Othar Turner
Encyclopedia
Othar "Otha" Turner was one of the last well-known fife
players in the vanishing American
fife and drum blues
tradition. He was born in Madison County, Mississippi
, and lived his entire life in northern Mississippi
as a farmer, where in 1923, aged 16, he learned to play fifes fashioned out of rivercanes.
Turner's Rising Star Fife and Drum Band (which consisted of friends and relatives) primarily played at farm parties. They began to receive wider recognition in the 1990s. They appeared on Mississippi Blues in Memphis Vol. 1 in 1993, followed by inclusion in many other blues
collections. They released their own critically acclaimed album Everybody Hollerin' Goat in 1998. This was followed by From Senegal to Senatobia in 1999, which combined bluesy fife and drum music with musicians credited as "the Afrossippi Allstars".
The title, Everybody Hollerin' Goat, refers to a tradition Turner began in the late 1950s of hosting Labor Day
picnics where he would personally butcher and cook a goat
in an iron kettle, and his band would provide musical entertainment. The picnics began as a neighborhood and family gathering; it grew over the years to attract musical fans, first from Memphis, Tennessee
, and later from all over the world.
The song, "Shimmy She Wobble", from Everybody Hollerin' Goat was featured in the 2002 film, Gangs of New York
. Martin Scorsese
, the film's director, featured Turner in his 2003 PBS
mini-series The Blues
as a link between African rhythms and American blues. The concept was continued on the 2003 album Mississippi to Mali by Corey Harris
. The album was dedicated to Turner, who died a week before he was scheduled to record for the album. His granddaughter and protégé Shardé Thomas
, then 12 years old, filled in for the recording sessions.
Othar Turner died in Gravel Springs, Mississippi, aged 95, on February 26, 2003. His daughter, Bernice Turner Pratcher, who had been living in a nursing home for some time suffering from breast cancer
, died the same day, aged 48. A joint funeral service was held on March 4, 2003, in Como, Mississippi
. A procession leading to the cemetery was led by the Rising Star and Fife Band, with Shardé Thomas, then 13 years old, at its head playing the fife.
Fife (musical instrument)
A fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse flute that is similar to the piccolo, but louder and shriller due to its narrower bore. The fife originated in medieval Europe and is often used in military and marching bands. Someone who plays the fife is called a fifer...
players in the vanishing American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fife and drum blues
Fife and drum blues
Fife and drum blues is a rural derivation of traditional country blues. It is performed typically with one lead fife player, often also the band leader and vocalist, and a troop of drummers. Unlike a drum corps, the drum troop is loosely structured. As such, a fife and drum band may have any...
tradition. He was born in Madison County, Mississippi
Madison County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 74,674 people, 27,219 households, and 19,325 families residing in the county. The population density was 104 people per square mile . There were 28,781 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile...
, and lived his entire life in northern Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
as a farmer, where in 1923, aged 16, he learned to play fifes fashioned out of rivercanes.
Turner's Rising Star Fife and Drum Band (which consisted of friends and relatives) primarily played at farm parties. They began to receive wider recognition in the 1990s. They appeared on Mississippi Blues in Memphis Vol. 1 in 1993, followed by inclusion in many other blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
collections. They released their own critically acclaimed album Everybody Hollerin' Goat in 1998. This was followed by From Senegal to Senatobia in 1999, which combined bluesy fife and drum music with musicians credited as "the Afrossippi Allstars".
The title, Everybody Hollerin' Goat, refers to a tradition Turner began in the late 1950s of hosting Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
picnics where he would personally butcher and cook a goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
in an iron kettle, and his band would provide musical entertainment. The picnics began as a neighborhood and family gathering; it grew over the years to attract musical fans, first from Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, and later from all over the world.
The song, "Shimmy She Wobble", from Everybody Hollerin' Goat was featured in the 2002 film, Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
. Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, the film's director, featured Turner in his 2003 PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
mini-series The Blues
The Blues (film)
The Blues is a 2003 documentary film series produced by Martin Scorsese, dedicated to the history of blues music. In each of the seven episodes, a different director explores a stage in the development of the blues...
as a link between African rhythms and American blues. The concept was continued on the 2003 album Mississippi to Mali by Corey Harris
Corey Harris
Corey Harris is an American blues and reggae musician, currently residing in Virginia. Along with Keb' Mo' and Alvin Youngblood Hart, he raised the flag of acoustic guitar blues in the mid 1990s...
. The album was dedicated to Turner, who died a week before he was scheduled to record for the album. His granddaughter and protégé Shardé Thomas
Shardé Thomas
Shardé Thomas is an American fife player in the vanishing American fife and drum blues tradition. She is the granddaughter of Othar Turner, who founded the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, and cousin to fellow band mate Andre Turner Evans...
, then 12 years old, filled in for the recording sessions.
Othar Turner died in Gravel Springs, Mississippi, aged 95, on February 26, 2003. His daughter, Bernice Turner Pratcher, who had been living in a nursing home for some time suffering from breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
, died the same day, aged 48. A joint funeral service was held on March 4, 2003, in Como, Mississippi
Como, Mississippi
Como is a town in Panola County, Mississippi, United States which borders the Mississippi Delta. The population was 1,310 as of the 2000 census. Wayne Drash, a CNN.com senior producer, described Como as "a hard-hit rural community" in a 2007 article.-History:...
. A procession leading to the cemetery was led by the Rising Star and Fife Band, with Shardé Thomas, then 13 years old, at its head playing the fife.
Films
- Gravel Springs Fife and Drum (1971). Filmed by Bill Ferris, recorded by David Evans, and edited by Judy Peiser. (Watch film: Gravel Springs Fife and Drum
Further reading
- Othar Turner, Cane Fife Maker in:
- Music of Othar Turner is Worth "Hollerin'" About in:
- Othar Turner in:
- Othar Turner & The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band in: