Friday, March 7
Lawrence Business Magazine LLC
Lawrence Business Magazine LLC
2016 Third Quarter - Impact of Art

Lawrence in Perspective: A Riff into History

By on 125 Comments
A Riff Into History

The Guitar Music of Henry Worrall.

| 2016 Q3 | story by PATRICIA A. MICHAELIS, Ph.D. | photos by Steven Hertzog
kansasmemory

Drouthy, Kansas Painting by Henry Worrall – from the Kansas State Historical Society, kansasmemory.org

What do a relatively forgotten Kansan and composer of guitar music, a Lawrence musician and “the blues” have in common? A man named Henry Worrall, who moved to Kansas from Ohio in 1868. He had published a guitar tutorial in 1856 and had also composed his best-known solo piece, “Sebastopol,” which commemorated the siege of Sebastopol (now Sevastopol) Russia by the British and French in 1855. In 2012, Brian Baggett, a jazz guitarist who lives in Lawrence, revived Worrall’s most famous piece and other compositions for a concert at the Kansas Historical Society, in Topeka.

Baggett took on the challenge of playing the guitar music composed by Worrall in the mid-nineteenth century from the original manuscript of the music. He says Worrall’s published versions were generally simplified from the original compositions. In the second half of the 1800s, guitar-playing was a popular pastime, and parlor music for guitars and other instruments was played for families and parties in the “parlor” of the home. Thus, both men and women learned the simpler versions of music on guitars that were smaller than today’s instruments. They were easy for a woman to hold in her lap while seated to play the music.

Baggett says the biggest challenge to playing the music is decoding the tuning. For guitar aficionados, the tuning was “open tuning,” but not the standard open tuning used today. Worrall also used a constant bass line that he played with his thumb, one of the aspects of Worrall’s music that is present in blues music. The open tuning is another long-term influence on more modern blues. Michael Church, digital projects archivist at the Kansas Historical Society, says solo fingerstyle guitarists Mississippi John Hurt and Sam McGee, popular folk musicians, played versions of Worrall’s guitar compositions in their live and recorded performances.

Baggett and many guitar historians believe Worrall was an innovator. He liked to play fast, in contrast to the vocal music of the era. Some of his music was whimsical, and he liked to inject humor into his compositions. Worrall was also known for his arrangement of a popular song “Spanish Fandango.” A British fingerstyle guitarist and student of American popular guitar, John Renbourn wrote to Jas Obrecht, the former editor of Guitar Player Magazine:

  • “I have many other parlour pieces in open tuning from around the same time. I am in the process of comparing these with early recorded ‘folk’ versions to see how much of the originals have been retained. It looks as if a great deal has been retained, so much and fingerpicking guitar style. ‘Sebastopol’ and ‘Spanish Fandango’ were both outstandingly popular solo pieces, and their availability in print continued beyond the turn of the century.”

These two pieces were included in guitar tutorial books, and they were studied and played by many beginning guitarists at the beginning of the 20th century. Renbourn explains the Worrall connection to the blues style as follows:

  • “If you can imagine a field hand … trying to fit an arhoolie [field song]across the basic chords of ‘Spanish Fandango,’ then you would be close to the moment of transformation, in my opinion. In early recorded blues— i.e. Charley Patton and his school—the harmonic language (right down to the specific chord shapes but with bluesy modification usually of one finger only) is straight from parlour music.”

Baggett explains that it was exciting and fun, but also challenging, to tackle this music that has had such a lasting influence on other music styles. His audio and video recordings of Worrall’s music are available on the Kansas Memory website at www.kansasmemory.org. (“Sebastopol” is Kansas Memory Item No. 228586.)

