|
 This
story
was written by the late jug and tub bass wizard Fritz Richmond
about a band field trip to the Battle. Best
remembered for
his work with the legendary Jim Kweskin Jug Band, Fritz did a lot to
make wastub and jug be considered legit instruments.
It
appeared in
the Jug Band Rag, a newsletter
put out by east coast jug band afficionado Bill Thomas. A server crash
several years back wiped out the newsletter- and its archives.
This story survives only because it was
printed out to share with people who were not on line back in 1995.
[the Following ©copyright, 1997, Bill Thomas, Jug Band Rag
and was used with permission ]
Somehow
Fritz Richmond tracked me down in Cincinnati on New Year's Eve to
report his discovery of the Minneapolis Battle of the Jug Bands. Fritz
learned that the 13th annual event would take place three weeks hence,
and he would be taking his Barbecue Orchestra. Could the Philly Jug Band
also make the trek?
Unfortunately the late notification made it
impossible, although we were there in spirit. Promoter Mary Jane Mueller
told me that the Battle started out as a small family event. It is now a
"mid-winter state-wide jam session." It's held in January, on the
weekend between the football playoffs and the Super Bowl.
It sounded like a wonderful event. The JBR
received two written reports, a photo and a phone call to tell us all
about it. Here are two eyewitness reports:
Jug Band Rag March,
1995
Twin Cities Jug-Off
by Fritz Richmond JBR Cub Reporter
A little blue postcard arrived in my mailbox the
other day announcing the 13th annual Battle of the Jug Bands. Wow!
That's how to get MY attention. I immediately called the RSVP number on
the card and found myself connected to Mary Jane Mueller and Dave Ray's
house in Minneapolis. [Remember Koerner, Ray and Glover?]
"A Little Blue Postcard..."
 "Yes, Fritz," MJ informed me,
"it really has been going on for 13 years. I don't know how your spy
system can have failed to sniff us out. You are definitely invited to
participate in any way you choose. The only prize is an ancient
electric waffle iron which the winner gets to keep for a year, and then
must return it in person for next year's Battle."
Well, dear hearts, my brain was nearly a-boil
with various poss- and impossibilities. I quickly called my nearest
major airline and was given the figure of $474 for a weekend jaunt to
the Twin Cities. Some possibilities were definitely not going to
possible. I knew I couldn't get The ]-Band to play on such short notice,
but I called John Sebastian anyway. John told me he could do it if I
declared a guitar-player emergency.
The very next day, another interesting piece of
mail showed up, this one from Delta Airlines. It said, "The more people
fly with you, the cheaper it gets. If six peopie fly, it's $139 each."
Now that's language even a poor jug band can easily understand.
I called the guys in the Barbecue Orchestra, my local
Portland jug band, and it began to look possible again. With a few more
calls we had the four guys, Turtle
VanDemarr, Doc Stein, Fiddlin' Stew Dodge and me.
A couple of
significant others completed our people six-pack to Minneapolis. This
would be much fun, and our first overnight gig. We could ask and answer
lots of questions about bands, instruments, songs, etc. The prize is a
waffle iron, and Cynda just loves waffles. We had to go for it.
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