If you can, find the CD reissue of "Elzic's Farewell; featuring French Carpenter and Jenes Cotterell". 7 of the 14 cuts feature Jenes playing and singing. He was a great singer too! He plays "Minnow on a Hook" and his signature song, "Cherry River Line". He's one of the all time great banjo Elders and quite a unique individual. Too bad there isn't a Carpenter/Cottrell duet on the album.
a long time ago (1970) I attended an arts and crafts festival in Beckley West Virginia. Mr. Cottrell was there showing his craft. I could have bought a cottrel banjo for $300!!. to this day I question myself, should I have done it?? $ 300 was all the Money I had, and I had just arrived in the USA. I stuck w. my guitar!
I have a long-neck banjo Jenes made in about 1966. It has a turned back. I am told it might be the only one he made. That might be true because the fret spacing is a bit off --- he did not have a ruler -- and the dots on the fretboard are one fret too high. He was apparently extrapolating by eye to do the long neck? We went to his place and spent a couple of days with him. He always saucered and blowed his coffee and drank it from the saucer. That is because the coffee on the woodburning stove is boiling hot so you put it in a saucer, blow on it, and sip it from the saucer when it is cool enough. He had a foot powered lathe in his shop. David Usher drusher@swbell.net
Wow, a pot made from a '56 Buick. That's some great re-purposing. Thanks for posting this!
If you can, find the CD reissue of "Elzic's Farewell; featuring French Carpenter and Jenes Cotterell". 7 of the 14 cuts feature Jenes playing and singing. He was a great singer too! He plays "Minnow on a Hook" and his signature song, "Cherry River Line". He's one of the all time great banjo Elders and quite a unique individual. Too bad there isn't a Carpenter/Cottrell duet on the album.
a long time ago (1970) I attended an arts and crafts festival in Beckley West Virginia. Mr. Cottrell was there showing his craft. I could have bought a cottrel banjo for $300!!. to this day I question myself, should I have done it?? $ 300 was all the Money I had, and I had just arrived in the USA. I stuck w. my guitar!
I have a long-neck banjo Jenes made in about 1966. It has a turned back. I am told it might be the only one he made. That might be true because the fret spacing is a bit off --- he did not have a ruler -- and the dots on the fretboard are one fret too high. He was apparently extrapolating by eye to do the long neck?
We went to his place and spent a couple of days with him. He always saucered and blowed his coffee and drank it from the saucer. That is because the coffee on the woodburning stove is boiling hot so you put it in a saucer, blow on it, and sip it from the saucer when it is cool enough. He had a foot powered lathe in his shop.
David Usher drusher@swbell.net
Nice! I've never, ever heard of Jenes making a longneck banjo, and I'd sure like to see a picture of yours.
@@KimJohnsonWV send FB message with ur email address. my FB name is david.r.usher i can email u a photo
The way he tells the story reminds me of Alice's Restaurant