When you hear of a fife and drum band, most Americans think of three-cornered hat wearing patriots marching off to battle the British in the Revolutionary War. Few think of the Blues. While today there are re-enactment bands across the nation, the last of the real fife and drum bands come from the North Mississippi hills and were decendents of slaves.
The common conception of a fife and drum band began in Ireland. The concept arrived in America and was a common musical outlet in mititia units across the colonies. This is the image that most people recall. Some of todays fife and drum corps in New England can trace their history to back before the revolution, but many years ago they became more historical re-creations than viable, relevent bands.
Slavery brought African versions of fife and drum to America. With the simplicity of the instruments and the harsh conditions, a different, less celebrated style of fife and drum continued. These were the instruments of their social and spiritual lives. These traditions became one of the foundations for the Blues and actually survive to this day in North Mississippi. With the death this year of Othar Turner, that survival is most uncertain.
Othar Turner (1908-Feb 26, 2003) learned the fife in 1924 when he was a teen. He was never recorded until the 1960s when Alan Lomax found him. He formed the The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band and would play at social gatherings in the area. Luther Dickenson of the North Mississippi Allstars produced Othar's last two records, Everybody Hollerin' Goat and From Senegal to Senatobia. Sid Hemphill, Ed and Lonnie Young, and Napolian Strickland were other recorded fife and drum artists from the same area.
Fifes were carved from cane. Holes were burnt into the wood to make different tones. Drums were anything that sounded good when hit. Sometimes string instruments like the banjo and guitar appeared in these bands, along with the familiar chants and the call and response of Delta Blues.
Listen to a North Mississippi fife and drum band.
-
After the Ball Is Over
Sid Hemphill -
Shimmy She Wobble
Othar Turner -
Old Hen Cackled, Laid A Double Egg
Ephram Carter/J. W. Jones/James Jones/Floyd Bussey -
Soft Black Jersey Cow
Napolian Strickland
