Name	Fiddle
Image capt	A standard modern violin shown from the front and the side
Background	string
Hornbostel sachs	321.322-71
Hornbostel sachs desc	Composite chordophone sounded by a bow
Developed	Early 16th century
Range
Articles

The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, usually the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music. Fiddle playing, or fiddling, refers to various styles of music.

The fiddle

Any bowed string musical instrument may be informally called a fiddle, regardless of the kind of music being played with it. Violins or other members of the violin family are often affectionately referred to by their players as "my fiddle".

History

The bowed string instrument first appeared in India circa 3000 BC, and is described in Hindu myth as Ravanahatha. From India, the technology traveled out both to China, and through Central Asia to Europe.

The medieval fiddle emerged in 10th-century Europe, deriving from the Byzantine lira (Greek:λύρα, Latin:lira, English:lyre), a bowed string instrument of the Byzantine Empire and ancestor of most European bowed instruments. The first recorded reference to the bowed lira was in the 9th century by the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih (d. 911); in his lexicographical discussion of instruments he cited the lira (lūrā) as a typical instrument of the Byzantines and equivalent to the rabāb played in the Islamic Empires. Lira spread widely westward to Europe; in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the terms fiddle and lira interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments (Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009).

Over the centuries, Europe continued to have two distinct types of fiddles: one, relatively square-shaped, held in the arms, became known as the lira da braccio (arm viol) family and evolved into the violin; the other, with sloping shoulders and held between the knees, was the lira da gamba (leg viol) group. During the Renaissance the gambas were important and elegant instruments; they eventually lost ground to the louder (and originally less aristocratic) lira da braccio family.

The fiddle or violin

Fiddle has a more generalized meaning than violin. Whereas violin refers to a specific instrument, fiddle may be used to refer to a violin or any member of a general category of similar stringed instruments played with a horsehair bow, such as the Hardanger fiddle, the Byzantine lira, the Chinese erhu, the Welsh crwth, the Apache Tzii'edo' a 'tl, the cello in the context of a Scottish violin/cello duo ("wee fiddle and big fiddle"), the double bass ("bull fiddle" or "bass fiddle"), and so on.

Etymology

The etymology of fiddle is uncertain: the Germanic fiddle may derive from the same early Romance word as does violin, or it may be natively Germanic. The name seems however to be related to Icelandic Fiðla. A native Germanic ancestor of fiddle may even be the ancestor of the early Romance form of violin. Historically, fiddle also referred to a predecessor of today's violin. Like the violin, it tended to have four strings, but came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Another family of instruments which contributed to the development of the modern fiddle are the viols, which are held between the legs and played vertically, and have fretted fingerboards.

Musical style

Common distinctions between violins and fiddles reflect the differences in the instruments used to play classical and folk music. However, it is not uncommon for classically trained violinists to play folk music, and today many fiddle players have some classical training. A lot of traditional (folk) styles are oral traditions, so are taught 'by ear' rather than with written music.

Construction and setup

In construction, fiddles and violins are essentially identical (with the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle excepted as a special case). The medieval fiddle had rear tuning pegs set in a flat headstock similarly to the Byzantine lyra and unlike the rabāb and rebec.

Bridge

Some (folk) fiddle traditions fit the instrument with a flatter bridge than classical violinists use. The difference between "round" and "flat" is not more than about a quarter or half a millimeter variation in the height of one or two strings, but is sufficient to reduce the range of right-arm motion required for the rapid string-crossings found in some styles, and those who use flatter bridges say it makes playing double stops and shuffles (bariolage) easier. It can also make triple stops possible, allowing one to play chords. In bluegrass and old-time music, for example, the top of the bridge is sometimes cut so that it is very slightly flattened; the Hardanger fiddle uses an even flatter bridge, and the bridge of the kontra or bracsa (a three-string viola used in Hungarian and Transylvanian folk music) is flat enough that all three strings can easily be played simultaneously.

Most classical violinists prefer a more rounded curve to the top of the bridge, feeling that this allows them to articulate each note more easily and clearly. Many fiddle players use the same top curve as well; most fiddles are fitted with a standard classical bridge, regardless of the style of music played on the instrument. Since the bridge may be changed, it does not permanently define an instrument as fiddle or violin.