In Kansas history, however, Worrall is better remembered as an illustrator of life in the early years of Kansas statehood than a musician. After coming to Kansas, Worrall became known as an artist and illustrator. His work helped promote the image of the state as an area suited for agriculture. His work was aimed at dispelling the prevailing depiction as the “Great American Desert.” A self-taught artist, Worrall’s depictions of life in Kansas were described as “journalism in pictures,” because his illustrations became occasional features in eastern journals, including Harper’s Weekly and Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. Henry Worrall’s illustration “Exodusters in Topeka: Engravings of the Barracks,” in the July 5, 1879, issue of Harper’s Weekly, documents this well-known settlement of African Americans from the south in Kansas.

Worrall’s best-known work was a painting titled “Drouthy Kansas.” Referred to as a caricature, it was drawn in 1869 when the reputation of Kansas still suffered from the drought of 1860. However, the weather in the late 1860s in Kansas produced several years of heavy rainfall and good crops. IThe paining included men climbing ladders and using hatchets to cut ears of corn from huge stalks, watermelons so big that two men could stand on them, and wheat fields yielding 50 bushels per acre, among other images. The caricature proved immensely popular; it was published on the cover page of an issue of the Kansas Farmer and was used as a broadside in advertising the same publication. It was even reproduced on the drop curtain of Liberty Hall, in Lawrence.

Worrall contributed to other works that described life in the young state of Kansas, as well. His illustrations appeared in two well-known Western history books: Joseph McCoy’s Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade and W.E. Webb’s Buffalo Land.

Obviously, Henry Worrall was a man of many talents: composer, musician and illustrator. However, he died in 1902 and never knew, or even imagined, the impact his guitar compositions would have on the development of the blues in the 20th century. Baggett enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how to play Worrall’s manuscript music, including decoding the “tuning.” He teaches guitar and plays regularly on Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Green Lady Lounge, 1809 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri, as part of the jazz trio OJT (Organ Jazz Trio).

Share.

Related Posts

125 Comments

  5. dezaktywacja adblue on

    We’re a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your site provided us with valuable information to work on. You have done a formidable job and our whole community will be grateful to you.

  13. Tollywood Collections on

    I absolutely love your website.. Very nice colors & theme. Did
    you make this site yourself? Please reply back
    as I’m looking to create my own site and would love to find out where you got this from or exactly
    what the theme is called. Thanks!

  22. Tollywood Box Office on

    Hello! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.
    Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have done a extraordinary job!

  30. VA88 on

    Based on my research, after a in foreclosure process home is marketed at an auction, it is common with the borrower to be able to still have some sort ofthat remaining balance on the personal loan. There are many financial institutions who seek to have all fees and liens paid by the next buyer. Nevertheless, depending on particular programs, rules, and state laws there may be some loans that are not easily handled through the exchange of financial products. Therefore, the obligation still lies on the consumer that has got his or her property foreclosed on. Many thanks for sharing your notions on this site.

  41. soft-touch funeral program on

    An additional issue is that video games usually are serious anyway with the principal focus on knowing things rather than entertainment. Although, there’s an entertainment facet to keep your kids engaged, each one game is generally designed to work on a specific expertise or course, such as instructional math or technology. Thanks for your article.

  50. mybet88 on

    Thanks for this wonderful article. Also a thing is that a lot of digital cameras can come equipped with the zoom lens so that more or less of that scene to get included by means of ‘zooming’ in and out. These kinds of changes in {focus|focusing|concentration|target|the a**** length tend to be reflected in the viewfinder and on significant display screen on the back of the very camera.

  55. app download on

    hello there and thank you for your information ? I?ve certainly picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise several technical points using this web site, as I experienced to reload the site many times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but slow loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and can damage your quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I?m adding this RSS to my email and can look out for much more of your respective exciting content. Ensure that you update this again very soon..

  60. Discover more on

    Greetings! Quick question that’s entirely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My weblog looks weird when browsing from my iphone. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to resolve this problem. If you have any recommendations, please share. Thanks!

  71. kirka on

    This design is spectacular! You most certainly know how to
    keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start
    my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job.
    I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you
    presented it. Too cool!

