anyone want to weigh in on their earliest music memories? Will McM.?
I’m smiling at the thought of my early years of hearing music. My dad was a big fan of the Chuck wagon gang ,they were a gospel group, for the life of me I still don’t know what attracted him to them. I do listen to them just for a song or two to go down memories lane,until I want to throw the pillow over my head again as I did at home .😂 sure could have used today’s earplugs.
What a cute memory, Deb!
I just went and listed to this group, Deb–I quite like them! One of my all-time favorite records (weirdly) is a collection of gospel tunes by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Even though I’m not a religious believer, I do love the uplifting spirit of gospel!
I agree! Who wouldn’t love Gospel music?
😀 if all folks liked the same kind of music.. that would be boring! I can handle listening to Tennessee Ernie Ford.
A voice from my past, too.
Oh, I wish Will and a lot of other people would respond to this and tell us about their tastes! I love reading about the influences we have that make us different, and similar. Thanks for liking my post well enough to share it–I still think about old Vic Parrotte and wonder what ever became of him . . .
I wanted so much to find additional info on the web, but there was nothing. Thank goodness you preserved his memory in your blog!
I do have a memory of finding an article that talked about him, in a NYS folklore journal, when I was in college. I should take the time to go sit in the stacks and look for that article . . .
I hope someone will. Nowadays, if people’s stories are not online, they seem almost not to have existed.
Good piece!
When you have more time, I hope you’ll share how you acquired your musical tastes.
A quick note: I came of age during the 1970s, and my musical tastes are in direct opposition to my parents’ music. Rock and roll vs. the crooners. 😉
Funny. When my brother was in high school and played his loud music, my father would tell him he really ought to try to get help for his “sick friend.”
There was a real cultural divide, especially in music. Here’s the funny thing, though. Our daughters listened to music from the 1970s, and we, in turn, loved their music from the 1990s.
Cool!