Soundpost

Since some genres of fiddling favor different tone than what most violinists might prefer, soundpost position and tension will vary according to the use of the instrument.

Strings and tuners

Fiddle is more likely to be used than violin if the instrument's strings are steel rather than gut or synthetic, as the sound of steel strings better suits some fiddling styles. Tuning steel strings is easier with fine tuners (small screw mechanisms attached or built into the tailpiece) so fiddlers may favor instruments with fine tuners on all four strings; it is very uncommon to see four fine tuners on full-size instruments played by classical musicians. Strings are subject to regular replacement, fine tuners may be added or removed, and tailpieces may be changed, so, like flattened bridges, they do not make an irreversible difference.

Clichés

Various clichés describe the difference between fiddle and violin: "When you are buying it, it's a fiddle. When you are selling it, it's a violin." "What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle? About $10,000." "The difference is in the nut that holds the bow." "The violin sings, the fiddle dances." "A fiddle is a violin with attitude." "No one cries when they spill beer on a fiddle." "The difference between a violinist and a fiddle player is $100 a night, and a tux." "A violin is carried in a violin case, a fiddle is carried in a gunnysack." According to the performer Shoji Tabuchi, the difference lies "in how you fiddle around with it."

Fiddling

In performance, a solo fiddler, or one fiddler or two with a group of other instrumentalists, is the norm, though twin fiddling is represented in some North American, Scandinavian, Scottish and Irish styles. Violins, on the other hand, are commonly grouped in sections. These contrasting traditions may be vestiges of historical performance settings: large concert halls in which violins were played required more instruments, before electronic amplification, than did more intimate dance halls and houses fiddles were played in. The difference was likely compounded by the different sounds expected of violin music and fiddle music. Historically, the majority of fiddle music was dance music, while violin music had either grown out of dance music or was something else entirely. Violin music came to value a smoothness which fiddling, with its dance-driven clear beat, did not always follow - in situations that required greater volume, a fiddler (as long as they kept the beat) could push their instrument harder than could a violinist. (Different fiddle traditions had different values, as detailed below; these explanations are meant to present the differences between fiddle music and violin music generally.)

Following the folk revivals of the second half of the 20th century, however, it has become common for less formal situations to find large groups of fiddlers playing together—see for example the Calgary Fiddlers, and Swedish Spelmanslag folk-musician clubs, and the worldwide phenomenon of Irish sessions.

In the very late 20th century, a few artists have successfully attempted a reconstruction of the Scottish tradition of violin and "big fiddle," or cello. Notable recorded examples include Iain Fraser and Christine Hanson, Amelia Kaminski and Christine Hanson's Bonnie Lasses and Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas' Fire and Grace.

Bows used in fiddling

Most fiddling styles that use the standard violin also use the standard violin bow, the same as classical players; the bow stick may be usually made from wood, but bows made from fiberglass and other materials are becoming more common, as they are much cheaper and less fragile. However, there are a few styles which use other bows. One notable example is the folk music from Hungary and Transylvania used in the táncház tradition. While the violinist uses a standard bow, both the kontra (3-string viola) and bass are played with heavy and crude "folk bows", consisting of a stout stick, usually hand-hewn, with the hank of horsehair attached at the tip and tied around the frog. Some players tension the hair by squeezing it when playing.

Scottish fiddlers emulating 18th century playing styles sometimes use a replica of the type of bow used in that period, which is a few inches shorter, and weighs significantly more.

Fiddling styles

To a greater extent than classical violin playing, fiddle playing is characterized by a huge variety of ethnic or folk music traditions, each of which has its own distinctive sound, including, but not limited to:

American fiddling, including

*Blues fiddling

*Bluegrass music fiddling

*Cajun fiddling

*Country fiddling

*Rock fiddling

*Jazz fiddling

*Worldbeat fiddling

*Folk Dance fiddling, including Square Dance and Contra Dance fiddling

*Old-time fiddling

Western Swing style fiddling

*Zydeco style fiddling

Balkan music, including Táncház (Hungarian music), Romanian music, Gypsy music Canadian fiddling, including

