Greetings

Here is the long awaited Disk 4, the fortuitous addition to the Plectrology III set.

On the original issue, three tracks were mastered at wrong speed: Peter Fryefield's "Church Street Blues", Paul Murphy's "Okie Dokie Stomp", and Kim Sherman's "So Far Away". These tracks are redone correctly here (I hope).

Due to the space limitation, not all submissions were used in the original issue. Here they are resurrected from the Trash Can on my computer, and receive the attention they deserve. You now even get to hear Bryan's singing, and that should count for something!

Because there was a bit of space left, we are also happy to accommodate three latecomers, Charlie Neff, Gary Smith, and Mike Wright.

All said and done, I'm glad this is over now :-) and I'm happy that we got an opportunity to share our music one more time, until, of course, we do Plectrology IV!!!

Sincerely Yours

Chief, CD Tsar III

Here's my notes that I finally dug up:

Fisher's Hornpipe (Extra Track if needed)

Lead guitar, rhythm guitar, mandolin - Vijay

I picked this tune because I really like the Texas Swing backup to it. I play the swing backup on the second break (taken on the mando). I played this a bit slower than I normally do as I feel some the beauty of the melody can get lost when its played too fast. On the third break, I use a weird kind of cross-picking lick using the bottom three low strings. At the very end of the recording, you can hear my dogs barking, but you have to listen really close. There's 4 of them: Murphy, Nikki, Pooh-Bear and Rosie. Murphy, the oldest one is the musical one. She always comes and sits by me when I'm playing. I've also seen her get up and go lay down in front of the speakers when there's a CD or tape playing.

Recording and instruments same as Flying Cloud (See below). (this one was also done while still under the effect of migraine medication!)

INSTRUMENTS Guitar - 1983 Martin HD-28 (with custom 45 marking)

Mandolin - 1916 Gibson A

Vijay

PS And a great big thank you to Chief and Harry and everyone else who

contributed to the icing to PLEC III, PLEC III Disc 4!!!

BOXERS AND SOCKS (Lyrics: Kristina and Peter Cady. Music: If anyone on this list doesn't know, we ain't saying)

Woodchucks' Revenge:

Peter Cady: Guitar (1995 Martin D-18VMS, probably John Pearse PB BG gauge, probably .94 Clayton Gold standard) and lead vocal.

Sandy Morse: Mandolin (S. Morse #2 - or #3?; probably GHS bright bronze lights, probably .72 Clayton Gold) and harmony vocal. Kristina Cady: hamony vocal.

One of the things that people who don't like guns don't realize is that people who _do_ like guns are even more scared of people with guns, who don't know what they're doing, than people who _don't_ like guns are. (Did you get that the first time through, or would you like me to repeat it?)

This song started with Kristina's manic playing with words because she was unable to take our attempts to learn the original seriously. We subsequently got hired for a small local bluegrass festival, and realized we had to make a temporary effort to fool people into thinking we were a bluegrass band, so we finished it. I don't think it fooled anyone, though.

The recording was made in the Cady living room, at the same time and with the same primitive equipment, as Wrangling Dudes, on the "regular" Plec III. We hope to get back into the studio this fall after the foliage bus tours dry up, and a more formally recorded version will almost certainly be on our second CD.

(This track was incorrectly mastered at wrong speed in the original issue)

Plectrology has a spirit of showing the things we're working on rather than the things we've perfected, and in honor of that spirit, I present my fledgling "singing" voice. I've been trying to sing for about 3 years now and the road has been rough and rocky. In 10 years when I can hit all three of the notes in this song, we can laugh about my singing here. Come to think of it, we can laugh about it now! At least I get to crosspick.

Bryan Kimsey

http://www.falconry.org/~bkimsey

[Updated Oct '98]

mailto:bakimsey@etsc.net

Chief turned me on to Clarence's version of this standard. I wasn't able to transcribe it for Chief, but I did learn to play it! It's recorded as solo guitar, out of the C position.

Chris Lannon -- guitar, slide & harmony

Joel Stein -- guitars

Don Bailey -- vocals.

Recorded at Prophet Sound late one night while New England was hit with an unforcasted snowstorm.

(This track was incorrectly mastered at wrong speed in the original issue)

Drop D Tuning

Dudenbostel 12 fret D28 slothead

The melody is from a Celtic tune in FGM and I wrote the intro and B part. WIth the martial title I wanted to come up with something about a young soldier in the Middle Ages awakening in the very early morning and preparing for his first battle. Sort of a Braveheart kind of thing. Only me on guitar with a little reverb, recorded on a Roland VS880 with a Neumann U184 mic and no punch ins or other modifications.

Little Beggarman (Red Haired Boy)

I heard Doc and Merle play this tune and I really liked the twin picking they did on this one. This is probably one of those tunes that every flatpicker should know. I used the D-18 on both tracks of Little Beggerman.

(This track was incorrectly mastered at wrong speed in the original issue)

Chief: you're a dear for making this 4th disc, and thanks, too, for adding 'Misery Loves Company' to disc 4, even though my picking/singing doesn't really qualify as FPC. :-) I really appreciate all your efforts!

To give credit where credit is due: For those who might want to know, although I wrote all of 'So Far Away', 'Misery Loves Company' was co-written with my business partner and good buddy Darci Cotten. It's a twisted little jazzy/bluesy tune. Hope you folks will enjoy it....

These tunes were played on my 84 kentucky Dawg mando while in the kitchen (only place to avoid the noise from the landlords kid jumping upstairs...) & was recorded via a radio shack mic & into a DA-P1 DAT deck. I've been playing mando about 1 1/2 years now and playing guitar since I was 12. I felt need to learn a new instrument for I could do pretty much what I wanted to on the guitar & needed a new challenge which the mando brought to me in spades. I heard comments from some pickels after hearing my plec II version of "Deep River Blues" on the guitar who felt I was fingerpicking it & didn't use a flatpick as I indicated. That's a kind compliment for I even have trouble fingerpicking my nose. I crosspick pretty much exclusively, always have. I only use straight ahead flatpicking to add variety to whatever tune I'm doing so it doesn't sound repetitious to me. Since I play solo, having never been in a band (other than at jam sessions) I crosspick in an attempt to get the fills another musician would be providing were we playing together. That theme is constantly in my head when I play, I just wish I had more fingers. Also, I had major tendon damage & surgery to my left hand & crosspicking lets me use the right hand to pick up the slack. I hope you like these tunes the way I crosspick them on the mando.

Joel Stein -- Bourgeois archtop, Collings D1A

Chris Lannon -- Taylor 410

Don Bailey -- vocals.

Always a favorite tune written by Rolly Salley who used to play with Happy & Artie Traum. I had gotten the archtop a couple of months earlier and really wanted to hear it on the solo. As always, it was a learning experience.

Joel Stein

Hello again to all list members. Thanks so much for the nice comments many of you provided regarding my son Jimmy's recordings on Plec III. We are very happy that Chief's efforts will allow us to share his third tune he had done for the project, a classic bluegrass fiddle tune, Big Mon. This tune helped Jimmy win his first local guitar competition a couple years ago. Hope you all enjoy it. Best Wishes to all.

Bill and Jimmy Ward

"Frankie and Albert"

This is a speeded up version of the New Lost City Ramblers version of the Mississippi John Hurt version of what later became "Frankie and Johnnie". It's played out of G position, with the capo on the third fret.

"Red Rockin' Chair"

This is pretty much the Dock Boggs version (which I believe he called "Sugar Baby", but I always sing "Honey Baby", so it seemed silly to call it "Sugar Baby"). It's played in D (mixolydian).

The guitar is a '75 Martin D-35, with a Shubb capo and two-month old D'Addario EJ-17s. The pick is a Clayton Gold 1.20. The songs were recorded in one take each on an old Sansui cassette recorder using a couple of cheap Realistic mikes, one lying on top of the recorder and the other dangling from a music stand on which I had the words to the songs--which didn't keep me from getting a few of them wrong. The breaks and backup are totally unplanned. The singer is me, after about 3 weeks without REM sleep. I hope that no one will be injured by listening to these songs.