Roger Sprung
Encyclopedia
Roger Sprung is an American
banjo
player and teacher best known for introducing authentic bluegrass
banjo picking styles to the folk music
community in the north and for the eclectic manner in which he has adapted bluegrass banjo techniques to music of other genres.
who taught him to play a tune. Later, around age ten, Roger took formal piano lessons for about a year, but by then he had already taught himself to play by ear. He was introduced to folk music as a teenager in 1947 when his older brother took him to hear musicians perform in New York’s Washington Square
. After taking up the guitar Roger soon took up the banjo, teaching himself to play by ear with the aid of 78 rpm records by Earl Scruggs. He was also influenced by Pete Seeger, Paul Cadwell, and also Tom Paley from whom he took a few banjo lessons. In 1950, Sprung made the first of many trips to bluegrass country, accompanying mandolin
ist Harry West to Asheville, North Carolina. There he had his first exposure to such traditional country musicians as Bascom Lamar Lunsford
and Samantha Bumgarner. These trips became a regular part of Sprung's musical life, and he passed along the styles and techniques he absorbed during them to his fellow musicians in the north. As bluegrass historian and performer Ralph Lee Smith wrote, "Banjo player Roger Sprung almost single-handedly introduced Southern bluegrass music to New York through his playing in Washington Square."
In 1953 Sprung joined Erik Darling and Bob Carey to form the Folksay Trio. The group recorded four tracks on an anthology album that also included performances by Leadbelly
and Woody Guthrie
. One of the trio's songs, "Tom Dooley
," would later be popularized by the Kingston Trio and become one of the best-selling folk song recordings of all time.It has been suggested that the Folksay Trio's recording of "Tom Dooley" was in fact the inspiration for the Kingston Trio's later recording. The notes accompanying the CD collection, "The Kingston Trio: The Guard Years" make this claim, and the New York Times's obituary for Erik Darling states that the Folksay Trio version "strongly influenced the Kingston Trio when that group recorded the song." (William Grimes, "Erik Darling Dies at 74; Musician in the Weavers", The New York Times, August 7, 2008, accessed October 26, 2009.) Alternate theories about the Kingston Trio's possible sources for the song have been put forth as well. For a thorough discussion of the subject, see Peter J. Curry, "Tom Dooley": The Ballad That Started The Folk Boom. Carey and Darling later joined Alan Arkin
, who would go on to achieve fame as an actor, to form the highly successful folk group The Tarriers
. In 1957, Sprung formed another group, The Shanty Boys, with Lionel Kilberg and Mike Cohen.
and Doc Watson
as well as with more recent country music artists Willie Nelson
, Winona Judd, and Tanya Tucker
. He has recorded with Guy Lombardo
and the Royal Canadians and toured with popular jazz singer Kay Starr
. His television appearances include the Jimmy Dean
, Garry Moore
, and Dean Martin Shows, and he has performed at both the Lincoln Center
and Carnegie Hall
. For the past quarter century he has performed with guitarist Hal Wylie and various other musicians as "Roger Sprung, Hal Wylie and the Progressive Bluegrassers." Sprung appears frequently at folk festivals and musical conventions, including the Philadelphia Folk Festival
, at which he performed for 30 consecutive years, and the Union Grove Fiddler's Convention in North Carolina, where in 1970 he was winner of the banjo competition. In addition to his performing and recording career, Sprung sells and repairs banjos and has been teaching banjo and other instruments since 1950. Notable among his former students were Eric Darling
and John Stewart, who became replacement members of The Weavers
and the Kingston Trio, respectively.Sprung's influence on other musicians extends beyond his teaching. He has been cited, for instance, as an influence on Bela Fleck
, a banjo player whose eclectic repertoire resembles that of Sprung. See for example the "Roger Spring" entry at North American Urban Folk Music 1940-1960 - Celebration 2008, Eugene Chadbourne, [ Roger Sprung Biography], and Frank Beacham's Journal, "Folkies Gather in New York's Washington Square Park for Reunion".
music, his repertoire includes arrangements of Elizabethan and classical
pieces, Broadway show tunes, jazz
and big band
standards, and holiday songs. Composers whose works he has arranged for banjo include Mozart
, Weill
, Sousa
, Ernesto Lecuona
, and Stephen Foster
. Among the selections he has recorded are ones as musically diverse as "Hava Nagila
", "Hello, Dolly
," "Turkey in the Straw
," "Jingle Bells
," "Puff, the Magic Dragon
," "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
," and "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
."