*Cape Breton fiddling, with a distinct Scottish and Acadian influence

*French-Canadian fiddling, influenced from the Brittany area of northern France

*Métis fiddling, of central and western Canada, with French influence

*Newfoundland and Labrador fiddling, with a strong Irish Sliabh Luachra style of playing

*Maritimes, Acadian or Downeast style of fiddling which has many similarities to Cape Breton fiddling

*English-Canadian fiddling or Anglo-Canadian fiddling, which is a combination of English, Scottish, Irish, French, Ukrainian and German fiddling styles

Eastern European Jewish Klezmer fiddling

English Folk music fiddling

French fiddling (including a rich Breton music fiddling tradition)

Irish Folk music fiddling including, among others,

*Clare fiddling, from the central west

*Donegal fiddling, from the northwest

*Sliabh Luachra fiddling, from the southwest

*Sligo fiddling, from a bit south of the northwest

Mexican fiddling, including mariachi, huapango, son huasteco and son calentano

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean fiddling

Norwegian fiddling (including Hardanger fiddling; see also Bygdedans and Gammaldans)

Peruvian violin

Scottish fiddling

Shetland fiddling, which includes trowie tunes said to come from peerie folk.

Slovenian fiddling

Swedish fiddling (see Spelmanslag)

South Indian Carnatic fiddling

Welsh Fiddling (Welsh Ffidil; see Ar Log)

See also

List of fiddlers

Donegal fiddle tradition

List of All-Ireland Champions

Instruments

Lira, the medieval bowed instrument of the Byzantine Empire

Erhu

Gadulka

Gusle

Gudok

Huqin family of Chinese fiddles

Kamancheh

Kemenche

Kobyz

K'ni

Lijerica

The lyra of Crete

Rebab

Rebec

Rubab

References

Bibliography

The Fiddle Book, by Marion Thede, (1970), Oak Publications. ISBN 0-8256-0145-2.

The Fiddler's Fakebook, by David Brody, (1983), Oak Publications. US ISBN 0-8256-0238-6; UK ISBN 0-7119-0309-3.

Oldtime Fiddling Across America, by David Reiner and Peter Anick (1989), Mel Bay Publications. ISBN 0-87166-766-5. Has transcriptions (standard notation) and analysis of tunes from multiple regional and ethnic styles.

The Portland Collection, by Susan Songer, (1997), ISBN 0-9657476-0-3 (Vol. 2 ISBN 0-9657476-1-1)

External links

Faroese fiddle

Fiddle and Alternative Strings Forum

Fiddle Fork

Fiddle Hangout

Voyager Records' catalog,organized by region, has clips of many North American styles.

A French Violin fiddle method website - video, text, and forum with explanation (with tablatures).

The Fiddler's Companion, an encyclopedia of historical notes on tunes from British, Celtic, and American traditions.

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Fiddling

Traditional Irish fiddle Players

Category:Violins Category:Bowed instruments Category:Cajun musical instruments Category:Czech musical instruments Category:Irish musical instruments Category:Scottish musical instruments Category:Faroese musical instruments Category:Celtic musical instruments Category:Welsh musical instruments

Name	Natalie MacMaster
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Natalie Kate MacMaster
Born	June 13, 1972
Origin	Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada
Instrument	Fiddle, vocals
Genre	Cape Breton fiddle music
Years active	1989–present
Associated acts	Buddy MacMasterDonnell Leahy
Url	www.nataliemacmaster.com

Natalie MacMaster, CM (born June 13, 1972) is an award-winning fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada who plays Cape Breton fiddle music.

MacMaster has toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma. She has appeared at the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton, Celtic Connections in Scotland, and MerleFest in the United States.

Background

MacMaster is the daughter of Alex and Minnie (Beaton) MacMaster, and the niece of Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster. She is the cousin of two other Cape Breton fiddlers, Ashley MacIsaac and Andrea Beaton. She was born on June 13, 1972. In 2002, she married fiddler Donnell Leahy of the Leahy family band, and moved to Lakefield, Ontario, where she currently resides with her husband and three children. In December 2005, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary Frances Rose. Her second child, a son, Michael Joseph Alexander, was born in June 2007. In 2007, MacMaster learned she was related to Jack White.http://www.soulshine.ca/news/newsarticle.php?nid=4549 Her third child, a daughter, Clare Marie, was born in February 2009. She is currently pregnant with her fourth child and is due in January 2011.

