The World According to Abner Jay

[jasobr]

In my long career as a music journalist and editor for Guitar Player magazine, I interviewed hundreds of musicians. One of the most unforgettable and outspoken was Abner Jay. I met this 72-year-old one-man band in March 1982, when he was performing in the San Jose flea market in a shack he had erected atop a flat-bed trailer. He was playing the largest acoustic guitar I've ever seen anyone play, made by Ernie Ball. He also had an old banjar (6-string banjo) made by the Dopyera brothers. His repertoire sounded like it came straight off of an antebellum cotton plantation or, at the latest, a turn-of-the-century minstrel show.

Two days later, we met in his motor home parked behind a nearby gas station. While I set up my tape recorder, Abner stuffed a whole raw chicken into a two-quart pan, without any water or grease, pushed on the lid, and turned the stovetop burner on low. Then he sat across the table from me and began a no-holds-barred conversation that lasted seven hours. He projected an indomitable spirit and displayed wide-ranging knowledge of the evolution of Black music going back to before the Civil War.

Here’s a transcription of the first part of that epic conversation, along with photos of Abner's unusual guitar and banjar.

https://jasobrecht.substack.com/p/th...g-to-abner-jay

[SCVJ]

Whoa! I just read the first dozen or so paragraphs - what an interesting man he was. I can't wait to get time to read the whole thing!

I loved "there ought to be a law that everyone has to listen to NPR"

[Jaxon]

interesting read...

[RussellHawaii]

Originally Posted by jasobr

In my long career as a music journalist and editor for Guitar Player magazine, I interviewed hundreds of musicians. One of the most unforgettable and outspoken was Abner Jay. I met this 72-year-old one-man band in March 1982, when he was performing in the San Jose flea market in a shack he had erected atop a flat-bed trailer. He was playing the largest acoustic guitar I've ever seen anyone play, made by Ernie Ball. He also had an old banjar (6-string banjo) made by the Dopyera brothers. His repertoire sounded like it came straight off of an antebellum cotton plantation or, at the latest, a turn-of-the-century minstrel show.



Two days later, we met in his motor home parked behind a nearby gas station. While I set up my tape recorder, Abner stuffed a whole raw chicken into a two-quart pan, without any water or grease, pushed on the lid, and turned the stovetop burner on low. Then he sat across the table from me and began a no-holds-barred conversation that lasted seven hours. He projected an indomitable spirit and displayed wide-ranging knowledge of the evolution of Black music going back to before the Civil War.



Here’s a transcription of the first part of that epic conversation, along with photos of Abner's unusual guitar and banjar.



https://jasobrecht.substack.com/p/th...g-to-abner-jay

How was the chicken?

[Wade Hampton]

It was an interesting interview. Thanks for posting the link.


whm

[MCDEMO1]

Good read. Thanks for posting OP.

[therbulus]

Outstanding! A lot of stuff I never heard about, definitely worth knowing. I appreciate his forthrightness--kind of an Andres Segovia of his genre.