Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

The very same Bob recorded by Alice in 71

Yes, Bob. Rolf did use the wobble board in TMKDS. He also did a shocker called 'Two Little Boys' - yech!!

I guess you haven't heard his version of 'Stairway To Heaven'?

Unfortunately, Paul, Yothu Yindi died almost as quickly as they rose. Mandaway Yunupingu (lead singer) had a small run in with the law and not much heard since.

A really great song that features the didgeridoo is 'Solid Rock' by Goanna.

Howard, check out YY's website. They are apparently touring again and making big noise up North!

The videos on their site are incredible (to a Yank). Maybe you guys have had too much of this type of stuff, but I continue to be impressed.

Aitch, I've done some reading up on Mandawuy and his older brother, also a band member. No mention of run-ins with the law (do you have any details? Perhaps you can enlighten me in your next off-list e-m?), but he was named Australian of the Year for '92, was the first indigenuous school principal in Oz, has repreented Oz in many international humanistic conferences right up till 2004 (last reference I can find). And maybe the band is no longer in the Top Ten, but they continue to tour in a major way worldwide.

Digeridus are peculiar to the tribes of the NT, apparently. They are hollow tree trunks (usually eucalyptus), about 5' long, which have a natural taper from 2" at mouthpiece end to about 5" at other end. How do they hollow them out? They don't--termites do the work. They tap the trees until they find a hollow one of the proper configuration, cut it, strip the bark, clean out the inside, and tune it (for resonance, not to a specific note) by thinning the walls gradually. Then it may be painted.

Fascinating stuff. Mandawuy and his people believe that if the clap-sticks and didgeridu ever stop playing, the world will cease to exist. "People of the Dream", indeed.

Ever hear of the "airplane people" Paul?

I have a horrible feeling I've got my wires crossed and posted incorrect information. It may have been a rumour at some stage or it's a case of mistaken identity. I unreservedly apologise to everybody concerned (Mandawuy in particular) for the error.

You should be drawn and quartered Howard.

Yup!

haha!

Aitch, we've all made worse goofs, and some of us have posted them on this board!

I'm sure Mandawuy has read your apology and knows that no harm was done!

Airplane people:

Could this be a reference to the so-called Melanesian "cargo cults" who worship WWII debris and packing crates left behind by soldiers when the war ended, believing that they are the sacramental materials of the great silver birds that once took off and landed on their remote islands? Thomas Merton wrote an excellent essay on this type of religious identification as a metaphor for materialism...but I digress from skiffle.

Anyone who has an interest in this CC topic, just needs to Google "Thomas Merton" and several references will come up.

The Cargo Cults came to my mind also, Paul. It's a fascinating subject.

But the funniest part is that they are waiting for their savior to come back (the pilots and silver birds) haha! I think maybe Merton accidently on purpose missed the point of it and consequently left that part out as it hits too close to home, I studied it in a cultural anthropolgy class.

Bob, frankly, I don't think that Merton missed a thing in his life. Unfortunately, since his untimely death he has become the focus of his own "cargo cult".

If there's one thing that our wisest and best leaders don't do, it's preach. He lived life his own way and in doing so set an example that got grudging respect from those who do.

As I read the comments here with regard to Skiffle, I am reminded that I have often learned more about history than I did in school. There is nothing like the pursuit of one's passion to develop the deepest possible understanding of all manner of topics.

Interestingly the origin of Skiffle is not really known, coined it would seem in the 1950s as music performed with unconventional instruments. If this is the complete definition then the music goes back before the 1950s. I would like to examine its roots more closely.

The search for the meaning of Skiffle.

From the Cambridge Dictionary

"Skiffle - a type of music popular in the 1950s that is a mixture of jazz and folk music, in which players often perform on instruments they have made themselves."

Some interesting Skiffle Thoughts.

As most words develop as spin-offs of existing language, I decided to research the word "skiff to see if it may explain its relationship to skiffle.

A skiff is a flat-bottomed boat the originaled from France but eventually became used and developed in Louisiana. In an interestin article by Dr. C. Ray Brassieur in 1989 the following history of the skiff was noted.

"European colonists introduced another small craft occasionally used to tend seafaring ships but better known to local merchants and fishermen--the esquif or skiff. The Creole skiff, for instance, is an ancient form historically descended from boatbuilding traditions in southern France. The skiff, once popular throughout south-central Louisiana, is very rare today. Featuring a joug (yoke) which elevated the oars high above the gunnels, this skiff became the only boat in North America rowed by a standi ng oarsman facing the bow. Raymond Sedotal and Alex Giroir of Pierre Part are masters builders of this style of skiff.

Tempered by tradition yet motivated by peculiarities of environment, changing need, and technological innovation, the skiff evolved into a myriad of variations. Some forms became recognized geographically: the Manchac skiff, Barataria skiff, Mississippi River skiff, Atchafalaya Basin skiff, and so forth. A good example of regional variety, the classic Pontchartrain Lake rowing skiff, was built at the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition by Tom Colvin of Mandeville.

Some forms were modified for specific use in the various fisheries: the oyster skiff, crab skiff, haul-seine skiff, crawfish skiff, etc. With the advent of gasoline and diesel motors, the skiff evolved dramatically as oars were discarded. In general, marine plywood and, more recently, sheet aluminum, have replaced the once common cypress planks as building materials."

It would seem that the skiff was adapted to suit the needs of the people in Louisiana and was crafted from a range of materials available and hence was susceptible to a wide range of variation.

I am wondering if this would properly explain a skiffle or something that was thrown together to "make do." I will be the first to confess that this may be a stretch, but the skiffle wave having come from the southern United States may have been derived from this tiny, inexpensive, rustic craft thown together to meet the fundamental needs of travellers of the waterways.

Putting together a skiffle from unconvential materials may be one possible origin of what would be known as the Skiffle Group.

Other possibliities from the usage of slang might include using skiff as a verb to mean fast or rapid movement - to go. The meaning of skiff used here might have originated from the boat, skiff, which is known for quick movement. We should skiff now as we don't want to be late.

Skiffle has also been used to describe an argument, a row, a fight. This noun might have been used to describe a rowdy group of musicians.