The head stocks (literal carved heads) on Coog's instruments are really something. I wonder if he would make one with Arlo's head on it ! We could all pitch in and get it for his birthday (does he not have a big 60 in the near future ?).

On another tangent I was checking out the store and posters, etc. I imagined the woman blowing smoke on Arlo in the Massacre Aniversary poster must be Alice. Surfing through Alice's site I noticed she doesn't look at all like the woman in the poster. I got a kick out of the Maple syrup "bustin with flavor"-made it my desk top backround for about 48 hours until the kids got too much of a kick about the "bustin" part. "Ma,...daddy's got a picture on the computer of a lady with big.......". Hey, it was fun while it lasted. Anyhow....I figured the lady on the Maple Syrup can must be Mrs. Guthrie.....what better way to immoratlize your beloved. Then looking at Alice's site it dawned on me that she might be Alice. Now I'm not sure, and not that it matters at all but do any of my fellow Group W benchwarmers have an insight into this most absurd question.

Kevin, I always assumed the woman in the poster was modelled after Leslie-Ann van der Klam. Find the thread below on "2nd Annual Leslie-Ann van der Klam Look-Alike Contest."


mikey

Hi all!!....This kinda fits this thread, (my insturment I can't play?).....I bought a very old Accordian at a yard sale last summer, $20!!. The name on it is "NAPOLI", made in Italy. I've looked on the internet & can't find out a thing about it. Any Blunderites have any info?....Sure would be grateful!.....

I'm gonna try to learn to play it this summer. I'll let you how that goes....What I'm really wanting to learn is the.. Dulcemer?...(Sp.).....Hoping for a stop on the "Reunion" tour near Indianapolis! Cleveland is closest so far. Would be an excellent!! road trip!...Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & all......See ya'll in the funny papers!.....Mike

Try calling the good folks at The Button Box in Sunderland, MA. They may be able to answer your questions. 413-665-7793

Thanks Sue!.....I will....Mike

sheesh!
What a typical thread in blunderland...
I ask about finger cymbals used by a dead drummer, and we end up discussing Italian Accordians and even manage to get Leslie-Ann van der Klam into the mix...
I"m moving this puppy over to a forum better suited for such non-linear thought processes...

carry on!

I need to learn how to play Uncle Toms accordian. My Aunt Mary gave it to me in the 70's. Uncle Tom died in 69. He immigrated from Czechloslovakia & brought it with him then. It has the push buttons on it instead of the piano like keys on it. I like messing with it sometimes...

Cheryl,
I have an old Polish accordian that my mother and aunt were forced to learn in between parochial school fun. As expected they hated it and quit. I mess with it a bit but can't get the coordination right. I think the Italian button styles are called "concertinas". I've messed with a few. They seem more harmonically simple than the full chromatic keys. ie: they play in a few major/minor keys, scales. I would put on your favorite Arlo recording. Live in Sydney would work well because it has a lot of songs in different keys. Just start playing along and try to find the "key" of the song ie: when the pitch from the accordian matches the pitch that the song starts, and/or ends with you probably have found the "key" signature of the song. Good luck !

PS: my Uncle Tom was Irish, but Aunt Mary's dad (my Grandfather) was from Plzen, Bohemia.

Neat family history there. My Aunt & Uncle & Grandparents on my dads side of the family were all from Czechloslovakia. Not sure which part but it was I think either Bohemia or Slovakia. My dad & other Uncles were born here. The accordian is pretty old so I imagine it has an interesting history...

Though our neck south Jersey has become such an overdeveloped trendy locale, some remnants remain. About a mile or two down the road still stands The ACME School of Accordian. When my son's class was doing a Weird Al song I wanted to go see if I could rent one, and mostly to meet whoever must run it. So Cheryl, maybe they have a franchise location near you

Check out my friend/colleague Scott Snow's Music Therapy site. He was in an accordian ensemble and I think he had some links; www.drummingtogether.com

Diane, I think you'll find the ACME School of Accordion to be owned and operated by one Wyle E. Coyote. If he can't get that Roadrunner any other way, he'll bore him to death with polka music!


mikey

I think he played the accordian to distract the roadrunner into stopping, hoping to trap him, but the disonant sound vibrations caused the rock above to crumble and fall on his head. Beep Beep !

I always was thankful my folks never made me take accordion lessons...that instrument was real popular in the 50's-early 60's, and the ones the kids were playing were HUGE. They darn near needed a wagon to drag it around in.
Now, I've got a wonderful little Morse Anglo c/g concertina. Small, easy to cart around. Not easy to play, but I've got the advantage of already having a couple hundred Irish fiddle tunes already in my head because I know them on fiddle. It's kinda like a harmonica...different notes for in and out on each button. It's a lot of fun to figure out the tunes. The cats hate it, though...they go bonkers, and try to get between me and the concertina, so I'll pet them and stop making such a terrible (in their opinion) noise.

My fiddle teacher also plays Irish button accordion (sometimes referred to as a "button box"), and most of the time, when we play tunes together, I'm on fiddle and he's playing the box. Makes for a nice mix, and it gets you used to playing along with another instrument.