Ever since I heard a Twain impersonator playing the banjo, I have looking for such evidence. He played the piano - I don't know how well. He loved minstrel shows. And he could sing - although I seriously doubt that he had a bass voice - assuming reviewers of the day knew the difference between bass and (more likely) high baritone. 

On Feb 8, 2013, at 12:23 PM, Jeff Smith wrote:

> I'll just copy and paste:
> 
> I can't remember ever hearing that he played the banjo.  Just recently a
> friend lent me his copy of a Mark Twain edition in 1929 which included an
> article by Cyril Clemens talking about visiting the Gilles family in our
> California foothills.  I'd love to hear that it is TRUE Mark Twain played
> the banjo.  Can any of you confirm or deny this story?  It is the bass
> voice and the banjo playing that has me interested.
> 
> Here are the notes I made:
> 
> Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine  April 1929
> Founded by Bret Harte in 1868
> 
> Mark Twain Number
> Vol 87 April 1929 No. 4
> price 25 cents
> 
> page  116  Article by Cyril Clemens
> "A Visit to Mark Twain's Country"
> 127 cont.
> Author visited Tuttletown, (or Turtletown) where Bill Gillis lived.  Mr &
> Mrs Gillis (he 90) told stories they remembered of Mark Twain's visits.
> One incident involving two local girls, "The Chapperal Quails" two sisters
> who lived not far away.  Sam and Bill took them for a walk one Sunday
> afternoon and got lost, not returning til 11PM!  The mother blamed Sam
> saying they'd been out with Bill Gillis before and were never late.
> 
> "Sam saw that his presence was no longer desired, and was casting one final
> despairing glance around the room preparatory to his departing, when his
> gaze lighted upon a banjo.  Snatching this up quickly he began to play such
> favorite airs as, "Fly Away, Pretty Moth" and "Araly's Daughter"  He sang
> so well__Sam had an excellent bass voice--that before long the household
> was in tears.  Sam and Bill then arose to depart, but the mother said that
> she couldn't let them go without a bit to eat.  They heard a chicken squawk
> in the kitchen and in about twenty minutes the old lady came in with a
> large plater of fried chicken and a plate of biscuits.
> 
> As they were going home Bill said to Sam:
> 
> "Well, you saved your bacon."
> 
> "Saved my bacon," Sam replied indignantly, "that was the best fried chicken
> I have ever eaten in my life,""
> 
> Gillis also pointed out a large bed in the cabin and said they used to
> sleep in it during his visit.  "Sam always slept on the outside so he could
> be near his pipe and tobacco which he smoked incessantly.  Gillis said that
> Sam was extremely ticklish and used to get terribly provoked when Bill
> would torment him by tickling."
> 
> Look forward to enlightenment,
> Arianne Laidlaw
> 
> 
> On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 11:04 AM, Robert E Stewart <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> In the Feb. 2, 1863 atricle in  which the name Mark Twain first  appears,
>> the article concludes with the writer playing the piano. I can't speak  to
>> the banjo, but he did claim some musical talent in that writing.
>> 
>> Bob Stewart
>> 
>> In a message dated 2/8/2013 4:36:47 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
>> [log in to unmask] writes:
>> 
>> I can't  remember ever hearing that [Sam Clemens] played the banjo.   Just
>> recently a
>> friend lent me his copy of a Mark Twain edition in 1929  which included an
>> article by Cyril Clemens talking about visiting the  Gilles family in our
>> California foothills.  I'd love to hear that it  is TRUE Mark Twain played
>> the banjo.  Can any of you confirm or deny  this story?  It is the bass
>> voice and the banjo playing that has me  interested.
>> 
>> Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine  April  1929
>> Founded by Bret Harte in 1868; and  Mark Twain Number Vol 87 April 1929 No.
>> 4
>> Article by Cyril Clemens: "A  Visit to Mark Twain's Country"
>> .
>> 
>> Arianne  Laidlaw
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "It is one of the great mysteries of our nature, that a man, all
> unprepared, can receive a thunder-stroke like that and live. There is but
> one reasonable explanation of it. The intellect is stunned by the shock and
> but gropingly gathers the meaning of the words. The power to realize their
> full import is mercifully lacking."
> *- Mark Twain, writing on the anniversary of receiving news of his daughter
> Susy's death at age 24.*
> http://whit-superfriends.blogspot.com
> https://picasaweb.google.com/102502945213775366565
> http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000124911516

Alan Kitty
609-219-9339
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www.marktwainslaststand.com