Sprung's instrument is a 1927 Gibson
which he reconstructed himself using parts from two other Gibson banjos.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
player and teacher best known for introducing authentic bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
banjo picking styles to the folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
community in the north and for the eclectic manner in which he has adapted bluegrass banjo techniques to music of other genres.
Beginnings
Roger Sprung began playing music at the age of seven when an interest in the piano was sparked by his nannyNanny
A nanny, childminder or child care provider, is an individual who provides care for one or more children in a family as a service...
who taught him to play a tune. Later, around age ten, Roger took formal piano lessons for about a year, but by then he had already taught himself to play by ear. He was introduced to folk music as a teenager in 1947 when his older brother took him to hear musicians perform in New York’s Washington Square
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
. After taking up the guitar Roger soon took up the banjo, teaching himself to play by ear with the aid of 78 rpm records by Earl Scruggs. He was also influenced by Pete Seeger, Paul Cadwell, and also Tom Paley from whom he took a few banjo lessons. In 1950, Sprung made the first of many trips to bluegrass country, accompanying mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
ist Harry West to Asheville, North Carolina. There he had his first exposure to such traditional country musicians as Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Bascom Lamar Lunsford was a lawyer, folklorist, and performer of traditional music from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians."- Early life :...
and Samantha Bumgarner. These trips became a regular part of Sprung's musical life, and he passed along the styles and techniques he absorbed during them to his fellow musicians in the north. As bluegrass historian and performer Ralph Lee Smith wrote, "Banjo player Roger Sprung almost single-handedly introduced Southern bluegrass music to New York through his playing in Washington Square."
In 1953 Sprung joined Erik Darling and Bob Carey to form the Folksay Trio. The group recorded four tracks on an anthology album that also included performances by Leadbelly
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
and Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
. One of the trio's songs, "Tom Dooley
Tom Dooley (song)
"Tom Dooley" is an old North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina. It is best known today because of a hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio. This version was a multi-format hit, reaching #1 in Billboard, the...
," would later be popularized by the Kingston Trio and become one of the best-selling folk song recordings of all time.It has been suggested that the Folksay Trio's recording of "Tom Dooley" was in fact the inspiration for the Kingston Trio's later recording. The notes accompanying the CD collection, "The Kingston Trio: The Guard Years" make this claim, and the New York Times's obituary for Erik Darling states that the Folksay Trio version "strongly influenced the Kingston Trio when that group recorded the song." (William Grimes, "Erik Darling Dies at 74; Musician in the Weavers", The New York Times, August 7, 2008, accessed October 26, 2009.) Alternate theories about the Kingston Trio's possible sources for the song have been put forth as well. For a thorough discussion of the subject, see Peter J. Curry, "Tom Dooley": The Ballad That Started The Folk Boom. Carey and Darling later joined Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
, who would go on to achieve fame as an actor, to form the highly successful folk group The Tarriers
The Tarriers
The Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", and founded in 1956 by Erik Darling, Alan Arkin, and Bob Carey, the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" and "The...
. In 1957, Sprung formed another group, The Shanty Boys, with Lionel Kilberg and Mike Cohen.
Career
Over the past six decades, Sprung has performed with such legendary folk musicians as Jean RitchieJean Ritchie
Jean Ritchie is an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player.- Out of Kentucky :Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest...
and Doc Watson
Doc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
as well as with more recent country music artists Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Winona Judd, and Tanya Tucker
Tanya Tucker
Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...
. He has recorded with Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
and the Royal Canadians and toured with popular jazz singer Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
. His television appearances include the Jimmy Dean
The Jimmy Dean Show
The Jimmy Dean Show is the name of several similar music and variety series on American local and network television between 1957–75. Each starred country music singer Jimmy Dean as host.-Daytime:...
, Garry Moore
The Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer, Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talents, such as Don Adams, George Gobel, Carol Burnett, Don...
, and Dean Martin Shows, and he has performed at both the Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
and Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. For the past quarter century he has performed with guitarist Hal Wylie and various other musicians as "Roger Sprung, Hal Wylie and the Progressive Bluegrassers." Sprung appears frequently at folk festivals and musical conventions, including the Philadelphia Folk Festival
Philadelphia Folk Festival
The Philadelphia Folk Festival is an annual folk music festival near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania in the vicinity of Philadelphia. Begun in 1962, the four-day festival is sponsored by the non-profit Philadelphia Folksong Society. The event hosts contemporary and traditional artists in genres...