MacMaster began playing the fiddle at the age of nine, and made her performing debut the same year at a square dance in Glencoe Mills, Nova Scotia. When she was sixteen she released her first album, Four on the Floor, and a second album, Road to the Isle, followed in 1991. Both of these self-produced albums were initially released only on cassette, but Rounder Records omitted a few tracks and re-released as A Compilation in 1998.

In recent years she has expanded her musical repertoire, mixing her Cape Breton roots with music from Scotland and Ireland, as well as American bluegrass.

She has received a number of Canadian music awards, including several "Artist of the Year" awards from the East Coast Music Association, two Juno awards for best instrumental album, and "Fiddler of the Year" from the Canadian Country Music Association. MacMaster was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Niagara University in New York in 2006. In 2006, she was made a member of the Order of Canada.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other appearances

Traditional Music From Cape Breton Island, Nimbus NI5383, 1993 (two tracks)

Celtic Colours — The Road Home, 1997 (one track)

Celtic Colours — The Second Wave, 1998 (one track)

Celtic Colours — Forgotten Roots, 1999 (one track)

Roots Music: An American Journey, Rounder 0501, 2001 (one track)

Songs for the Savoy, 2001 (one track)

Celtic Colours — The Colours of Cape Breton, 2002 (one track)

Celtic Colours — Volume VII, 2003 (one track)

''Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace; Songs:A Christmas Jig/Mouth of the Tobique Reel; 2008 (Sony BMG)

Thomas Dolby: Amerikana EP, Songs:Toad Lickers and 17 Hills, 2010 (Lost Toy People, Inc)

References

External links

Natalie MacMaster official website

TED Talks: Natalie MacMaster fiddles in reel time at TED in 2002

TED Talks: Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy play the Cape Breton fiddle at TED in 2003

Category:1972 births Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent Category:Cape Breton fiddlers Category:Juno Award winners Category:Living people Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Musicians from Nova Scotia Category:People from Inverness County, Nova Scotia

Name	Keith Moon
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Keith John Moon
Born	August 23, 1946Wembley, London, England
Died	September 07, 1978London, England
Instrument	Drums, percussion, vocals, bugle, trumpet, tuba
Genre	Rock, hard rock, pop, surf rock, blues, skiffle
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer, actor
Years active	1964–1978
Associated acts	The Who, Plastic Ono Band, Led Zeppelin

Keith John Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978) was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon joined The Who in 1964. He played on all albums and singles from their debut, 1964's "Zoot Suit", to 1978's Who Are You, which was released three weeks before his death.

Moon was known for dramatic, suspenseful drumming—often eschewing basic back beats for a fluid, busy technique focused on fast, cascading rolls across the toms, ambidextrous double bass drum work and wild cymbal crashes and washes. He is mentioned in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the greatest of all rock and roll drummers and was posthumously inducted into the Rock Hall as a member of The Who in 1990.

Personal life

Keith John Moon lived in Wembley, London. As a boy he was hyperactive and had a restless imagination. As a youth, the one thing that could hold his attention was music. Moon failed his eleven plus exam, and thus went to a secondary modern school, where in a report his art teacher commented: 'Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects.' Teacher Aaron Sofocleous praised his music skills and encouraged his chaotic style, even if one school report noted "He has great ability, but must guard against a tendency to show off." Often on his way home from school Keith would go to Macari's Music Studio in Ealing Road and would take instruction and practise on the drums there, where he learned his basic drumming skills. He left school in 1961.

On 17 March 1966, Moon married his pregnant girlfriend Kim Kerrigan in secrecy. Their daughter Amanda was born on 12 July 1966. Kerrigan left him in 1973. She took Mandy with her to live in the house of Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan, with whom she was having an affair, and divorced Moon in 1975. (Kerrigan and McLagan married in October 1978, one month after Moon's death. She herself was killed in a car crash in Texas in 2006.) Before his divorce Moon dated Georgiana Steele, a British-born former fashion model who worked in their quadrophonic recording studio, Ramport, in Battersea and in 1974 Moon began dating Swedish model Annette Walter-Lax.

