http://www.mercurynews.com/alamedacounty/ci_9123565
Longtime Alameda musician Charlie Blacklock dies at 91
By Martin Snapp
Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/01/2008 05:32:15 PM PDT
The world of musical saw players lost its elder statesman April 17 when
Charlie Blacklock of Alameda died at age 91.
"He wasn't a big deal, he was THE deal," said the current champion,
20-year-old Caroline McCaskey of San Pablo, who won the title last summer at
the annual International Musical Saw Festival at Roaring Camp near Santa
Cruz, which Blacklock founded in 1991.
"Everybody loved him," she said. "He was so supportive of anybody who wanted
to play the saw."
Like many younger sawyers - that's the technical term - McCaskey got her
first musical saw lesson from Blacklock.
"He showed me how to hold the saw, how to hold a bow and how to get a sound
out of it. Then he said, 'OK kid, now go home and practice.'"
In addition to founding the festival, Blacklock founded the California Saw
Players Association - later changed to International Musical Saw Players
Association - and served as its first president until failing health forced
him to retire in 2002.
He had his own band called, simply, Charlie's Band. Over the years, the
members included such luminaries as Nina Gerber, Professor Gizmo and
professional whistler Jason Serinus, who did the whistling for Snoopy's
bird, Woodstock.
He also designed, produced and sold his own line of musical saws, the C.
Blacklock Special, which come in 26- and 28-inch "tenor," 30-inch "baritone"
and 36-inch "mini-bass" sizes and are renowned for their beautiful,
clear and mellow tone.
His wife of 69 years, Viola, who died in 2005, made carrying cases for the
saws and kept the books.
"She was the brains of the outfit," said Morgan Cowin of San Rafael, who
succeeded Blacklock as the association's president.
In 1999 Blacklock was inducted into the American Old-Time Country Music Hall
of Fame. He had fans all over the world, with a particularly strong fan base
in China and Japan.
Blacklock was born Feb. 15, 1917, in Hollister.
He grew up on the family farm, which his grandfather established shortly
after the Civil War.
"His dad had him go out and sleep with the turkeys during thunderstorms to
keep them from injuring themselves," said his longtime friend,
accordion/guitar player Art Peterson of El Cerrito, who performed with
Blacklock for tourists for several years at Fisherman's Wharf.
"We were just down the street from The Human Jukebox," said Peterson.
Blacklock studied clarinet in high school and picked up the harmonica on his
own. As a young boy he designed and made a harmonica holder so he could play
music while driving the tractor.
Then one day he heard a musical saw band called The Crosscut Boys on the
radio, and his life changed.
"I never heard anything so beautiful before," he recalled years later. "I
knew then and there that I wanted to play the saw."
The pureness of his sound was legendary, in part because he used his
harmonica as a pitch pipe to find the saw's sweet spot.
"That sweet spot changes with each note," said Peterson. "If you miss it by
an inch, you'll get the note but you'll also get a scratchy bow tone. If you
miss it by 2 inches, you won't get any sound at all."
He was adept at many musical styles, but his first love was the popular
tunes of his childhood, including "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "I'm Forever
Blowing Bubbles" and "The Missouri Waltz." But music had to be a sideline
for many years because his family lost the farm during the Great Depression.
He worked as a farm laborer and joined the Fruit Pickers Union, where he
became friends with legendary labor organizer Harry Bridges. The two of them
were hauled up before a government committee investigating radical influence
in the labor movement.
Later he took the test for the Electricians Union and worked as an
apprentice electrician at the Oakland Naval Supply Center during World War
II.
After the war he moved his family to Alameda and joined International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 595. Always seeking to improve his
skills, he studied electrical engineering and worked all over the East Bay,
often as foreman, until his retirement.
He and Viola had three sons - Kenneth, Rodney and Paul - all musicians, as
are many of his eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
His grandson, Kenny Blacklock, is a noted bluegrass fiddler.
"He loved to tinker with machines, especially his motorcycle, which he
fitted up with a sidecar," said Peterson. "One time he actually traveled all
the way to Yosemite with Viola and the kids, all loaded onto that little
motorcycle and the sidecar."
After retirement, he and Viola traveled all over the country, usually
accompanied by two pet monkeys, on whom he doted.
"Did I mention that he was also president of the Simian Society?" said
Peterson.
Blacklock died at Alameda Hospital of complications from a cold. His friends
held a memorial service April 25 in Sebastopol, filled with fond stories and
much music making.
"He was just the sweetest guy," said McCaskey. "He always gave me the
feeling that he would have liked me, even if I didn't play the saw."
But though he was the world's most famous saw player, he was not the most
famous person ever to play the saw.
"That distinction belongs to Marlene Dietrich," said Cowin. "But, like many
other musicians before and since, she was unable to support herself purely
on her musical talent and had to find another line of work."
Reach Martin Snapp at 510-262-2768 or e-mail msnapp@???.
