Re: Doc South blog

Early '80s Memories (as best I can remember for now)

Kenny Karabelnikoff was my first connection to Doc. I loved sitting in with Doc, Kenny, Jim Wright, Ken Roy, Louise, Danny and many others at George's Market and at the Sourdough bar. I tried to go every chance I got. I remember missing one week and I asked Kenny if I
missed anything. He told me about a woman who started dancing to "Ring
of Fire" at the Sourdough Club and then she took out a can of lighter
fluid and made a ring of fire on the wooden floor. I guess that got
her kicked out pretty quick.

Then one day I saw Kenny at the Warehouse (a restaurant and folk music venue) and he invited me to bring my mandolin to the Mountain View Recreation center in Anchorage. Doc was there playing fiddle tunes
and calling dances with Kenny, Shonti, Sally Kabisch and others.
Every week I would try to learn at least one new tune. It was really
hard to play that fast. The Monday night test was to keep up with the
gang.

The Monday night sessions were a great place to meet other musicians,
form bands and go on to make 10s of dollars.

It was also where young cubs went on to grow into Dancing Bears -- an
organization that owes much to Doc for giving them a place to meet
each other and discover and learn traditional music and dance.

Jim Kerr

Doc South memory

I never did master that banjo o' mine, but I did come across Doc South and his Family Band back in the late 70's when I arrived on the scene in Anchorage, as a wide eyed young'un.

Drawn to the magic music being played at the Soup Cauldron (is that what that hippy kitchen was called-----used to be on G street down from Darwin's Theory---where Rhythm Ramblers and those 2 beautiful sisters used to play and sing?).

I bought his album (with the beautiful pink alpenglow on the Alaska Range), wore it out playing air banjo and singing solo to it, with noone around, always dreaming that one day I too, might play like Doc and all those amazing musicians that sprouted from him.

Am still trying, 30 years later....you're a constant inspiration, Doc!

Shoo Salasky

About Doc South....

I was in my twenties when I first encountered Doc South; not sure when
exactly, but it was at George's Market on the Old Seward Highway. Never
heard of playing at a market, but it was definitely the place to be! I also
remember Louise being there. That's where the tunes were, and I recall the
warmth and welcome. Long time ago, but the memories linger; I think you
were a legend before your time, Doc! ~ before, during and ongoing ~
Here's to ya!
Mary Wagner La Fever

Monday nights in Mountain View

When I found out about the live music and dancing scene back when I came to Anchorage in 1983, the Monday Nights in Mountain View was the place to go if you wanted to work on either your dancing, or playing, or sometimes both. Like many others, that was where we cemented friendships, learned new tunes, or just tried to catch the eye of that pretty dancer who always seemed to be in the other line...

There was never any doubt that everyone at any level of skill was not only welcomed, but encouraged. After all, we learned early on that everyone makes mistakes, but real dancers/musicians are the ones who recover smoothly from them. From Mary Topalski(sp?) and her merry mixers, to Doc South and the Mountain View All Stars, they provided a huge anchor to the traditional music and dance scene in Anchorage, and indeed throughout Alaska. When I have traveled outside, there are always people who are surprised that Alaskan's not only are aware of old timey and other traditions, but are also completely familiar with the tunes, dances and folk traditions that were kept alive by Doc South, and certainly are being kept alive by those posting here!

Thanks for everything!
Bob French

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Another Doc story comes to mind.

I can remember Doc and his family playing at the Howling Dog in Ester
and later in Fox. One of the songs that I remember most is one called
"Ole Slewfoot," a song about a bear. For those that don't know the song,
the chorus goes,

"He's big around the middle and he's broad across the rump
Runnin' ninety miles an hour takin' thirty feet a jump
Ain't never been caught, he ain't never been tree'd
Some folks say he looks a lot like me."

Doc would often engage the crowd by singing the last line, "Some folks
look a lot like" and there he would insert someone's name. It usually
got a reaction from the people in the crowd. Doc always made other
musicians and the dancers feel like they were part of the music.

