THE STRYCHNINE BANJO-SEPT 2019.Pages

The Strychnine Banjo -Jake Wallace, Charley Rhoades and “The Days of ’49” The story of the most famous song to come out of the gold rush and far West mining during the 19th century. Zany. Colorful. And central to the culture of the West. © 2017 CW BAYER ™ The term Bohemian has come to be very commonly accepted in our day as the description of a certain kind of literary gypsy, no matter in what language he speaks, or what city he inhabits .... A Bohemian is simply an artist or "littérateur" who, consciously or unconsciously, secedes from conventionality in life and in art. (Westminster Review, 1862 ) Harper, Douglas (November 2001). "Bohemian etymology". Online Etymology Dictionary. ——————— Cover photo: Jake Wallace, used by permission of The Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin The author: CW Bayer regularly holds forth on C. Street in Virginia City and the better saloons of northern Nevada. His songs can be heard at Nevadamusic.com He is available for wakes, bankruptcies, foreclosures and other situations. Also, for a slide show on this book. nevadamusic ™ See www.nevadamusic.com See CW’s CD—THE GOLD RUSH SONG SAMPLER, containing many of the songs described in this book and THE GOLD RUSH SONG PRIMER, a downloadable free short book to accompany the CD. See www.nevadamusic.com for RHYMES FROM THE SILVER STATE, containing the entire text of De Groot’s poem, mentioned below, and for DREAMING UP NEVADA TERRITORY—the story of William Ormsby. !2 Visit: nevadamusic.com for more books and CDs. ! INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................5 PHOTO OF A FORGOTTEN LEGEND ...................................................................................................8 SEEING THE ELEPHANT ........................................................................................................................9 CALIFORNIA MINSTRELS ...................................................................................................................13 A CALIFORNIA SONG OF COMPLAINT ............................................................................................17 LOTTA ........................................................................................................................................................22 JOE BOWERS ...........................................................................................................................................26 JAKE WALLACE .....................................................................................................................................32 CHARLEY RHOADES .............................................................................................................................40 THE REBELLIOUS ROOTS OF BANJO MINSTRELSY ...................................................................45 TOM BRIGGS & THE SECRET OF THE OLD CREMONA .............................................................48 PLAYING THE AUDIENCE ....................................................................................................................53 THE PROMENADE TO THE BAR ........................................................................................................56 CLEMENS AND STRYCHNINE WHISKEY ........................................................................................60 1865–BALDY GREEN ..............................................................................................................................65 1866–THE MUSIC HALL FIRE ..............................................................................................................73 ALF DOTEN ..............................................................................................................................................77 1867–KITTY FROM CORK O’NEIL .....................................................................................................81 1868–THE GRASSHOPPER FEAST ......................................................................................................84 THE DAYS OF ’49—ROOTS ...................................................................................................................91 THE BUMMER .........................................................................................................................................97 WALLACE CAMPAIGNS THE SONG ................................................................................................100 RHOADES’ LAST PERFORMANCES ................................................................................................104 THE PACIFIC COAST PIONEER ASSOCIATION ...........................................................................106 A DYING MAN AND HIS RACIST VERSE ........................................................................................112 TOO MUCH BENZINE ..........................................................................................................................115 !3 Visit: nevadamusic.com for more books and CDs. ! WALLACE GOES ON AND ON ............................................................................................................116 THE ANTHEM ........................................................................................................................................121 1894–THE 49ER MINING CAMP .........................................................................................................123 THE LAST OF MINING CULTURE ....................................................................................................131 THE FOLK MUSIC FOG....................................................................................................................... 134 FAME AT LAST ......................................................................................................................................136 THE SONG’S MELODY ........................................................................................................................140 THE ROGUES’ REVEAL ......................................................................................................................143 A NEW WESTERN HERO ....................................................................................................................146 BOOKS BY CW BAYER ........................................................................................................................148 ENDNOTES .............................................................................................................................................149 !4 Visit: nevadamusic.com for more books and CDs. ! INTRODUCTION On the one hand, this book is a narrow story of two men and one song. On the other hand, this book documents how one lyric became the anthem of the ‘49ers—the song adopted by the gold rush pioneers after 1869 as they aged, singing it through the remainder of the 19th century. Though merely a song, “The Days of ’49” came to define how the gold rush pioneers saw their grand adventure, heading to California to pick up gold off the ground. Also, the song defines the ultimate mythology of the “western” hero as embraced by those pioneers—a mythology or hero the succeeded early efforts at a gold rush hero, also in song, during the mid-1850s. The read may only only be familiar with the later “western” hero his his mythology —the “cowboy” who only fully came to ascendance in the far West during the 1930s. See my book, “Reno’s Jazz Hysteria”, for discussion of that. Finally, this story describes the most significant chapter in the far West’s mid 19th century contribution to America’s national music. For a long time, it has been assumed that the central part of that contribution lay in the songs published by John Stone during the 1850s. However, in the book I challenge that assumption. The evidence is that the writing of “Joe Bowers” about 1859 thrust mining song onto the minstrel stage and, subsequently, in “The Days of ’49”, Charley Rhoades created the song that would fill theaters and saloons in small mining camps across the far West for decades. Like the wind rolling across the Sierra Nevada and up into the Sierra Wave above the eastern slope, or like the stage coach seemingly lost on an endless dirt track, this is a ride, an adventure of long lost musicians entertaining prospectors also long gone This is the story of a song that arose in the wake of seeing the elephant and that created the epitaph for seeing the elephant. This is a wild, zany tale of banjos, show business and endurance. CW Bayer, Carson City, Nevada !5 Visit: nevadamusic.com for more books and CDs. ! INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................5 PHOTO OF A FORGOTTEN LEGEND ...................................................................................................8 SEEING THE ELEPHANT ........................................................................................................................9 CALIFORNIA MINSTRELS ...................................................................................................................13 A CALIFORNIA SONG OF COMPLAINT ............................................................................................17 LOTTA ........................................................................................................................................................22 JOE BOWERS ...........................................................................................................................................26

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