| Notes |
- Johns's death certificate lists his birth year as 1867 but hisheadstone says 1866. Which is correct? (David H. Drollinger 9 Apr2012)
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:m51EoNAqTRkJ:www.voyagerrecords.com/LN366.htm+drollinger+deaths&hl=en
(Reference the last paragraph of this liner notes excerpt for areference to a "Jack Drollinger". Who is this Jack Drollinger and whois his father? - Question posed by me, David H. Drollinger 21 Oct2005)
PETE McMAHAN: 50 OLD-TIME FIDDLE GEMS
VRCD 366 Disks 1 & 2
Pete McMahan was well known nationally, both as a championMissouri-style fiddler and as a respected judge at major contests. Hemade his mark on the world of old-time fiddling with a style all hisown that firmly echoes the Missouri fiddle tradition. With approvaland help from Sarah McMahan, this Voyager project brings Pete'sout-of-print Lp records to new audiences of fans and fiddlers. And itoffers a tribute to his achievements and influence.
Pete's branch of McMahans came from County Cork, Ireland, to NorthCarolina in 1734, and members of the family eventually moved acrossthe mountains to central Kentucky. Around 1820, three McMahan brotherscame to the north bank of the Missouri River in central Missouri,among the first Scotch-Irish pioneers here. Pete was born November 18,1918. His parents were Homer and Dorothy Whitlock McMahan and Pete wasone of eight children born on the family farm near Bluffton in thehills of southwestern Montgomery County and southeastern CallawayCounty. Pete's mother and several sisters played the violin, and hismother specialized in the reed organ, playing backup for fiddlers atlocal dances.
Pete started playing fiddle at age six with legendary dance fiddlerClark Atterberry, learning many tunes in chorded A or D. His firsttunes were "Rye Whiskey" and "Ta-ra-ra-boom-teay." Pete remembered"That old man, Clark, could play a fiddle. He had the best ?LeatherBritches' I ever heard". Pete's mother was Clark's favoriteaccompanist. According to Clark's nephew, Harvie Atterberry of Fulton,"Uncle Clark said he never played with nobody who could keep time likePete's mother could." Clark Atterberry was a farmer near Readsville insoutheastern Callaway County, a mile south of the McMahan farm. Tomake cash money, from time to time Clark and his brothers hewed oakrailroad ties with broad axes, and ran a "tie crew" hauling ties withwagons to the KATY Railroad at Portland, an old town on the MissouriRiver.
On his deathbed in 1970, Atterberry asked Pete to play, and, after heplayed, said: "Pete you play just like I do." Pete said "I should. Yougave me the inspiration."
As he grew into his teenage years, Pete played guitar for fiddlers andtried his hand at fiddling at countless Saturday night barn dances. Heoften backed up Herman Boone at dances at a store in Williamsburg,north of the McMahan farm. On occasion, Pete played tenor banjo, whichhe tuned like a violin (G-D-A-E). He also learned to call squaredances, and remembered Jack Drollinger, a nephew of Clark Atterberry,to be the best caller in their area. Pete loved playing for squaredancers, despite the rigors for the musicians. "It was something towatch, they jig-danced to every step of it. ... It's hard work to playfor a square dance ... one set might last fifteen minutes. You made adollar or dollar and a half a night, playing from dark till daylight."
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1867 - 1949 (82 years)
