American homegrown bluegrass music. Country music. Mountain music. Old time music. Appalachian music at its best. I can't say enough about it except I love it and have since I was a young filmmaker back a long time ago.
The time was 1965. I was a 23-year-old filmmaker making my first documentary for television. I had never been to the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina but I knew that the music was great from hearing it on the radio where I grew up in Levittown, Long Island. I wrote to 80 year old Bascom Lamar Lunsford after I read an article in Time magazine and asked him if I could come down and make a "movie" with him.
Bascom not only said yes with enthusiasm but told me that he had been filmed already several times before. I took my 1st plane ride and rushed to Bascom's home. He and his wife Freda took me around those mountains and introduced me to fantastic musicians, storytellers, singers, and dancers.
This now famous (at least on RU-vid) clog dance scene was filmed at his home in South Turkey Creek, North Carolina. Today it is one of my most popular video clips and subscribers have asked me to tell the background story.
I feel so fortunate to have met Bascom Lamar Lunsford and all of the homegrown but absolutely spectacular singers, songwriters, flat pickers, banjo pickers, clogged answers, storytellers, that he introduced me to - the wonderful, kind and creative people who gave me the opportunity to record just a bit of their lives.
In 1965 I was making my first documentary for television. I once titled it Music Makers of the Blue Ridge but these days I title it Bluegrass Roots. I was 23 years old and I was headed to the mountains of North Carolina, to Asheville, to meet and film 82 year old Bascom Lamar Lunsford.
I spent weeks filming with Bascom and his wife Freda, filming with a 16 mm sound camera and a friend carrying a Nagra audio recorder. Bascom told me that he was going to invite a clog dance group to his house in South Turkey Creek about 12 miles out of Asheville for a dance demonstration. He said he would roll up the living room rug so we could hear their feet as they clogged on the wooden floor. And so this scene happened and I absolutely loved filming it.
Although my camera rig was 49 pounds with a battery, I danced with the dancers with glee and recorded one of the best scenes that I have ever filmed. And the back up musicians? The best in bluegrass, mountain, old time music. The musicians included Obray Ramsey and Bascom's relative Ray Lunsford. In one moment you can see me & my camera in the mirror filming the scene.
In the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina clog dancing has been an important part of social gatherings, community events and local celebrations. It was historically a way for communities to come together, share stories, and pass down traditions through generations.
Clog dancing has deep roots in the region. This energetic and rhythmic dance style is a blend of several European and African-American influences, including English, Scottish, Irish, and African dance forms. Clog dancing typically involves intricate footwork, heel-and-toe tapping, and syncopated rhythms, making it visually and aurally engaging.
I could not be presenting this and other clips without support from my advertisers and I want to thank each of them. Live music Winston-Salem NC. Music in Brevard NC. Bluegrass music Asheville. Biltmore Village Asheville NC. Biltmore estate Asheville. Biltmore house Asheville. Biltmore Village shops. Lazoom Asheville. Folk Center Asheville. North Carolina Asheville Arboretum. Asheville Arboretum. Bascom. Clogging shoes. Clogging. Shania Twain Asheville. Live music Charlotte. Live music Greensboro. Bascom Lunsford Festival.
The one hour film ran in the primetime in 1965 and got the cover i've TV Guide with a fabulous review. Today it is considered a classic and I am proud that so many subscribers and others have chosen to watch it - many more than once. Thank you Bascom Lamar Lunsford and all those who appeared with him in my film.
These days some commentators have described feeling so sad that this era is over. Even if they had never been to the mountains to see it, they sought as a bit of American history at a simpler time with teenagers would just decent and things were as they were in the 50s. I have written in my responses just how active clog dancing and all the elements of bluegrass and mountain and old-time music from Appalachia are these days and there are probably many more clog dancers who are young today and old having done it from way back when this film was made.
I loved the people of Appalachia who treated me so kindly when I was a young filmmaker and showed me a bit of their ways. I love their music, their dance, their storytelling, their guitar, banjo, fiddle, ukulele, just as I did back when I first heard it as a 16-year-old on late night Long Island NY radio.
2 авг 2019