  75. wolvesbaneuo.com on

    I blog quite often and I truly thank you for your information. This
    article has really peaked my interest. I’m going to bookmark
    your website and keep checking for new information about once
    per week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.

  80. Tollywood Collections on

    After I originally left a comment I appear to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added-
    checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get 4 emails with the exact same comment.
    Perhaps there is a way you can remove me from that service?

    Thanks!

  82. wolvesbaneuo.com on

    I think this is one of the most important info for me. And
    i am glad reading your article. But want to
    remark on some general things, The website style is wonderful,
    the articles is really excellent : D. Good job, cheers

  87. Trực Tiếp Đá Gà on

    This article is absolutely incredible! The author has done a fantastic job of presenting the information in an captivating and enlightening manner. I can’t thank him enough for sharing such valuable insights that have certainly enhanced my awareness in this topic. Bravo to her for crafting such a gem!

  90. ミーレス 意味 on

    These herbs might be put into a big planter subsequent to your entrance door, the place you’ll be able to brush by them on daily basis and enjoy their scent once you come and go.

  91. Tollywood Collections on

    I’m curious to find out what blog system you’re working with?
    I’m experiencing some minor security problems with my latest site and I’d like to find something more risk-free.
    Do you have any suggestions?

  93. Tollywood Collections on

    Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
    The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Opera.
    I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do
    with web browser compatibility but I thought
    I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though!
    Hope you get the issue solved soon. Kudos

  94. 펩시 도메인 on

    Hey there! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it very hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Cheers

  105. Tollywood Collections on

    certainly like your web site however you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts.

    Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I find
    it very troublesome to tell the truth nevertheless I’ll certainly come back again.

  106. Tollywood Collections on

    I just couldn’t leave your web site before suggesting that I actually loved the standard info an individual provide for your guests?
    Is going to be again incessantly to check up on new posts

  107. Tollywood Box Office on

    I don’t know if it’s just me or if everyone else experiencing
    issues with your site. It seems like some of the written text within your
    content are running off the screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let me know if this
    is happening to them too? This could be a
    issue with my internet browser because I’ve had this happen before.
    Cheers

  110. Tollywood Box Office on

    Simply desire to say your article is as amazing. The clearness in your post is just excellent
    and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject. Well
    with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post.
    Thanks a million and please keep up the enjoyable work.

  111. Tollywood Collections on

    You actually make it appear really easy along with your presentation but I in finding this topic to
    be really one thing which I think I might by no means understand.
    It seems too complex and extremely extensive for me. I’m looking forward for
    your subsequent submit, I’ll try to get the cling
    of it!

  113. Tollywood Collection on

    Hi! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website
    before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new
    to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be book-marking and
    checking back frequently!

  115. 365.expresso.blog on

    I was suggested this web site by means of my cousin. I am now not certain whether this submit is written by
    way of him as nobody else realize such specified about my problem.

    You’re amazing! Thank you!

  117. Tollywood Collection on

    It’s the best time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be
    happy. I have read this put up and if I may just I want to counsel
    you few interesting things or suggestions. Maybe you could write next articles referring
    to this article. I wish to learn more issues about it!

  118. Tollywood Collection on

    Hi there are using WordPress for your blog platform?
    I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get
    started and set up my own. Do you need any html
    coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly
    appreciated!

  119. freeflashgamesnow.com on

    Hi, i think that i saw you visited my site thus i came to “return the favor”.I am trying to find things to enhance my site!I suppose
    its ok to use some of your ideas!!

  120. Tollywood Collection on

    Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I certainly enjoyed
    reading it, you will be a great author.I will be
    sure to bookmark your blog and may come back down the road.

    I want to encourage continue your great posts, have a nice
    evening!

  123. chưa thanh toán on

    fantastic publish, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this sector don’t realize this. You must continue your writing. I am confident, you have a great readers’ base already!

Leave A Reply

Contact to Listing Owner

Captcha Code