, at which he performed for 30 consecutive years, and the Union Grove Fiddler's Convention in North Carolina, where in 1970 he was winner of the banjo competition. In addition to his performing and recording career, Sprung sells and repairs banjos and has been teaching banjo and other instruments since 1950. Notable among his former students were Eric Darling
Eric Darling
Erik Darling was an American songwriter and a folk music artist. He was an important influence on the folk scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s.-Biography:...
and John Stewart, who became replacement members of The Weavers
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
and the Kingston Trio, respectively.Sprung's influence on other musicians extends beyond his teaching. He has been cited, for instance, as an influence on Bela Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
, a banjo player whose eclectic repertoire resembles that of Sprung. See for example the "Roger Spring" entry at North American Urban Folk Music 1940-1960 - Celebration 2008, Eugene Chadbourne, [ Roger Sprung Biography], and Frank Beacham's Journal, "Folkies Gather in New York's Washington Square Park for Reunion".
Repertoire
Sprung's recordings and concert appearances embrace a variety of musical genres. In addition to traditional bluegrass and ragtimeRagtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
music, his repertoire includes arrangements of Elizabethan and classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
pieces, Broadway show tunes, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
standards, and holiday songs. Composers whose works he has arranged for banjo include Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
, Ernesto Lecuona
Ernesto Lecuona
Ernesto Lecuona y Casado was a Cuban composer and pianist of Canarian father and Cuban mother, and worldwide fame. He composed over six hundred pieces, mostly in the Cuban vein, and was a pianist of exceptional quality....
, and Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...
. Among the selections he has recorded are ones as musically diverse as "Hava Nagila
Hava Nagila
"Hava Nagila" is a Hebrew folk song that has become a staple of band performers at Jewish weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs.-History:...
", "Hello, Dolly
Hello, Dolly! (song)
"Hello, Dolly!" is the title song of the popular 1964 musical of the same name. Louis Armstrong's version was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001....
," "Turkey in the Straw
Turkey in the Straw
"Turkey in the Straw" is a well-known American folk song dating from the early 19th century.The song's tune was first popularized in the late 1820s and early 1830s by blackface performers, notably George Washington Dixon, Bob Farrell and George Nichols. Another song, "Zip Coon", was sung to the...
," "Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...
," "Puff, the Magic Dragon
Puff, the Magic Dragon
"Puff, the Magic Dragon" is a song written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow, and made popular by Yarrow's group Peter, Paul and Mary in a 1963 recording. The song achieved great popularity and has entered American and British pop culture.-Lyrics:...
," "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
"The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" is a popular ballad with lyrics by Gene Lockhart and music by the concert pianist Ernest Seitz, who had conceived the refrain when he was 12. Embarrassed about writing popular music, Seitz used the pseudonym "Raymond Roberts" when the song was first published...
," and "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
"Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" is a popular song written by Trevor Peacock. It was originally sung by actor Sir Tom Courtenay in The Lads, a British TV play of 1963....
."
Sprung's instrument is a 1927 Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
which he reconstructed himself using parts from two other Gibson banjos.
Discography
- American Folksay: Ballads and Dances, Vol. 2, The Folksay Trio (1953) (Stinson)
- Off-Beat Folk Songs, The Shanty Boys (1958) (ElektraElektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
) - Progressive bluegrass. Vol. 1, Roger Sprung & his Progressive Bluegrassers (1963) (Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
) - Progressive ragtime bluegrass 2 and other instrumentals, Roger Sprung & his Bluegrass All-Stars (1964) (Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
) - Progressive bluegrass. Vol. 3, Five string banjo specialties, Roger Sprung & his Progressive Bluegrassers (1965) (Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
) - Grassy licks, Roger Sprung & his Progressive Bluegrassers (1966) (VerveVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
/Folkways) - Roger Sprung & his Progressive Bluegrassers, Roger Sprung & his Progressive Bluegrassers (1967) (Showcase)
- Bluegrass blast : a mixed bag of ol' timey music, Roger Sprung & Hal Wylie & the Progressive Bluegrassers (1974) (Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
) - Bluegrass Gold, Hal Wylie & Roger Sprung & the Progressive Bluegrassers (1978) (Showcase)
- Bluegrass Gold, Vol. 2, Roger Sprung & the Progressive Bluegrassers (Showcase)
- New and Original Sound of Irish-Grass (1982) (Showcase)
- Pickin' on the mountain, Roger & Joan Sprung (Showcase)
- Roger & Joan, Roger & Joan Sprung (Showcase)
External links
- Official Website, Roger Sprung - Bluegrass Banjo Pioneer.
- Smithsonian Folkways, Liner notes for "Progressive Bluegrass, Vol. 3".