Collected by Merlin Mitchell
Transcribed by Kyle Perrin
Reel 10
Item 4
Jim Means
Goshen, Ark.
November 9, 1949
Conversation (Craziness ta lk )
M..........Nov you say that fid d le cost $25,000. Did you play on i t ?
Means..Yeah.
M..........Well, what did i t sound lik e to you. Sound lik e i t was worth that?
Means..It was r e a lly a good one.
Mrs. Means..Well, we c an 't find out very much about i t . I asked a few
questions. I asked some people about an antique, you know. He
said he got i t when he was a l i t t l e boy before he was bornd. I
s a id , Where did i t come from. He s a id , From I t a ly .
M.......... From I t a ly . Yeah, th a t 's where those famous fid d le s come from.
Mrs. Means..Now, th a t 's about a l l we learned about i t . I ju s t d idn 't
mean no harm by asking qu e stions , you know. I ju s t thought i f
some of his fo lk s had l e f t i t fo r him, why—and I don't know why
they've got the price so high.
Means..Didn't look any b e tte r than some other v io lin s I'v e played on.
But, i t sure i s a good one.
Mrs. Means..And in a cedar case.
M...........Well, was i t a Stradevarius? Is that the name of it ?
Means..I don't know. I fig g e r i t i s . And the case i s ju s t a cedar
tre e sawed through the middle—s p l i t open—sawed open—and then
the inside dug out and then rounded up on the outside and varnished.
I t ' s the p e r tie s t thing you ever seen. I t was r e a lly b e au tifu l.
Mrs. Means..Why, anybody that was a workman could make 'em one th e irse lv e s
lik e that without having to buy a case—
Means..I guess I could make one out of hickory.
Mrs. Means..Seems lik e i t looked kinda odd, don't it ?
M...........Sure does.
Mrs. Means..That's ju s t the way i t seems to me—that that wou ld look odd.
Means.. Some night come down and w e 'll go over there.
M ......Y e a h , I 'd sure lik e to see one hollowed out of a cedar tr e e .
Mrs. Means..Well, I'm ju s t lik e you. I ju s t wanted to see i t .
M..........Co on now. You say th is f e l l a had gone crazy?
Means..Well, I kinda believe he i s .
M..........Well, what's he done. Is he cutting up?
Means..No, h e 's ju s t r e s t le s s . Can't s i t s t i l l . Gets out and walks
around a l l the time. I fig g e r , though, that th a t 's a d ise a se ,
don't you?
M ......Y e a h , I guess so.
Means..Most anyone might get that way, you know. Get a l l nervous and tore
up. That i s a c lo t on the brain or something lik e that—poor
c ircu la tion in the head.
M..........Well, i f i t ' s a d ise a se , I 'd think he'd be able to cure i t with
medicine.
Means..Well, you c an 't cure i t with medicine. I t ' s something they c an 't cure.
M..........Yon have to lock him up and l e t him s ta y there a while, uh?
Craziness Talk (Cont.)
Means..That's r igh t. There's no—no cure—no cure fo r the most of craz in e ss.
And some of them i s ju s t wore out crazy, you know. Ju s t wore out
in mind same as body—when they get old. That's ju s t old c raz in ess.
T hat's not lik e th is other.
M ......W e ll, you know any p a r ticu la r people th a t 's had i t ? Around here?
Means..Well, y e s ,—
M...........What did they do?
Means..They were wild. Had to shut 'em up, t i e 'em down or something.
M..........Had to hog t i e 'em.
Means..Naw, I don't want to do i t .
M..........Co on and t e l l me and then I ' l l erase i t .
Means..Well, my daddy was crazy. We've had plenty of experience with
crazy people, se e . He was here—my wife and I taken care of him
fo r two years. And he was crazy.
Mrs. Means..He was e igh ty -six years old.
Means..Eighty-six years old and he was wild and the on ly way I could g i t
any r e st a t a l l was to t i e him to a chair. I tied him down, got
me a big rock and tied i t to the chair, so he couldn't move i t ,
and tied him to the chair. That's the only way I got any r e s t—
day or night.
M..........Well, you had to take care of him.
Means..Had to take care of him. I wouldn't say anything a t a l l because
I was a fra id they'd k i l l him, you know—beat him to death.
Cause, you couldn't make him do nothing. Only ju s t manhandle
him, th a t 's a l l .
Mrs. Means..You couldn't ta lk him into anything. I f you wanted anything,
you ju s t had to do i t by fo rce .
Means..I had to force him to do what he done. Eating and everything e ls e .
