In 1916, during the Great War, England was fighting for its survival. German U-boats prowled the Atlantic in deadly wolf packs, hunting the vital supply line from the United States. Fortunately for England and Europe, Britannia still “ruled the waves,” standing between the U-boats and possible annihilation.

At that time, the Royal Navy was best symbolized by the H.M.S. Dreadnought — the largest battleship ever built.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic . . .

C.F. Martin & Co. was creating the biggest 6-string guitar ever built. Chris Martin IV, CEO of the company that bears his family’s name, recalls his grandfather saying, “this is the largest guitar ever made — let’s name it in honor of the biggest battleship ever made.”

Compared to guitars that proceeded it, the dreadnought had more volume and more bottom end. In a 1916 edition of Music Trade Review, the instrument was “said to be an excellent instrument for use in auditoriums and large halls,” in addition to being “excellent for the making of talking machine records.”

The Hawaiian Connection

Ukuleles and Hawaiian music had become popular in 1915 to a mainstream American audience — and musicians were looking for an instrument with a “bigger” sound and a strong bass response. At first the dreadnought proved less than popular. The early model had a wide, flat fingerboard, and was designed for Hawaiian musicians to play with a slide.

Filling a need for recording and performing . . . more volume please.

In the early 1930s Martin introduced the D-1 and D-2, which soon became Martin’s iconic D-18 and D-28 models. By the mid-‘30s the dreadnought started to become more popular.

The recording industry was growing, along with the use of electronic microphones and amplification, while acoustic guitarists performing onstage were discovering they needed more volume. The larger dreadnoughts provided the solution, and was ideal for performing groups in venues such as the Grand Old Opry.

During the Depression years, country artists embraced their dreads. After World War Il, when the economy picked up, their popularity grew. In bluegrass music, the dreadnought could hold its own against the loud banjos, mandolins and fiddles.

It’s 107 years old . . . and perhaps the most copied guitar on earth.

It was the 1960s folk boom that really spurred dreadnought sales — and many copies by other guitar makers, both high-end models and “economy” lines — all built around the dreadnought model. Most major guitar companies make versions of the dreadnought, including Taylor, Gibson, Epiphone, Seagull, Yamaha, Alvarez and others.

By the 1970s Martin offered five different dreadnought models: D-18, D-28, D-35, D-41, and D-45.

From country, folk, and bluegrass, to rock and pop artists.

Here are some of the musicians who recorded and performed with dreadnought guitars:

Gene Autry, Hank Williams, The Kingston Trio, Doc Watson, Johnny Cash, Jerry Garcia, John Lennon, and Bob Dylan . . .

Joni Mitchell (above), Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Jimmy Page, Nancy Wilson, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young...

Loggins & Messina, Seals & Crofts and Peter Frampton, to newer folk artists like Mumford & Sons, Kurt Cobain, Avett Brothers, Shawn Colvin and Neko Case.

Elvis played this D-35 during his 1977 tour. Valued at $75,000, it's now on permanent display at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota.

• Presley played a D-28 on his1956 debut album. He had a 1942 D-18 in 1954-55, but traded it in for a D-28 in 1955.

• Paul McCartney and John Lennon used their D-28s to write 42 songs that would become The White Album, Let It Be and Abbey Road.

• The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards played a D-45 on the band’s 1972 Exile On Main Street tour.



• You can hear a D-28 on the opening chords of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome To The Machine” and “Wish You Were Here.”

How a favorite Plank Road Saturday sing-around song first became a classic.

There are two versions: (1) The Band was visiting the Martin factory in Nazareth, PA, and liked the town's name. (2) Guitarist Robbie Robertson was struggling with some of the lyrics to a song he was working on. He liked the opening line — “I pulled into…” but got stuck on the rest. Glancing at his D-28, he noticed the guitar’s back center brace was branded with “C.F. Martin & Co, Nazareth, PA.”

That’s how “I pulled into Nazareth, I was feeling ‘bout half past dead…” evolved into “The Weight,” a huge hit for The Band in 1968. The song opens with a distinctive guitar riff played on that very same D-28.

Organized by Jen Shilt and Kristen Fuller, the event exceeded expectations. As Jim Gilroy recalls, “I arrived early with Jen and Kristen to help set up. We arranged chairs in a loose circle. But as it turned out, Dave Humphreys had to get additional chairs as we had more people than expected.”

Bob O’Hanlon introduced the four members of Steam Machine. “They played the three tunes that they were going to teach us,” says Jen. “Then divided into three groups — fiddle-mandolin, clawhammer and bluegrass banjo styles, and guitar-rhythm-bass.” The largest group stayed in the main room, while the other two groups went to different rooms.

Breakout rooms focused on each instrument.

