I was born in Raleigh and always feel a lot of pride when I see the work of the Chocolate Drops. They are performing a wonderful service to USA history and black musical heritage by helping to rescue the old music and present it within a context that exalts the rich musical contributions of African-Americans as well as their white admirers and imitators while contextualizing it so that we can appreciate this rich musical history even while condemning the harsh racism of that history. I think I'll include some bones in my next order to Elderly Instruments.
You have been mislead. This film is full of lies. They know better and should be ashamed of misleading people this way. I'm sorry you believe these lies.
I love the spirit of where you beautiful people are coming from. You have found your purpose and it is really important. You guys are All American and you are living the American Dream while doing something you think is important and you love. Let that sink in. You are living your lives in freedom. You are very talented, even gifted. You did what seemed important, interesting, fun. And suddenly "The Chocolate Drops" are a phenomenon and you are important. The thing that you understand and I appreciate so much, and I am sure many others agree, is how important this music is, and that it is everyone's heritage -- it belongs to the world; to the ages, and it should not be lost. You are finding and saving something that is an important part of the world's heritage. But also, America would not be America without that music. That story needs to be told. I am a 73 year old white guy living in California. Rhiannon, when I heard you sing "Purchaser's Choice" I wept uncontrollably for over a day. I felt the pain, I felt all the emotions -- the violation -- of how horrible and wrong it was. Separating a mother from her nine month old baby is the most horrible and inhumane thing I can think of. I do not want to be sensational, but I want to put it in perspective. It was just as awful and inhumane as the death camp at Auschwitz. Maybe worse. It must have been very painful for you to write that song. When I was in college, I marched with/for Martin Luther King. I was kicked out of my fraternity, and given an "F" by a teacher who was a racist. No big deal. Petty. The reason I am even telling you this is: you guys -- who you are, you are lovely people, and the lives you are living -- you are what I was dreaming of and hoping for back in the day. You are not just living your lives, you are inspiring us to live ours. We are all in this together. We need each other. Sorry. I did get a little sappy.
Do not throw it away for we need to remember. For years to come it will clarify what we will no longer accept. Thanks for posting cause my feelings are really working.
that was outstanding! I am myself a folk musician from Germany who's into all kinds of European folk and I've never heard this kind of music before. Thanks a lot for this video! I hope you will post more stuff like this in the future!
Thank you for making this video- it's extremely interesting. Just when one thinks the music can't get any better, a little background history makes the tunes mean so much more.
Thank you for educating us. I remember hear the bones playing in the Chinese operas played in the streets (of China). When the bones are played, it's a hint of something bad is going to happen. You are fabulous educating a person like me. It brought awareness to me how the African Americans are so important bringing out the first banjo. In the old days, there were no television or even books in some places. You make your own entertainment.
Wow. Superb music, superb lecture. As an Irish-American trad musician, I can only say, with a slight lump in the throat, thank you, guys. Brilliant. (Surprised to see a fifth string on the banjo, as I'd been told that was a later innovation. Fascinating.)
A 1700s "The Old Plantation" painting shows a four-string banjo with a short (fourth) thumb-string on top, suggesting that later references to a fifth string being added by white minstrel-man Joel Walker Sweeney in the 1840s are probably not to what we think of as "the fifth string" (the short one) today, but to a lower-pitched string... and that the four-equal-length-strings tenor and plectrum banjos popular in jazz and Irish music came later. (I think Rhiannon's banjo in this video is a copy of a Sweeney model.) upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/SlaveDanceand_Music.jpg
@Jacob Question isn't were there drone stings on African gourd instruments, but 1) were there four string banjos with fifth string drones before there were Africans in America? and 2) were African Americans responsible for the fifth string? I've been told no and yes, though if anyone can point me to a counterexample, I'd be happy to change my mind.
Man I'm loving everything y'all do and teach I'm obsessed. And I'm ashamed to say I didn't know all this I'm so grsteful I found y'all to listen to learn and enjoy
This, I think, is the best way to enable all Americans to appreciate the culture and heritage of Black Americans. The elephant in the room is slavery, prejudice, and the suffering of past generations. Acknowledging this, and trying to see past it, enables us all to see how different groups of people played their cultural instruments and also borrowed from other groups and cultures. Many Black Americans don't know the banjo as an African instrument. The bones, to get past contentions of origin, are a wonderful example of cultural instruments from an often forgotten past that were used by multiple groups of people. Please continue this important work to inform all of the many groups that come together to be America.
Well done Choc drops. interesting about the bones used in the history of music. My guess spoons where for the rich!. Following you for some time 👍🇦🇺. Nice setting this time.
The music, the instruments, the musicians,you can see White blood mixed in from generations ago.That's why American music is so rich the cross pollination is a blessing to the world.We would never have had blues,jazz and rock and roll without the mixing
EXCELLENT! Informative. Well done! I don't recall having heard the term Caucasian-American spoken, as opposed to written. Sounds cool, why not? I'm from Durban, South Africa, white.
very eloquently put. The music was horrible in its day, but that isn't a reason to throw away 80 years of music and heritage, especially if we can tweak the music to make it acceptable for polite society.
@sleepovershows "Shall we say Caucasian?" Why does everyone need a skin color when a name is plenty. Skin color, gender,... all excuses for judgment. Me: This person is a great banjo player. You: What's their racial history? Eleven years ago you guys were pushing this racial identity crap that has only sown division. It disgusts me when art is reduced to race and ownership. I am Oklahoma Choctaw. Am I supposed to hold a grudge against musicians that play tribal music but are not indigenous? Are you stealing from my race when you use a native instrument or play a native song? The race and identity hoax is destructive to humanity.
