Matt Combs starts this one off playing John Hartfords favorite fiddle and I join in playing one of Johns banjos
(one of those with a wooden tone ring in it) (courtesy Jaimi Hartford and Matt Combs).....then the band
( Jamie Hartford playing his fathers famous 'Noble' guitar, Bob Moore on bass, Chris Sharp on guitar,
and Chuck Turner on percussion) comes in and Jamie sings;
"I haven't got ten dollars, just these dirty clothes
and a rag I borrowed to wipe my bloodshot nose
my left eye someone punched it out so now I barely see
to find the road that'll take me back to Madison, Tennessee
Madison is a good ole place if country music is your taste
been living here since '63 in Madison, Tennessee
then Jamie plays his new Gilchrist mandolin, and sings...
"I haven't got a lot to say I've got some kind of load
I can hear those horns a honkin' out on Gallatin Road
put my finger on a map to see what I can see
to find the road that'll lead me back to Madison, Tennessee
Madison is a good ole place if country music is your taste
been living here since '63 in Madison, Tennessee"
then I play a little on Johns banjo, and sing the verse he wrote about the
little white house I used to live in out behind the firehall in Madison...
"Out behind the firehall under a full moon
fiddlers and banjo pickers gathered in this room
pickin' on the songs made popular back in 1953
raisin' the roof on my little white house in Madison, Tennessee"
then Jamie comes in and ;
"Madison's a good ole place if banjo pickin' is your taste
been livin' here since '63 in Madison, Tennessee"
then Matt comes in with the fiddle and we end it sortof like we started it....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The first time I heard "Madison, Tennessee" John Hartford was singing it on the bus, and when he got to the last verse (the one about the little white house I lived in) he looked right over at me with that John Hartford grin-
I was obviously floored and delighted...We had shared so many very special times in that little white house with so many of our friends, and it was just overwhelming to think that John had seen fit
to memorialize those times and that place in such a way...
When I first moved to Nashville I lived in
an apartment complex close to
Andrea Roberts, Barb Finney, Gail Rudicell, Gina Britt,
Alison Krauss, and Allison Brown....
It was so much fun being surrounded by so many
beautiful and gifted young ladies.
Ronnie and Rob McCoury would come spend a few days with me from time to time (this was before they moved to Nashville),
Tony and Gary Williamson would visit there as well when they were in town....
A few times Earl Scruggs came by for a visit.
I think he might have sensed that although I
was having some really good times there,
I just wasn't really 'cut out' for apartment living -
so one day when we were out for a drive
he stopped by the little white house in Madison.
After we looked around a bit, he asked how I liked it...
I liked it fine- it was so much more like what I was accustomed to living in.
Within a week- I had moved in. What a real God send indeed...
Not long after I settled in a little , we started having little informal visits and pickin' sessions there....
When we first began having our 'get togethers' on Thursday night it was mainly
John , Earl , Sonny Osborne, Benny Martin, Terry Eldredge and Mike Bub, and Laura Weber Cash .
It wasn't long before folks like Ernie Sykes,
Jimmy and Marcia Campbell, Gene Wooten, Uncle Josh Graves,
Bashful Brother Oswald, Mac Wiseman,
Mike and Lester and Linda Armistead, Del and Jean McCoury and
Ronnie and Alison (Auntie) McCoury and
Rob and LIsa McCoury and Benny Martin, and Bobby Hicks,
and Vassar Clemmens, Buddy Spicher,
Jimmy Martin, Larry Cordle, Roy Huskey,
Grandpa and Ramona Jones and Ron and Alisa Jones-Wall
(even Mark Jones came when he was in town), Chris Sharp and George Buckner, Doug Dillard, Butch Robins,
Mike Compton, Marye Yeomans, Kurt Storey, Brent and Cathy Truitt, Scott Vestal, Clay Jones, and many more....
I also first became acquainted with Dave and Myrna Talbot
during some of those sessions and am blest to have formed
many a great enduring friendship from the parties we used to have at
405 Douglas Street in Madison, Tennessee....
John and "The Hartford String Band"
rehearsed "Madison, Tennessee" a few times
because it was to be included in a new album we were slated to begin recording.
Sadly, John passed away before we had a chance to do the recording...
I can't begin to describe the gratitude I have for Jamie Hartford,
not only because he gave his consent for me to record "Madison, Tennessee"
but just like his dad had done so many times before,
he took it a step further and sang and played on the song as well....
What I wouldn't give if John could have had a chance to record
"Madison, Tennessee"- but since it didn't work out that way-
having Jaime sing it and play his Fathers 'Noble' guitar is to me the very next best thing.....
I personally couldn't recommend highly enough Jamie's new cd
"Part of Your History-The Songs of John Hartford" on the 'New Sheriff' label.
It's one of the very best records I've heard anybody do; I liked it so much I bought a whole box of 'em to spread it around as much as possible
The last few months that John was with us, he was able to tour and sing,
but unable to play his fiddle...
Of course we couldn't very well have a John Hartford and "The Hartford String Band" without a fiddle.
John was certainly in a position to have hired any fiddle player he wanted to fiddle in his stead; he chose Matt Combs.
Matt spent a lot of time with John during his last days
writing, transcribing, recording and learning Johns music,
and I dare say there's not a fiddle player in the world
that knows more about Johns fiddlin' than Matt Combs..
On "Madison, Tennessee" Matt comes as close to channeling John with his fiddle as is imaginable to me.
Chris Sharp, like Matt Combs-worked with John right up to his very last gig in
Dripping Springs , Texas.
John thought so much of Chris and his guitar work with the band....
I've personally never worked with a musician
more dedicated to playing 'in time' and making consistently good music
than Chris Sharp is.
His guitar work is present on most of the songs on this project
and is a big part of making it
however successful it might be. I'm especially delighted this esteemed alumni of the "Hartford String Band" is
with us on our version of "Madison, Tennessee" .
Same goes for Mr. Bob Moore; he and John were good friends and colleagues for years, and when great bass players was the subject on the "Hartford" bus-
Bobs name was always one of the very first mentioned by John...
Lastly, I'm profoundly grateful and humbled to have been afforded the opportunity by Jamie and Matt to use one of Johns 'wooden tone ringed' banjos on this and some of our other tracks as well...
it's the same one I used to record the Rounder album "Good Ole Boys" with John several years ago...
Thanks to John, Jamie, Matt, Chris, Mike Compton, Mark Schatz, Bob Carlin,
and all the members of the "Aireoplane Plane Band" and the "Hartford String Band"
I wouldn't trade anything for those days with you...."