Early musical career

At age 12, Moon joined his local Sea Cadet Corps band as a bugle player but traded his position to be a drummer. Moon started drums at 14 after his father bought him a kit. He received lessons from one of the loudest drummers at the time, Carlo Little, paying him 10 shillings a lesson. During this time he joined his first serious band The Escorts.

Moon initially played in the drumming style of American surf rock and jazz, with a mix of R&B;, utilising grooves and fills of those genres, particularly Hal Blaine of Wrecking Crew. However, he played faster and louder, with more persistence and authority. Moon's favourite musicians were jazz artists Gene Krupa and Sonny Rollins.

The Who

At age 17, Moon joined The Who, replacing Doug Sandom after the band received the news that they could not expect a recording contract without a better drummer. Early in The Who's career, as they gained a following, they sought to set themselves apart from other bands of the time. When their live sets culminated in what they later described as "auto-destructive art", with Townshend (and Moon delightedly following suit) destroying their equipment in elaborate fashion, they made a name for themselves in the press and gained the attention they had lacked. It was an act that was imitated by other bands and artists including Jimi Hendrix (who had just signed with the same label) in his break-out performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Moon showed a zeal for this, kicking and smashing his drums. During the end of their 1967 appearance performing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Moon had explosives loaded into one of his kit's two bass drums. During the finale of "My Generation", he kicked the other drum off the riser and then set off the charge, with the intensity of the explosion surprising even himself. He singed Townshend's hair and embedded a piece of cymbal in his own arm. The blast has been speculated as starting Townshend's tinnitus, though Townsend himself attributes his hearing loss to years of headphone use in the recording studio. During one of his only drum solo performances on television, Moon filled clear acrylic drums with water and goldfish, playing them for the audience. Antics like these earned him the nicknames "Moon the Loon" and "Mad Moon". Cultivating publicity for his behaviour, he became one of the most well-known drummers in his generation, and the other members of the Who benefited from the exposure as well. , Toronto 1976]]

His propensity for making his bandmates laugh around the vocal microphone whilst recording led them to banish him from the studio when vocals were being recorded. This led to a game, Moon sneaking in to join the singing. He can be heard singing lead on several tracks, including "Bell Boy" (Quadrophenia, 1973), "Bucket T" and "Barbara Ann" (Ready Steady Who EP, 1966), and the high backing vocals on other songs, such as "Pictures Of Lily" and "Guitar And Pen".

Moon was credited as composer of "I Need You", which he also sang, and the instrumental "Cobwebs and Strange" (from A Quick One, 1966), the single B-sides "In The City" (co-written by Moon and Entwistle), "Dogs Part Two" (1969) (sharing credits with Townshend's and Entwistle's dogs, Towser and Jason), "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (1969), "Waspman" (1972), and "Girl's Eyes" (from The Who Sell Out sessions; featured on Thirty Years of Maximum R&B; and a 1995 re-release of The Who Sell Out). He also co-composed the instrumental "The Ox" (from the debut album My Generation) with Townshend, Entwistle and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (from Tommy) was credited to Moon, who suggested the action should take place in a holiday camp. The song was written by Townshend, and although there is a misconception that Moon sings on the track, the version on the album is Townshend's demo. However Moon did sing it in live concerts, and on the film version of Tommy. He also produced "Baba O'Riley"'s violin solo (which he had suggested), performed by Dave Arbus, a friend.

Daltrey said Moon's drumming style held the band together; that Entwistle and Townshend "were like knitting needles... and Keith was the ball of wool."

Many rock drummers have cited Keith Moon as an influence, including Neil Peart, and Dave Grohl. The Jam paid tribute to Keith Moon on the second single from their third album, "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight", in which the B-side of the single is a cover song from The Who: "So Sad About Us", and the back cover of the record is a photo of Keith Moon's face; The Jam's record was released about a month after Moon's death.