I learned that old time music is a very social music. It works better
with friends and dancers. That is something we all learned from Doc. He
shared his music with us and we are sharing our music with up and coming
musicians. I look forward to sharing more tunes with Doc at this year's
Alaska Folk Festival. Thanks Doc.

wolf

where it all began

I think it was the winter of '74 that I shared a cabin with a
friend who was learning banjo from a guy, Bruce Erickson, who would come
out from the army base to give a lesson in exchange for a meal. I think
he also cherished momentary freedom from the military (it was his last
year), and a bit of Real Life with two sorta-hippie gals. He told us
there was live music and square dances every weekend at The Howlin' Dog
Saloon in Ester, where we could hear and move to the tunes she was
learning, the way they were meant for. We started going pretty
regularly, kickin' through the sawdust and laughing a lot. Through the
smoke and distance of the long room, I remember Doc towering in the
middle, handling his fiddle like he was playing with a kitten or a
ferret -- no effort -- such economy of motion to make the music for us
dancers; his son playing washtub base; his wife, Louise, steadfast in
her bluegrass-style pickin' and Robin Ford clawhammering beside her, as
neat as you please... what I cant pull out of memory is who played
guitar for them that winter. Was it Tom Hart? Danny Consestine?
Anyway, it worked just great. Before long, I was hearing the tunes in
my head all week long, between dances, so when my roommate got herself a
nice banjo at christmas, I took up the clunker and started connecting
the black dots to the notes in my head, via my fingers. I watched the
band as much as I was dancing, they were so picturesque -- the visual
backup for the culture I was being led into.
After familiarizing with other cultures of music and dance, with
many other people over 30-plus years, its Doc's quality of ease, warmth
and give-away that I see as the most important step stone to
understanding any music of the folk. I remember him saying,"you know
the difference between a fiddle and a violin?" Pause... "one you carry
in a case and the other in a flour sack." Big ol' grin behind those
thick glasses. I would think to myself, "wow, and this guy's a shrink?"

Romany Wood

my first Quest...

my first Quest...

...i remember, very clearly, the first time i met Doc South. it was in the old
Howlin' Dog Saloon in Ester, in the fall of '72. danny and kent had already gone to
his office in fairbanks and invited him out to play with our string band. what
would a 40-year-old psychologist think of this scene, i wondered. for him, it must
have been like walking into a chaotic dress rehearsal for the musical "hair"...

...imagine this dimly lit, fallen down building full of hippies and crazies. the
place was cabin-like, funky and cozy. if i remember the smell of wood smoke, wool,
a bit of grass, i can't say, but the place was packed. then there was the band he
was about to play with, looking no different than anyone else, maybe a little worse
and a bit high to top it off. there was no rehearsal, no set list. most of the band
he was meeting for the first time. and there stood Dr. Harold South and his wife
Louise in the middle of all this, looking totally at ease. amazing...

...what happened next isn't as clear. we all introduced ourselves, i imagine, tuned
to someone, mounted the six-inch-high stage (that put you dangerously close to the
already low ceiling), sound checked our one-mike sound system, and proceeded to
tear into a crash course in old time fiddling and dance that continues to this
day...

...Doc was then, as is today, a wonderful ambassador and curator of a traditional
form of music that goes back hundreds of years in this country of ours. his open
heart and fiddle has pulled scores of young, and not so young, people into a world
of beautiful melodies and country dance. this is community building done right. a
meeting of a magician and people hungry for magic. Doc wasn't the first, but he was
the first to come along. his music and guidance spawned scores of fiddlers and
banjo-ists, singers and dancers. besides our sincere thanks, our debt to him can
never be repaid, nor his debt to his mentor, Jimmy Campbell, of Bloomington. it is
because it's not a debt, but an investment in a musical road trip, a quest, that
goes a thousand years in the past. a thousand years in the future. thanks, Doc, for
stopping and picking us up, making room, and giving us a ride. with you...

thomas hart
ester, ak

The Friday Night Jam Sessions!

