Early Flatpicking Origins: A Theory

The Delmore Brothers may have planted the seeds of traditional flatpicking.

The Delmore's were very influencial in many ways, and innovative too. Mostly, they were known for their really good harmonies, and song writing talent. Alton is said to have written and published over 1000 songs. But they were equally exceptional instrumentalists who realized there was more $$ in songs than tunes, and were driven to make a living as musicians. You can still hear a lot of licks and breaks on their recordings, which have been emulated since they were recorded in the 1930's. In contrast, another early brother act, the McGee's balanced their act with both song and instrumentals, although much stronger with the latter.  Sam McGee is known as a master of country rags with his fingerstyle.  He also was recorded emulating a straight flatpicking style in the 60's.   The Delmores really concentrated on the clean, melody charged style using flatpicks in the 20's and 30's.  Alton Delmore won a guitar contest with an instrumental in the 1920's (who thought they'd actually have guitars compete in instrumentals?!?), and Riley Puckett said Alton played Puckett's Fuzzy Rag better than he himself. Note that Puckett played a two finger style on rags like Fuzzy Rag, but Alton was one of the first "country" guitarists, black or white to fully develop the up-down flatpick technique such as needed to follow a fiddle tune, which might have contributed to Puckett's high compliment. The Delmore's were instrumental in starting several careers, such as Roy Acuff, Arthur Smith, Merle Travis, and others. After changing their act drastically, adding an electric guitar, they also were on the front end of rock-a-billy, preceding Johnny Cash, and bringing "boogie woogie" to country music, which eventually lead to rock and roll.  The compelling guitar track on Blues Stay Away has been identified as influencing most popular music guitar work following.  At one time, they were the most popular act on the most popular radio show in the country, and this was before TV! Except for theatre and movies, they were as popular as anyone in entertainment. Yet, they struggled with the industry's brutal business environment, and how to get fairly compensated, for all the income they generated for radio and record. They were truly unfortunate victims of both the record and radio industry dispite their unparalleled popularity.  It was from destitute poverty that they learned to be resilient, creative, almost desparate to succeed.  It may be these qualities that drove them to focus on highly developed and unique guitar work with flatpicks, to accompany their unique song arrangements.

The Delmores were heros to their generation of North Alabamians, and to this day, there are loads of guitarists in the area and even the region, mostly flatpickers, who may not even realize, they owe a lot to the Delmore Brothers. The same area has always had a huge presence of fiddlers, supplying fiddle tunes for material. Alton himself was a fiddler, and was said to have influenced Arthur Smith dispite most likely being his inferior on the devil's box.  But this area is also the crossroads of the 1830's Memphis & Charleston and L&N railroad lines, both major East-West, and North-South routes.  W.C. Handy was born and lived in the next county from the Delmore's childhood home in Limestone County, Alabama, preceding the Delmore's by a decade or so.  That said, there evidentally was a strong tradition of guitarists in the area who were Alton's contemporaries, perhaps doing the same thing as he. Alton was said to have learned to play a tenor banjo for a time, which may have influenced him to teach tenor guitar to his brother. Other's in the area tesify to the presence of tenor banjo instruments. Banjos really lost popularity in the 20's, so perhaps they were economical for poorer regions such as Alton's. Eventually realizing the guitar's potential and modern appeal, these early pickers may have traded their old-fashioned banjos. Shortly before country music historian Dr. Charles Wolfe died, I heard him speak twice and share some early recordings of radio shows he uncovered, that he considered important finds. Among the collection was a decent amount of tenor banjo, played as a lead instrument, in a fiddle tune format, but was treated casually as if they were common amongst intenerant musicians. He stated that the tenor banjo may have been written off prematurely, and that he felt there was an unwritten history of its relavance to country music.

Whether the flatpick style evolved from mandolins, tenor and plectrum banjos, or directly from fiddles, its a unique combination that has become distinctive, and independent as a tradional music form.  With a flatpick, one can emulate the accents, phrases, and intervals of a fiddle, in contrast to some limitations with finger styles to do the same. The polyphony of chords and six strings afford built-in self accompanyment.  The mere presence of today's typical flatpicking tunes - Arthur Smith's Blackberry Blossom, Leather Britches, I'll Be All Smiles Tonite - date to the 30's amongst flatpickers and fiddlers.  Likewise, other show tunes and popular tunes - St Louis Blues, Summertime, Play a Simple Melody, Alabama Jubilee, -  also date to the time the Delmore's would be developing their play lists, and would have been standard fare for amateur tenor banjo and mandolin players.  Certainly the neighboring location of W.C. Handy, and his influences were still active during Alton's tuteledge, so its no accident his tunes were played by the Delmore's, and flatpickers today. Did the region's pre-blues musicians influence the Delmores as well as Handy?  As usual, there are more questions than answers, as we attempt to reconstruct our nation's home made music.

Perhaps today's flatpicking is not so different than 80 years ago, with, of course the addition of an actual title, flatpicking.  Fiddle tunes, show tunes, dotted rhythms, and blue notes suggest as much.   But its not stagnant.  Improvisation has become the vehicle for many soloists today, in both solo, and band settings.  Crosspicking is an important element.  Chromatic runs and the "Rice-olean" mode add new colors.  Virtuosity is almost required, atesting to the universal recognition of flatpicking as equal with fiddles, banjos, and other lead instruments.  Combined with a near fanatic pursuit of a superior instrument with which to showcase this music, flatpicking has all the attributes of every other major historical music art form in the making. 

Rosewood Casket, crosspicking, video of fingering hand