Recklessness

Moon led a very destructive and irresponsible lifestyle. He laid waste to hotel rooms, the homes of friends and even his own home, throwing furniture out of high windows. In one case, the band were due to perform at Charlton Athletic football ground, and were waiting in the dressing room for Moon to arrive. A witness described the drummer's sudden entry: "Suddenly, there was a great crash and Keith Moon dropped through the ceiling, having smashed his way through the corrugated iron roof."

Along with his drum sets, Moon's infamous (and favourite) calling card was to flush powerful explosives down toilets. It has been estimated that his destruction of toilets and plumbing ran as high as US$500,000, and his repeated practice of blowing up toilets with explosives led to Moon being banned for life from lodging at several hotel chains around the world, including all the Holiday Inn hotels in one state, Sheraton, and Hilton Hotels, as well as the Waldorf Astoria. Moon became so notorious for this practice that when Nick Harper was asked about his childhood memories spent around The Who, his first recollection was, "I remember Keith blowing up the toilets."

According to Tony Fletcher’s biography, Moon’s toilet pyrotechnics began in 1965, when he purchased 500 cherry bombs. In time, Moon would graduate from just cherry bombs to taking out toilets with Roman candles and M-80s. Eventually, Moon began using sticks of dynamite, his explosive of choice, to destroy toilets. “All that porcelain flying through the air was quite unforgettable," Moon recalled. "I never realised dynamite was so powerful. I’d been used to penny bangers before." During one incident between Moon and hotel management, Moon was asked to turn down his cassette player because The Who were making "too much noise". In response, Moon asked the manager up to his room, lit a stick of dynamite in the toilet, and shut the bathroom door. Following the explosion, Moon informed the startled manager, "That, dear boy, was noise." Moon then turned the cassette player back on and proclaimed, "This is The Who." On a different occasion in Alabama, Moon and Entwistle loaded a toilet with cherry bombs because they could not receive room service. According to Entwistle, "That toilet was just dust all over the walls by the time we checked out. The management brought our suitcases down to the gig and said: 'Don't come back...'"

The acts, though often fuelled by drugs and alcohol, were his way of expressing his eccentricity, as well as the joy he got from shocking the public.

Alice Cooper remembers their drinking club, The Hollywood Vampires, commenting that Moon ("the Puck of Rock 'n' Roll") used to enter dressed up as the Pope, one of many costumes he wore to elicit humour from others. Joe Walsh recorded chats with Moon, finding it remarkable how witty and alert the inebriated drummer managed to stay, ad-libbing his way through surrealistic fantasy stories à la Peter Cook, which Cooper reaffirms, saying he was not even certain he ever knew the real Keith Moon, or if there was one.

Aside from his romantic relationships, although his behaviour was outrageous, it was in the humorous vein He then allegedly drove a Cadillac (according to Moon's own account, it was a Lincoln Continental) into the hotel pool. While Moon had established a notorious history of blowing up toilets at other Holiday Inns, the car incident led to them being banned from Flint and The Holiday Inn for life. The Who had just opened for Herman's Hermits. Author Peter C. Cavanaugh, who was there and witnessed the event firsthand, recalled the events for a documentary on the 1960s rock scene. According to the book, The Who In Their Own Words, Moon said the incident was at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan. He said this was how he broke his front tooth. Other people who attended the event, including Who bandmate John Entwistle, cast doubt on the veracity of the car-in-the-swimming-pool story, but confirm some other parts of the tale. Another version of the night was recounted by Moon biographer Tony Fletcher in the book Moon: The Life and Death of a Rock Legend; "It was (after a cake fight) that the cry came to 'debag' the birthday boy... Various members of (Herman's Hermits and The Who) launched themselves on Keith, pinned him to the floor and successfully pulled his trousers down...As the teenage girls began gasping and giggling and the cops started grunting their disapproval, Keith, naked from the waist down, made a good-natured dash for it out of the room...and smashed one of his front teeth out."'(p.p. 210) It was after Moon went to the dentist and the party was disbanded that the 30 to 40 guests filed out, a few taking fire extinguishers to cars and dirtying the swimming pool.