I was just a kid with dreams of playing the banjo when I landed in Fairbanks in 1973. All that first summer I heard tales of a local stringband called The Sidewinders who were on a tour of Southeast Alaska. When they returned home, I was told that I would be able to hear them at a regular Friday Night Jam Session in the home of Doc and Louise (bless her soul!) South. I hitchhiked across town that Friday to the South's home off of Chena Hot Springs Rd., and met Doc, Louise, their kids and a few other pickers, but no Sidewinders. I was just learning the banjo, had never played with others, and had just come to listen. Well...evidently, "just listening" wasn't part of the program, and Doc took a spare banjo off the wall, handed it to me, said "G,C and D" and off we went through an evening of tunes. For me it was like hanging on to the back of a speeding fire truck. What fun! 

Doc and Louise always made me feel like one of the family, and I even enjoyed a stint with the Doc South Family Band...my very first band...before joining The Sidewinders! So, thank you Doc and Louise for hurling me into the big, fun world of music. It has made all the difference.

(I'll add "June Apple" to Danny's list of tunes learned from Doc. And for me, "Old Molly Hare" will always be Doc's song).

robin dale ford

Thanks Doc!

On the pegboard above my workbench I have a small photo taken at an outdoor festival somewhere in Alaska during the early 1980s. Doc South is calling a dance with his hands stuffed in his pockets, Jack Fontanella is laying into his guitar, Wolfie is sawing away on the fiddle and I am chunking away on the banjo. I think Jim Hack is in the back on bass, and Kenny Karabelnikoff is wailing away on his harp. It's summer, so Scotty must have been out counting fish, and there is no telling where Alex Scala was that day.

The picture has a thick layer of sawdust on it and has suffered other damage over the years. But I love looking at the picture and remembering how good the music must have sounded. In particular there are three things that I really like about the picture:

1. I can tell from the way that Jack and I are standing that we are playing fast and hard. The train has left the station and is highballing down the line. This ain't no pointy toed waltz we're playing.

2. Jack, Wolf and I are all looking at Doc, waiting for his cue to switch to the next part. The band is in synch with the caller, just the way we should be.

3. And Doc isn't watching the band, he is looking at the dancers. How many times have you been to a dance and the caller is looking at their shoes or the ceiling, or talking to the band? It sounds elementary, but the caller needs to watch the dancers closely, to observe what is working and what isn't, and to give the band a sign when the dancers are ready to start the square again. And that's Doc- a solid caller who is humble enough to take his cues from the dancers and not force his calls on them. It was always fun to play for one of Doc's dances.

When I moved to Alaska in the late '70s, I was really surprised to find musicians who not only knew the good fiddle tunes, but knew them in the right keys and liked to play fast. That list of D tunes Danny C. has on this blog could have been a set list from a North Carolina band I played with before heading North. In those days West Coast string bands played completely different tunes and styles than the Southern bands I had played with- but these guys had the right ideas and played the right tunes. And playing in Alaska was fun.

I kept hearing from everyone about this guy in Fairbanks who taught them how to play- Doc South. And as someone who enjoyed playing all those D tunes around Alaska with his students- thanks Doc!

Steve Roberts
sjr at ix dot netcom dot com

Jams with Doc

A couple years ago there was a weekly jam session at the University.  There were only four or five of us that got together.  We'd sit around the fireplace at the Commons and play a couple tunes, then Doc would tell a story, then more tunes, more stories, and so on.  We all agreed there was no better way to spend a Friday night.  

One night we showed up, and there was an "open mic night" in the Commons.  We played a small set and had a blast.  The crowd seemed to love it.  Someone played a war protest song.  Doc noted that the war protest songs never change - same chords, same rhythm, same college crowd - only the wars change.

May the music never end!

I still have set lists from the early/mid 80's South Family Band rehearsals buried in my office.  No doubt Stephanie does as well.  "Over the Waterfall", and "Sugar Foot Rag" come to mind...Kenny K and John Walsh would also be a great source of info here from when Doc started getting into Celtic music mode during Legal Pizza days...Great to see so many shining faces this weekend in Talkeetna from the eons of acoustic and traditional music we have played in Alaska.  What a tight knit and fabulous community we have and are!

 

Deb Wessler
Homespun Productions
www.homespunproductions.biz
www.myspace.com/debwessler
                                     

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