“I found it very helpful that we were divided into separate breakout rooms,” says Dottie Lee. She was in the guitar/bass group and says her instructor demonstrated ways to effectively provide the necessary rhythm backing to support the melody players in a group.

Jim Gilroy was in the fiddle-mandolin workshop, along with a few other mandolin players. “The instructor taught us three fiddle tunes, "Pig In a Pen," "Wolves a’ Howlin," and "Got a Little Home To Go To," says Jim. “The instructor emphasized learning by ear — no written tunes were used.”

After the breakout sessions all the groups came together to play the tunes they had learned. At the end of the workshop, Steam Machine played a few tunes, held a question-and-answer session, and provided some online resources (see below).

About Steam Machine . . .

Steam Machine is a Midwest-based old time/bluegrass music project fronted by award winning Minneapolis fiddler AJ Srubas and old-time music and dance instructor Rina Rossi on guitar and bass, plus David Robinson on banjo and mandolin, and Andrew Norcross on banjo and bass. Steam Machine aspires to “keep Midwest style old-time/bluegrass music alive and well wherever they go.”

Online resources:

• Traditional Tune Archive

https://tunearch.org/wiki/TTA  

• Slippery-Hill 

https://www.slippery-hill.com/ 

Click here to watch a video of Steam Machine playing “Pig In a Pen” at the workshop!

Holiday sing-around

Caroling gets rained out, but not the music!

You’d think by the middle of December there might be a little snow — not rain. But on Saturday, December 16 the Plank Road Christmas carolers were washed out, unable to entertain shoppers in downtown Downers Grove.

But all was not lost. At 2 pm, back at Two Way Street, 20 folks attended our annual Holiday Sing-around. Trusty song leader George Mattson was ill, so Bob O’Hanlon took over with assistance from Andy Malkewicz and Jim Gilroy.

Stream it NOW!

Listen to music by Mark Dvorak, George Mattson Trio, Ashley & Simpson, and the Plank Road String Band, plus tunes by other Plank Road Members — FREE on most streaming sites.

Just look for Down the Old Plank Road Volume 3. (Be sure to enter the complete title.)

* Apple Music * iTunes * Spotify

* Pandora * Amazon Music

* YouTube Music * Bandcamp

* And many others!

George Mattson Trio

gmtrio.com 

Mark Dvorak

markdvorak.com 

Tobias Music

www.tobiasmusic.com 

Tom Smothers

As one half of the famed Smothers Brothers comedy and folk music duo, Tom Smothers fought racism, the Vietnam War and television censors throughout his career. He died December 26 at age 86.

Smothers was born in 1937. Four years later the family moved to the Philippines when his father, an Army Major, was sent there. As World War II expanded, Tom’s mother brought Tom, his brother Dick, and sister to Southern California. His father was captured, survived the Bataan death march, but died on a Japanese POW ship in 1945.

Growing up, Smothers played guitar and was part of musical groups with his brother. As the Fifties drew to a close, he and Dick decided to try their luck at folk music. They formed their own act in 1959 with Tom on acoustic guitar and Dick on upright bass. Two years later, they played the Purple Onion in San Francisco, New York’s Blue Angel, and were regulars on The Steve Allen Show.

Combining folk music and comedy was their breakthrough.

In 1962, they released the album The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers. One side had classic folk tunes, the other comedy tunes.

In 1967 The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour premiered and became a counterculture staple with pointed routines and sly references to everything from recreational drug use to the Vietnam War.

Their banter before, between and amid songs would become the focus of their act and their sibling rivalry. Tom, who played the “dumb” one, often complained to Dick, the straight man. “Mom always liked you best,” became a running gag.

A time of unrest . . . and censors.

“It was a traumatic time in our country,” said Rob Reiner. “Tommy, with his cunning intellect and strong desire for social justice, wanted to tap into that.”

Censors killed many skits and changed the language in others. CBS also pre-empted one episode and banned performances of Pete Seeger’s anti-Vietnam War song “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” and Harry Belafonte‘s “Don’t Stop the Carnival,” about the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots in Chicago.

At its peak the show attracted 30 million viewers a week.

But it wouldn’t last for long. In 1969 the pair were fired after 72 episodes — even though their show was in the Top 10 and already renewed for a fourth season. Their program attracted younger, hipper, more rebellious viewers — and launched the careers of Steve Martin, Rob Reiner, Mason Williams, and Elaine May.

The brothers filed a lawsuit against the network for breach of contract and copyright infringement. They won a settlement of about $900,000 but never regained their clout.

Tom Smothers has been called “a true champion for freedom of speech, harnessing the power of comedy to push boundaries and our political consciousness.”

Cathy Jones

cathy@jonesfamilymusic.com

WDCB Folk Festival