Car-pedestrian death

On 4 January 1970, Moon was involved in a car-pedestrian death outside the Red Lion pub in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Trying to escape hostile patrons from the pub who had begun to attack his Bentley, Moon, drunk, attempted to take control of his car, which in the melee, ran over and killed his friend, driver, and bodyguard, Neil Boland. Although the coroner said Boland's death was an accident and Moon was given an absolute discharge having been charged with driving offences, those close to him said Moon was haunted by the accident for the rest of his life. Boland's daughter spent a significant amount of time investigating and questioning each witness from the police blotter, and concluded that Moon was not the person behind the wheel of the car. However, Keith never recovered from feelings of guilt. Pamela Des Barres, a groupie with whom Moon had an ongoing relationship over the course of three years in Los Angeles, was alarmed by his frequent nightmares, which woke them both during the night, with Moon convinced that he had no right to be alive.

Passing out on stage

Moon's penchant for the wild life was not only outwardly detrimental; it began to take a toll on his health while he was still in his twenties, as well as on his drumming and his reliability as a band member. On the 1973 Quadrophenia tour, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, Moon took a large mixture of horse tranquillisers and brandy. He passed out during "Won't Get Fooled Again" and again in "Magic Bus". Townshend asked the audience, "Can anyone play the drums? - I mean somebody good." An audience member, Scot Halpin, filled in for the rest of the show. Guitarist Pete Townshend later said in an interview that Moon had consumed large tranquilliser pills, meant to be shot at animals, with the brandy. During the band's recording sabbatical between 1975 and 1978, Moon put on a great deal of weight. Nonetheless, John Entwistle maintained that Keith Moon and The Who reached their prime live peak during 1975 and 1976. That tour earned them Rolling Stone's 'red suspenders' for best live rock band.

Moon's close friend Ringo Starr was seriously concerned about his lifestyle and told Moon that if he kept going the way he was he would eventually kill himself. Moon simply replied "Yeah, I know."

Moon owned a lilac-coloured Rolls-Royce, painted with house paint. On Top Gear, Daltrey commented that Moon liked to take upper-class icons and make them working class. The car is now owned by Middlebrook Garages (based in Nottinghamshire).

Work outside The Who

It was Keith Moon who recommended the name "Led Zeppelin" to Jimmy Page who intended to name his new band 'Mad Dog'. According to Oxford lexicographer Susie Dent Moon and John Entwistle were speculating with Page about the possible formation of a supergroup when Moon remarked that a particular suggestion had fallen like a "lead zeppelin" (i.e. "lead balloon"). Page later adopted the term, but spelt "lead" as "led" because he thought otherwise it would be mispronounced (as /li:d/) in America. Although Moon's work with The Who dominated his career, he participated in minor outside projects. In 1966, he did his first work with Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck, session man Nicky Hopkins, and future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones to record an instrumental, "Beck's Bolero", released as a single-double later that year. He also played timpani on another track, "Ol' Man River" (credited on the back of the album as "You Know Who").

On 15 December 1969, Moon joined John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band for a live performance at the Lyceum Ballroom in London for a UNICEF charity concert. The supergroup also consisted of Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Nicky Hopkins, Yoko Ono, Billy Preston and Klaus Voormann. The band played Lennon's Cold Turkey and Ono's Don't Worry Kyoko. The performance was eventually released in 1972 as a companion disc to Lennon's and Ono's Some Time In New York City LP.

He joined Led Zeppelin on stage and drummed with John Bonham for encores in a show on 23 June 1977 at the L.A. Forum (recorded on Led Zeppelin bootlegs, For Badgeholders Only/Sgt. Page's Badgeholders Only Club).

In 1974 Track Records/MCA released a solo single: "Don't Worry, Baby" backed with "Teenage Idol", the former a reflection of his love of The Beach Boys.

On Valentine's Day 1974, Moon performed on drums with Jimmy Page, Ronnie Lane, Max Middleton and fellow drummer John Bonham on acoustic guitar for the gig premiering Roy Harper's album Valentine.

In 1975, he released his only solo album, pop covers entitled Two Sides of the Moon. Although this featured Moon's singing, much drumming was left to other artists including Ringo Starr, session musicians Curly Smith and Jim Keltner and actor/musician Miguel Ferrer (Twin Peaks and Crossing Jordan). Moon played drums on only three tracks.

