Joe Carr

Rhythm & Chords - Jethro Burns Chord Solo

Music for this workshop

As one half of the country comedy duo Homer and Jethro (H&J), Jethro Burns was a well known comedian throughout his career from the 1930s until his death in 1989.

Musicians have known for years that he was a great mandolinist. His jazz-tinged soloing is sprinkled throughout H&J's many comedy recordings and is featured prominently on two instrumental recordings made in the 1960s -- albums which have become collector's items.

Back in the 1970s when I was touring with Country Gazette, I had the opportunity to meet Jethro at a festival in Iowa. He was a solo act during these years, playing incredible solo mandolin and cracking the audience up with his jokes and stories. Jethro, who apparently knew no strangers, started talking to me back stage before his set. On stage was a family-style, bluegrass band with a nine- or ten-year-old mandolin player. This young musician was just passable as a musician but the audience went wild every time he took a solo. Backstage, Jethro sighed and confided in me. "I hate kid musicians. And I hate following them (on stage).You can't make a joke about them or everybody gets mad and if you play your best stuff, the audience thinks, "of course he can play good, he's an adult!'"

Jethro went on to say that he hated himself when he was a kid musician. He began playing on stage at a very young age and received the tremendous response that kids always get. "I hated myself. One day at about age 10, I realized I wasn't so cute anymore and I thought, "I'm gonna have to learn to play this thing or start looking for another job.'"

This started Jethro on his own musical journey to become an accomplished player. While other jazz mandolinists such as Tiny Moore were influenced by the jazz of the 1940s, Jethro was most affected by the jazz of his youth from the 1930s. He often credited Django Reinhardt, the great French Gypsy/jazz guitarist as a major influence.

Jethro also mentioned admiring the styles of Dave Apollon, Paul Buskirk and Sam Bush. He did not make a secret of the fact that he did not like the bluegrass style of Bill Monroe. Jethro brought a sophisticated musical approach to the mandolin and in the process developed a unique style that is instantly recognizable.

The 1997 release The Puritan Sessions offers a rare glimpse of Jethro with western swing fiddler Keith Coleman. Coleman was a vastly under-recorded musician who some have called "the Greatest Western Swing Fiddler." In addition to his excellent mandolin work, Jethro shows himself to be a good jazz-style rhythm guitarist on this generous (22 cuts) CD. Just a Closer Walk with Thee is presented here in the key of G, unlike the E version which appears in Jethro's Mel Bay mandolin instruction book, Jethro Burns, Mandolin Player.

Jethro's first solo to Closer Walk is a chord solo with a few single note lines to connect the phrases. The tremelo notes, indicated by the sign "tr" followed by a wavy line, are played with a slow to medium speed -- about eighth-note triplet speed. The chords above the staff describe the chords and are not intended for accompaniment. The liberal use of sixth, ninth, diminished and augmented chords is characteristic of Jethro's approach to this kind of tune.

Sources:

Jethro Burns, Mandolin Player, MB93401 Mel Bay Publishing, 1976.

Jethro Burns, The Puritan Sessions, FRC-CD-653 Freeland Recording, 1997.

Joe Carr is a self-taught string musician and singer originally from Denton, Texas. His first professional performances were with the Texas-based bluegrass band Roanoke. In 1977, Joe joined the internationally known bluegrass band Country Gazette as an emcee, guitarist and singer.

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