Johnny St. Cyr

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Johnny St. Cyr (1890 to 1966) was an American jazz banjoist and guitarist from New Orleans. His father died when he was eleven. His mother would not let him play her guitar, so he built one himself from a cigar box, fishing line and wire. When he could play chords as well as she could, she gave him her guitar. At fourteen he played in The Consumers Band, named after the beer that the friends of his brother brought along every Sunday. The band drew the biggest crowds at the Saturday fish fries.

Music and breakthrough

In 1905 he left school and became an apprentice to a plasterer. He played with the National band and later came into the shop of the barbers and violinists Piron and Paul Dominguez, who had a lot of sheet music. He became one of the pioneers of jazz and played in the groups of Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Johnny Dodds and Kid Ory. He can be heard on the recordings of Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven. He himself wrote, among other pieces, Messin' Around, Buddy's Habit, High Fever and Oriental Strut.

Influence

St. Cyr played a Martin guitar, a four-string tenor banjo or a six-string banjo-guitar, which he made himself by attaching the neck of a guitar to a banjo. That gave a louder instrument with a jazz sound. He used a hard, thick plectrum, made from toothbrush handles, for a supple rhythm and clear single-note lines. He established the idea of the banjo in jazz, a combination that changed the banjo world. He saw himself as a working man, who liked playing without putting himself first.

Listening

In School of Rock

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