Bill Callaway interview with H.O. Smith and Mary Patricia “Patsy” Hunnicutt (part two)

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. This is the second part of a two part recording. It contains twenty-two fiddle and banjo folk songs performed by H.O. Smith. The interview was recorded at his home in Butts County, Georgia. H.O. Smith lived in Butts County, Georgia, three miles out of Jackson. The couple had six children: two sons and three daughters. He was a farmer and played the banjo and the fiddle. Mary Patricia Patsy Hunnicutt (1934-1999) was born in Bibb County, Georgia, and she was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin David, Jr. (1909-1974) and Una Wylene Arnold Davis (1916-1999). She married Dennis Hunnicutt and owned B.F. Davis Grocery. " DEAR JOHN" A PROJECT IN FOLKLORE COLLECTING By Bill Callaway For John Burrison Georgia State College Spring, 1967 Mr. H. O. Smith The focal point of this collecting project is the fiddle and banjo playing of Mr. H. O. Smith, Route 2, Jackson, Georgia. His home is lo- cated on Georgia Highway 36, approximately three miles out of Jackson. He and his wife have resided at this location for 35 years. Butts County, of which Jackson is the county seat, has been his home all of his 79 years. They had six children, five of whom are living, two sons and three daughters. All of the children (grown now, of course) except one daughter, play one or more musical instrumentso On may first visit to Mr. Smith's house, he was not at home and Mrs. Smith told me that he had not played the fiddle for years, and she did not think he would play for me. She told me where I possibly could locate him in town, but I did not have such luck. I returned to his home on the following Friday and found him there, hoeing his garden. At first he was very reluctant to talk about the fiddle, but after about an hour of conversation, and his showing me his gun collection (pictured in the report), he got the fiddle out. Soon he began tuning it and finally "sawing" it as he calls it. The first part of the 7" tape is his solo fiddling. As I was about to leave that afternoon, I asked if he played any other instrument. He said that he used to play the banjo, but could no longer because his fingers were too stiff - and his banjo was missing a couple of strings. Asking if I could get some strings for him and come back the next day, I got a positive reply, and an invitation to dinner. (Which, by the way, was an excellent country dinner.) On that same day, the solo banjo playing -2- by Mr. Smith and the fiddle and banjo accompanied by guitar were recorded. After succeeding in establishing rapport with Mr. Smith, my biggest problem was getting him to play. He kept insisting that I should come when some of his children could be there, because they had better instruments, including electric guitars. Once it had sunk in on him that it was his, not their, kind of music that I was interested in, we had clear sailing. In the afternoon of the last session his son, Virgil, who lives "just down the road," joined us and backed-up his father with the guitar--after removing the gadgets used for amplification. Mr. Smith said that he first learned to play the banjo, beginning when he was about 12 years old. But he later took up the fiddle because no one in his community played one. He couldn't remember for sure what song he had learned first, but thought it was probably "LuIa Wall." From what I could understand, Mr. Smith taught his children to play, no one in the family ever having had a music lesson. Mr. Smith is a retired farmer, and now spends his time sharpening knives and saws, and making knives, a life long hobby. (An example of one of his knives is pictured.) Included in the section of photographs are some examples of folk architecture found during the collection project. -3- The Tapes Seven Inch Reel: "Red River Valley" "Barbry Allen".-:l- .kr "Goin' After My Alabama Gal" Fiddle " " 4. "Sweet Bye and Bye (Mrs. Smith joined him on the piano for this number at his suggestion.) 5. "Turkey in the Straw" 6. "Nellie Grey" (Mrs. Smith can be heard singing along in background but later said she couldn't remember the words.) 7 "Red Wing" 8 0 "Diamond Joe" 9. "Shortenin' Bread" " " " " Banjo -rL " 10. 11. "Lula Wall" "Gain' On Down 1:0' l~ ,- 1,,,,,JUMlA. the Road" -r---'0 " " 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. "Home Sweet Home It "Ida Red" "Alabama Gal Won't You Come Out Tonight? "Blackeyed Susan" "Gain' on Downtownlf "Shortenin' Bread" "Alabama Gal" (~- ~) ''Miss Dinah" "The Kiss Waltz" " " " " Banjo & Guitar " " Fiddle & Guitar " -4- 2L "Mississippi Sawyer" Fiddle & Guitar 220 "Big Taters In Sandy Land " (This is not complete on this tape so it is repeated on the 5" reeL) Five Inch Reel: L "Big Taters in Sandy Land" " 2. Mrso Dennis Hunnicutt - Dialog Bill: I am talkin' with Mrs. Dennis Hunnicutt, of Route 2, Macon, Georgia o She's goin' to tell us of some of the beliefs that she learned from her grandmother 0 Patsy, was there one about the screech owl? Screech Owl Patsy: The screech owl, if you hear one in the woods, tie a knot in the corner your sheet and he'll go awayo You'll choke him and he'll go away and stopo (She did not want to say so on tape, but she swore to her husband and to me that she honestly believes thiso She said that she has tried it and it really works:) Shooting Star If you see a shooting star, never point at it, because if you do, someone that you know will dieo Tree Frog And the tree frogo If you hear a tree frog, ah, it will stop - it will ~, it will not stop raining until he he stops yelling 0 -5- First May Rain The first May rain, you put all the animals out in the first May rain to wash all the lice off of 'em for the rest of the summer o Whistlin' And then I learned from my grandfather that to whistle in the house was bad luck: And also, that a whist1in' woman and a crowin' hen would come to no good end: 30 Bill Callaway - Joke I don't know where or when I first heard this but here it is,anywayo It seems that there was an old colored man who lived down in the country. Ole Mose saved his money for years and finally had enough to buy a small piece of groundo Well, most people said the land WlS no good, that is wouldn't even grow decent weedso Well, Ole Mose worked that land and fin- ally was raisin' a good cropo Thenone day the preacher came by and saw it, so he stopped and said to Mose~ "Mose, I see you an de Lord is doin' a pretty good job wi' dat dere lando" "Well, I don't know," said Mose, "all I know is dat when de Latld had it by hisself, he wadn' doin' so good:" 4. Country Music. (This last part is not in line with the project, but is included because it is a musical session of the Smith children, recorded by Virgil, who loaned the tape to me.) A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. 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