Posted by Willie on June 11, 101 at 21:40:39:
In Reply to: Talking Steamboats and Music With John posted by Kris Garnjost on June 11, 101 at 17:55:00:
Captain Harry Louden was a little old man and a great steamboat pilot who loved old-time country and bluegrass music. He'd be steering the DELTA QUEEN down the river when, suddenly, he would begin whistling "Turkey in the Straw" and start clog-dancing as he stood between the steering levers of the grand old riverboat.
Whenever John Hartford was aboard, it wouldn't take him long to get to the pilothouse. Of course, he always brought along his fiddle or the five string banjo. As John entered the tiny room with the best view of the river on the DELTA QUEEN, Harry would turn around and acknowledge his presence, but would let him take a seat on the "lazy bench" behind the pilot knowing that John was itching to steer. Eventually, Harry would ask in his little old man's voice, "Wanna steer, some, John?" Of course that's what he came up for. "Well", continued Captain Louden, "Play something on that fiddle and I'll let you steer."
The sweet sounds of John Hartford's fiddle would drift from high atop the DELTA QUEEN until Cap'n Harry figured John had paid his fare, and Harry would step from behind the "sticks" and climb up onto the warm spot John had left on the "liar's bench"; light his pipe, look off into the night, and say softly, "Just hold her on that notch..."