Benny Thomasson

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Benny Thomasson was a creative, innovative, and extraordinarily talented fiddler in the Texas style of oldtime fiddling. He is considered as important to that style as Bill Monroe is to bluegrass, or Charlie Parker to jazz. He may confidently be compared to another Benny, Goodman for virtuosity, style, and legendary status in his art.

Benny Thomasson was born in Runnels County, Texas, on April 22, 1909, and raised in Gatesville. His parents were Lucas "Red Luke" and Sarah Elizabeth Wright Thomasson. Both his father and uncle, Ed, played fiddle. Notably, Luke Thomasson wrote the well-known tune "Midnight on the Water." Benny was one of 10 children in a family where music was not only encouraged, it was a key ingredient of life. Benny began fiddling at the age of three, from as soon as he could hold the instrument up without dropping it. He was influenced by renowned fiddlers such as Eck Robertson and Lefty Franklin, who were friends of the Thomasson family.

Benny entered his first fiddle contest at the age of 19. He expected to place among the top at the competition, but found himself disappointed.

"This was a pretty big occasion right there, and I thought I was a real good fiddler. And I went up to this contest and there was I guess over 200 fiddlers up there. They was pretty good ones, but I still thought I ranked along about the top numbers there.... And when it come my time to play, .... I thought I was really getting after [my three tunes]. Come to find out nobody even noticed. And so when that come about, I decided right then that something had to be done, so I could be up there amongst the rest of the good fiddlers. So I went to work on these old tunes there, and didn't change the tune or anything like that, but actually what I did was just to make the different variations of the same parts, but maybe in a different location on the fiddle, or rounded them out, and smoothed them out to where finally they began to give me a little recognition there. And that made me work harder, so I worked on those things for years and years." (from the liner notes of Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle).

From that humble start, Benny worked hard and took home many trophies. He won the Texas State Championship 15 times, the World Championship (held in Crockett, Texas) 3 times in a row (1955, 1956 and 1957), and the National Oldtime Fiddlers' Championship in Weiser, Idaho, among innumerable smaller contests. In 1972, Benny placed third at Weiser behind Dick Barrett and J.C. Broughton, and third again in 1973, behind Herman Johnson and Barrett. In 1974 though, Benny won both the senior division and the open division at Weiser a feat since barred by limiting registration to one division.

Benny and his brother Lewis, the latter playing guitar, were featured for a while on a radio show sponsored by the Sears Roebuck Company.

In 1928, Benny Thomasson married Beatrice "Bea" Hollander, in Taos, New Mexico. Together they had four children.

From Dallas, Texas, where Benny spent most of his life, working as an auto body shop, the Thomasson's moved up to Washington state in the early 1970s to be nearer their son Dale. In Washington, Benny connected with many up and coming fiddlers and his influence can still be felt in the region.

Benny improved and improvised on many simple traditional tunes. He practiced and developed controlled improvisation (see Matt Glaser's thesis "Controlled Improvisation in Texas-style Fiddling"), keeping the tune true to its melody while embellishing and expanding that melody. When asked whether his playing resembled that of his father's Benny answered

"Well, no. I'll tell you what. See those old tunes, back in those days was just little two-part tunes and they never had any variation to 'em. Now I play the same old tunes, but then I have arranged variations of the same parts in different positions on the fiddle, see. And like you'd be playing an old tune like "Dusty Miller" or something, and the low part there, and then you get up there on your higher positions and make it sound... get a little bit different variation, and get a good sound out of it. And it don't make it come back to the same old monotonous. two-part deals there..." (from Mendelson, p. 4).

Benny is duly acclaimed as one of the monumental parents of the great Texas fiddling tradition. He generously taught many fiddlers and influenced countless others. Mark O'Connor is probably Benny's most acclaimed student. Other students from the Northwestern United States include: Joe Sites and Barbara Lamb among many others. Students from Texas include Dale and Terry Morris; also among many others. Benny also passed on his love of music to his son Jerry, who may be heard accompanying him on the tenor guitar on recordings.

[edit] Discography

Texas Hoedown (County 703) ~1965
Country Fiddling From the Big State (County 724) ~1970
Dudley Hill - Guitar: From a Northern Family (Voyager CD 317) originally recorded in the early 1970s, re-released in 2002
Oldtime Fiddling and Other Folk Music (Weiser, Idaho, Chamber of Commerce) 1972
Oldtime Fiddling and Other Folk Music (Weiser, Idaho) 1973
A Jam Session With Benny and Jerry Thomasson (Voyager VRLP 309) ~1973
Texas Fiddle Legends Benny Thomasson and Dick Barrett (Yazoo 517, VHS video) recorded early ~1970s, released by Yazoo in the late 1990s
Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle (Voyager VRCD 345) recorded informally on March 3, 1974, re-released 1999
Tenino Old Time Music Festival: 1970 - 1978 Fiddle Tunes and Other Instrumentals (Voyager CD 367) 2005

[edit] References

Amaranth Publishing. (2005) "Midnight On The Water: A Legendary Texas Fiddle Tune." Amaranth Publishing. World Wide Web. Retrieved October 25, 2006, Link
Chadbourne, Eugene. (2005). "Benny Thomasson." Amaranth Publishing. World Wide Web. Retrieved October 25, 2006, Link
Fiddler Magazine. "Winter 2002/2003 Interview Excerpts: Continuing the "Great Conversation" with Fiddler-Philosopher Matt Glaser, By Peter Anick." World Wide Web. Retrieved October 25, 2006, Link
Fiddlers' Frolics. "Fiddlers' Frolics Hall of Fame: Benny Thomasson." World Wide Web. Retrieved October 25, 2006, Link
Mendelson, Michael. "Benny Thomasson and the Texas Fiddling Tradition." JEMF Quarterly. Vol. 10, Part 3, #35 (Autumn 1974). Retrieved from Sliding Scale Music, October 25, 2006, Link
National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest. "Past Contest Winners." World Wide Web. Retrieved October 25, 2006, Link
Voyager Records. "Voyager Records: Benny Thomasson - Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle Liner Notes." World Wide Web. Retrieved October 25, 2006, Link
Yazoo Records. (2005). "Texas Fiddle Legends: Benny Thomasson and Dick Barrett." World Wide Web. Retrieved October 25, 2006, Link