The banjoist's siblings Mac and Alec Daniels were musical clowns that performed throughout Europe, and one of Joe Daniels' own 15 children was Alf Daniels, also known as Clown Dano. Compared to this fellow's antics, overseeing hammering on flanges and tone rings must have been quite relaxing. The family of this instrument inventor is also quite interesting, including Frank Clifton, who was known under several other names in a career as a gymnast, acrobat, rope performer, clown, and equestrian trickster. He died of a heart attack while sitting in the back of a taxi cab. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, presented Daniels with the high honor of a silver medallion inscribed with the fleur de lys, which Daniels promptly stuck to the peg head of the banjo he played in his live shows. His unique "Defiance" banjo has been described in language that could possibly arouse a hot-rod tinkerer, if nobody else on earth: "a nine inch vellum glued direct on to a one fourth inch square bezel though which straining bolts passed to engage in a flange fixed to an all metal resonator-type back." Perhaps more understandable is the reduced weight of the instrument, a benefit of using aluminum that meant all the world to anyone who got smacked over the head with a banjo in a rowdy British music hall.ĭaniels was not a hands-on craftsman, delegating much of the shop work to others but apparently overseeing final construction. In 1887, he received a patent for a metal casing, eventually known as a tone ring, which encircled the banjo hoop as well as a spring device to reduce pressure on the banjo tailpiece. He is most known, however, for his instrument building innovations, especially his banjo design. Joe Daniels & Tom Greise - Forever Young, Loved and Celebrated. He taught banjo, mandolin, and guitar as well as stage dancing, and had respectable careers in all these professions. This Joe Daniels was the first of them all, an advertised "Musical Instrument Maker" in London from 1870 onward. Changing it to Joe Daniels inevitably meant being confused with several drummers, a guitarist, a recording engineer, and perhaps even an infamous Navy admiral who tried to outlaw liquor on all vessels. Born Joseph Toledano, this artist would have done well to keep his real name.
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