In late 1975, he played drums on the track "Bo Diddley Jam" on Bo Diddley's The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll all-star album.

In 1971, he had a cameo role in Frank Zappa's film 200 Motels. He acted in drag as a nun fearful of death from overdosing on pills. In 1973 he appeared in That'll Be the Day, playing J.D. Clover, the drummer at a holiday camp during the early days of British rock 'n' roll. Moon reprised the role for the sequel Stardust in 1974. The film co-starred Moon's friend Ringo Starr of The Beatles. He appeared as "Uncle Ernie" in Ken Russell's 1975 film adaptation of Tommy. In a bar about 1975, he asked Graham Chapman and Bernard McKenna to do a "treatment" for a "mad movie". They asked a thousand pounds, Moon pulled the cash from his pocket and gave it to them. This was the start of the project that would become the movie Yellowbeard. Moon wanted to play the lead but the movie took many years to develop, and by that time he was in physically poor shape, and unsuitable. In 1976, he covered the Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four" for the soundtrack of the documentary All This and World War II. He impersonated a camp fashion designer in Sextette (1978), starring Mae West.

Moon once owned a hotel, the Crown and Cushion in Chipping Norton.

Death

Moon was Paul McCartney's guest at a film preview of The Buddy Holly Story on the evening of 6 September 1978. After dining with Paul and Linda McCartney at Peppermint Park in Covent Garden, Moon and his girlfriend, Annette Walter-Lax, returned to a flat on loan from Harry Nilsson, No.12 at 9 Curzon Place, Shepherd Market, Mayfair in which Cass Elliot had died a little more than four years earlier. Moon then took 32 tablets of Clomethiazole (Heminevrin). The pills were also prescribed by a new doctor, Dr. Geoffrey Dymond, who was unaware of Moon's recklessly impulsive nature and long history of prescription sedative abuse. He had given Moon a full bottle of 100 pills, and instructed him to take one whenever he felt a craving for alcohol (but not more than 3 per day). The police determined there were 32 pills in his system, with the digestion of 6 being sufficient to cause his death, and the other 26 of which were still undissolved when he died.

References

Further reading

Moon: The Life and Death of a Rock Legend by Tony Fletcher

Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (Revised Edition): The Complete Chronicle of The Who 1958–1978 by Andrew Neill and Mathew Kent

The Who: Maximum R&B; by Richard Barnes and Pete Townshend, Plexus Publishing; 5th edition (27 September 2004)

Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who by Dave Marsh, Plexus Publishing (16 September 2003)

External links

Category:1946 births Category:1978 deaths Category:English rock drummers Category:The Who members Category:Plastic Ono Band members Category:People from Alperton Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Accidental deaths in England Category:Drug-related deaths in England

Biography

Cathal Sean Hayden is an Irish fiddle and banjo player of note. He was born on 13 July 1963, in the village of the Rock, Co Tyrone outside Pomeroy, an area immersed in traditional music. The third in the family of eight, he was born into a deep musical background. His father played the banjo and fiddle, and his mother was a pianist, while both grandfathers were fiddle players. Hayden has been All-Ireland Champion on both banjo and fiddle.

Hayden is a member of the group Four Men and a Dog whose first album, Barking Mad won the Folk Roots best new album award in 1991.

Discography

Handed Down (1988)

Barking Mad (1991)

Shifting Gravel (1993)

Doctor A's Secret Remedies (1995)

Long Roads (1996)

Cathal Hayden (1999)

Maybe Tonight (2002)

Live in Belfast (2007)

Crossroads with Máirtín O'Connor and Seamie O'Dowd (2008)For detailed contents see irishtune.info

External links

Cathal Hayden's Site

[ Four Men and a Dog] at Allmusic

Four Men and a Dog's Official Site

Reviews

Review by Geoff Wallis of the album Cathal Hayden

folkmusic.net review of the album Cathal Hayden

folkworld.de review of the album Cathal Hayden

Review by Geoff Wallis of the album Live in Belfast

Eddie Creaney's review of the album Live in Belfast

Review of Erne

See also

Four Men and a Dog

Category:Living people Category:Irish folk musicians