Black & White Hillbilly Music: Early Harmonica Recordings from the 1920s & 1930's
Black & White Hillbilly Music: Early Harmonica Recordings from the 1920s & 1930's
表演者: Various Artists
发行时间: 2006-10-17
条形码: 4015698022629
专辑简介
From AMG Reviews
This is all pure country music, before there really was such a thing. This is the folk music of England, Ireland, and Scotland wrapped up in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and in the Appalachian plains, and was transformed into something so perversely American it was a freak show to the rest of the country when it finally was released on recordings. These recordings by the Crook Brothers, Delford Bailey (the first black instrumentalist on the ~Grand Old Opry stage), the Jackson County Barn Owls, the Riverside Ramblers, Karl Harty, the Pickard Family, Dr. Humphrey Bate His Possum Hunters, Lonnie Glosson, and others were the sounds of people telling stories to one another in the confines of their communities, playing the old songs as if they had a secret code not decipherable outside the holler. Music was played by clans for other clans; many of them identifying their "turf" and placing the name "Ramblers" after it (there are four such acts on this disc). This is primarily string band music, unique because of the prominence of the harmonica in the ensembles themselves. Fiddle solos were replaced or at least augmented by harmonica. As an album, it doesn't have the power or the focus that other Trikont compilations have. It feels shoddily snapped together to meet a production deadline, with this theme as its only unifier. That said, it's of more than casual interest because of the material, which is very fine, and most of it is so obscure that it is seldom (if ever) referenced. Of particular note is the early swing flavor of the Nelstone's Hawaiians, formed during the brief national craze for Hawaiian guitar music. It seems there was contact beyond the mountain ridge after all. Glosson's "Lonnie's Fox Chase" is part Irish reel, part blues shuffle, part stomping bluegrass thunder. Using his voice to add percussion in and out of rhythm, Glosson had a few tricks up his sleeve as a harmonica player, but he used them very effectively, bending pitches that give the appearance that he's changing keys on the same harmonica, and then singing through the harmonica body as he blew into it, creating true microtones. This psycho track is worth the price of the entire compilation. There's supposedly a guitar on this cut as well but you can't hear it and it doesn't matter. The other solid jam is DeFord Bailey's "John Henry." This is a blues stomp from 1928. The polyrhythms created by Bailey's harmonica allowed for shifts and breaks in the melody in which the body of the tune changed from a country shuffle to a steamy blues while remaining recognizably the same song. Despite its flaws, this is still a worthy collection.
- Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
曲目
1. Chased Old Satan Through the Door/Likes Likker Better Than Me - Woodie Brothers
2. Bake That Chicken Pie/Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home - Jackson County Barn Owls
3. Aunt Dinah's Quilting Party - The Floyd County Ramblers
4. Just Because /Mobile County Blues - Nelstone's Hawaiians
5. My Bones Gonna Rise Again/Serves 'Em Fine - Dave & Howard
6. Cackling Hen Blues
7. Drifting Along/Dissatisfied - Riverside Ramblers
8. Wishing
9. Running Around - Joe Werner & The Ramblers
10. Ammend la Nouville a Mamere - Joe's Acadians
11. Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet
12. Lonnie's Fox Chase - Lonnie Glosson
13. Huskin's Bee - The Yellow Jackets
14. Think a Little
15. Get Away From That Window - Pickard Family
16. How Many Biscuits Can You Eat/Ham Beats All Meat - Dr Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters
17. John Henry - DeFord Bailey
18. My Wife Died Friday Night - Crool Brothers' String Band
19. Think a Little
20. Get Away from That Window
21. How Many Biscuits Can You Eat
22. Ham Beats All Meat
23. John Henry - Traditional
24. My Wife Died Friday Night