A “RAKE” THAT’S MUSICAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 10 December 1938, Page 6

A “RAKE” THAT’S MUSICAL

Some of the younger generation may r.ot know it, but a "rake” is not necessarily something that a boy should dodge studiously on Saturday and a girl should dodge at all times. A "rake”, as their parents can tell them, is a one-string fiddle. It still can rake leaves if necessary, but it is much more happily at home in the hands of the Weaver Brothers and Elviry, hillbilly act that endeared itself to the American nation in twenty-five years of vaudeville headlining. The Weaver Brothers and Elviry. originators of the avalanche of rustic and hill-billy music that has come rolling down the mountain, retired from the stage several years ago. Now they have come out of retirement to appear in “Swing Your Lady”, a motion picture version of the recent Broadway comedy that Warner Bros, will release shortly. The “rake” that sings is only one of a dozen musical curiosities that the Weavers invented during their stage career. "It jes’ growed on us,” Abner Weaver explains. “There was a prop jes’ cluttering up the stage and settin’ around dressing rooms, so we jes’ figgered out how we could use it.’’ The jazz band that Cicero Weaver plays came to life the same way. It includes a banjo in which are incorporated a pie-plate back, a pistol, a ratchet noise-maker and automobile horns. The musical saw was a creation of the Weavers back in 1916. It still is one of their favourites over the radio and on records.