THE PHANTOM BANJO by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

THE PHANTOM BANJO ---------------------Vol. 1 of the "Songkiller Saga" Elizabeth Ann Scarborough; Bantam-Spectra Books, ISBN 0-553-28761-3 This book made me laugh. It also, more often, made me cry, rage, and chilled me to the bone. It is fantasy-fiction, but some of the passages, and some of the plot-line, hits far too close to reality to make it a nice, casual and inoffensive read for me. You see, I am a professional singer and collector of folksongs. I was raised singing the songs of the Appalachian Mountains, discovered Mexican music, and then went nuts with the rest of the wonderful ethnic musics we have in America and Great Britain and Ireland....and this book tells all about the plot of the Devil to steal our -real- music from us; to take the one source of fun and comfort for the poor and hungry away.. ..and substitute the homogenized "corporate-pop" ("corporate-PAP!") culture...Sound familiar? Devil does it in little things...killing off the center of the folk revival, a tall, skinny, leftish banjo player that likes to lead his audiences in singing.....keeping foreign singers of folk music out of the country by pressures from the Unions (THAT is happening FOR REAL RIGHT NOW with the Dept. of Immigration!!!!).....making the Music Police get tough about royalty payments and Union membership (THAT is also happening for real right now in many places, and driving the small clubs out of the entertainment side of the business!!!!)....making the Music Police get overly tight-a**ed about copyrights....and taking away the memories of the words of the songs....destroying the collections in the Library of Congress and destroying personal collections too....many, many little things that (in the real world) are -really- happening.....scares me to death! But....see, that banjo player's banjo was made by a little old man in Appalachia who had "power," and he put that power into the banjo and all that singing for years and years put power into that banjo....and another folksinger has it now....and he, and several others, are fighting back! Fighting back against the Chairdevil, and the Bureaucrats and Buisnesspersons, and all the others that want to Take Control over something that can't really be "owned" by anybody because -everybody- owns it. So maybe all is not lost...the next book will take them to the British Isles; to the source of the music...where the devils haven't really touched....yet. There, they must re-live the old ballads, and bring them back! Supposedly, there will be a third book. I already have number two and three reserved at my local bookdealer! And if they ever come out in hardback, I intend to make them a permanent part of my library, right up there with Manly Wade Wellmann and Alan Lomax! GOOD STUFF, Maynard. And, as an absolute banjomaniac myself.... GREAT BOOK! And damn sobering in spots.

PICKING THE BALLAD'S BONES-----Vol. 2 of the "SongKiller Saga" Elizabeth Ann Scarborough Bantam Spectra ISBN 0-553-29363-X Well! I got my hands on the second book of the trilogy the day it was released.....and I was right in the middle of a series of gigs that were taking -all- my time other than eating and sleeping! Talk about frustration......but I got a free evening, and read it thru.... as in 'couldn't put it down!' This book is not quite as scary as the first was, 'cause you know the scary parts already (see review of "THE PHANTOM BANJO" previously published) but......the Devils are killing off the Bluegrass folks, and starting on Rock and Roll, and S.W.A.L.L.O.W. has run all the jukeboxes and music radio stations and live music out of business, except for one real powerful station that serves (?) the whole of the USA.....and the folks that the story is being told to show a society that -I- would not want to live in. (The "politically correct" attitudes are wonderfully done indeed.....) Some very real, and very ugly people are after our heroes, and the Debauchery Devil (who must be Murphy in another Aspect) is right along with them. This makes for some tight places......and since the banjo tends to warn (or at least try to warn) our heroes with the tunes of appropriate songs of approaching trouble, if you know the songs you get a nice little foreshadowing...."Lady of Carislyle" was especially appropriate! Our heroes must re-live the -reality- of the old Child/Percy ballads, with some help from the ghost of Sir Walter Scott. This made for some fun for me, trying to see how fast I could recognize each ballad being played out, and name all the -other- songs related to that ballad, too. Proud to say I got 'em -all- right (patting self on back!). The episode of "King Henry" was, in a word, -magnificent-, and "Barbr'y Allen/Brown Girl" was both moving and touching. Having them play out - both- characters in "Danville Girl" was a good touch. Our heroes are developing and growing as people, too. They are seeing life from several "another sides" (you'll have to read the book to find out what I mean by that one!) and the conclusion of the recovery of the British Ballads, with it's echoes of the Wild Hunt, is GORGEOUS. Cover art is kinda nice...good evocation of Torchy, but, once again, they got the banjo wrong....looks more like a banjo-uke than a long-neck 5-string. Oh well....maybe the ChairDevil got to the artist? GOOD book. Get it. Read it. Maybe it will foster an appreciation of the old ballads in at least a few people out there......one can only hope!

STRUM AGAIN? ------------------------------------Vol. 3 of the "SongKiller Saga" Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Bantam Spectra Books ISBN 0-553-29705-8 Well, Liz Scarborough did it again! Kept me up all night reading, and re-reading, a book! Damn, but she writes well (as witness her Nebula!)! Anyhow, our heroes are back in the USA again, and seem to be doing pretty well against the ChairDevil and his minions, and are getting help from local ghosts and spirits, too. 'Course, they gotta come back into the country as illegal aliens, because of the Immigration laws against folksingers.....and it seems that musical instruments have to be -registered- with the Government, especially banjos, 'cause a guy beat his wife to death with two of them (this really happened! I have the news article stuck up on my 'fridge) .... and there ain't no more music AT ALL ANYWHERE, 'cept in singing commercials.....pretty grim indeed! Her evocation of life in the USA in this book is something that will send chills up the back of your neck, what with Neighborhood Militias and the Politically Correct people and all. Janet Reno would love it. (Just as a side note about the Government's control over Life: There ain't no AA anymore, and the group that handles that kind of therapy is required to report alcohol abusers to the Government......Pfblt! I would have liked to see Bill W.'s ghost haunting those dweebs!) Filk is mentioned in the book, and a nice point is made about egocentric performers and music feuds. That passage should be -required reading- for the filk (and folk) communities. I sure would like to have the technotoy mentioned tho...the one that records the song and then spits out hardcopy of the lyrics and score! Good creative use of computer viruses too! And the Great-Granddaddy of all earthquakes! And the best ghost train you'll -ever- not see! Had another batch of fun reading the names of songs mentioned, and humming them quietly to myself as I read. Good hot-damn/slam bang/British Ballad ending, and everybody comes out OK, even Torchy...........-definitely- Murphy! Cover art is a pretty neat devil, and another of those mysterious banjo-like objects......*sigh*..... I'm hoping these three books come out in hardback thru the SF Book Club. I sure do want them for my permanent library right beside the Manly Wade Wellman stuff. (that's a *hint* if SFBC is reading this!) These books are currently out-of-print. Hunt them down and READ THEM! Ms. Scarborough told me that there will be more stories of the folks in these books, tho these will be short stories. Can't wait to read 'em!

( © copyright 1995 W.J. Bethancourt III. Permission is herewith given to reprint these reviews, Please send a copy of the publication to: Joe Bethancourt, PO Box 35190, Phoenix, AZ 85069)
Illustrations from the Bantam-Spectra books are copyright © Bantam-Spectra, and used for review purposes. ... The circle is NOT broken!

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