Mostly your relatively ancient American folkstyles mish-mashed together here (in honor of our nation's birthday), but framed by some Euro-type things, and of course North Carolina artists are foregrounded heavily as always. To begin with, lawyer and folkie Bascom Lamar Lunsford delivers a lusty and forceful "Hesitation Blues" in Asheville, N.C. for Robert Winslow Gordon on behalf of the feds in 1925. Then do enjoy the fidelity on Rudy Cipolla & David Grisman's "Chinese Carousel" because it's about the only semi-contemporary recording here. Those men did have a way with their mandolins. I bet it wouldn't be too hard to find a cleaner copy of the 78 of D. Halkias' "Minore Tou Halkia", but the story behind my finding this reissue is somewhat unusual: One Saturday a few years ago, I was negotiating the bike rack at a used book sale in Fort Mason, and an old man with a long beard and a sailor's cap was next to me strapping an album of old rembetikas onto the back of his bike, to give to his Armenian wife, apparently. I had totally forgotten about the LP section at the store, and sure enough he left a few volumes in the series behind for me.
Next up, ethnomusicologist Laura Boulton records Yaqui Indians performing "Matachines" for an Easter ceremony in Tlaxcala, Mexico, sometime around 1940, the George Ku Trio offer the tender plaint "Kuu Lei" from 1932, and the Highway QC’s sing "How I Love Jesus" from a rather rough-sounding promo Vee Jay 45 I recently picked up in Washington, DC. Channeling the profane once more, Calvin Johnson thunders through a truly rocking "Unsatisfied Mind" (with drum thwack at its most cardboard boxy) and Eddie Taylor boasts "I’m Gonna Love You," also recording for Vee Jay. A different genre, but you might hear the same lightly swinging rhythm tipping in with Norvin Kelly's Hank-styled "You Can’t Make Me Live With The Blues." I'm pretty sure Carl Belew had a hit on "24 Hour Night" but boy it sure is a dark and sorrowful tune. That's nothing though, compared to Dave Van Ronk's "Hang Me." A dying soldier's tragic fuck-you wrapped up in a petty dream of betterness. Worthy aside: Van Ronk threw rocks at cops at Stonewall. Jimmie's cousin Ernest Rodgers got to make a few sides for Victor in the 20's ; the well-known "Willie The Chimney Sweeper" belongs to the whole Minnie the Moocher/Jerry the Junker body of lurid drug songs and also evokes a whole lot of Barbary Coast hoodoo as well. I'm sure you all know Michael Hurley, who continues to record and tour today. "Lilly Pads" is a just a great old album track, and pretty catchy too.
The Blue Sky Boys, aka Bill & Earl Bolick out of Hickory, N.C., were recruited for an Illinois festival reunion in 1964 by none other than Archie Green (RIP), and "Midnight On The Stormy Deep" is but one of their many old hits rekindled that night. And now a couple of hillbilly tunes struck deep with the spirit: Fred Starr & His Mountain Boys's "Shout & Shine" is from a surprisingly stirring budget label LP, and this version of "There Ain’t No Grave" (a song I've never heard a bad version of) is off a 1961 single by Detroit-area duo by the name of Jimmie Williams & Red Ellis, both of whom had long careers prior to this. Play-party time again, and the mighty Algia Mae Hinton bangs out an "Old Time Buck Dance," mad breaks and all. Next is a record by the Internes. I'm pretty sure they're the Four Internes of Durham, N.C., whose career supposedly began while working as orderlies at Duke Hospital and recorded for King/Federal in the early 50's. "When You Pray" is an uptempo harmony fingersnapper from 1958. No surprises from Brownie McGhee's "My Fault" ; his honest and unassuming manner make the song, and it's really in that Tampa Red/Melrose family vein of solid pop blues.
Les Waldroop's "Watergate Bug" is an obscure record even for him, and what a tangled, weird anachronism it is too. Collecting North Carolina records is even more fun when artists actually name-check places; that's only part of what makes Jack Grant 's "Raleigh Train" such a hoot, but it's a big part. Besides, train songs rule. Now to throw you off the scent, this isn't the Carolinian guitarist Arthur Smith, but the fiddling Arthur Smith Trio of an earlier era; their breakneck "I’m Bound To Ride" of 1935 was later covered by the Stanley Brothers. Not much info on this here National Geographic Music Of The Ozarks record, but I'll be darned if this "Guitar Medley" ain't the jam. Harmonica Frank Floyd presents the familiar "Married Man" descriptive novelty in fine form (I'd buy a bottle or two). As you can hear, he hadn't really mellowed out too much by the 70's.
Sandy & Jeanie Darlington's "When I Die" is simple revival purity, somewhat blemished by the following blue record: pretty sure that Pratt & George Blues Part 2 is from an instantaneous recording from the 1930's or possibly 40's, at any rate early for this kind of aimless funk. Stirring up the kettle a little bit, Radley Gourzong's take on one of the most ur-fiddle tunes ever, "Devil’s Dream," is a field recording from the Caymans, and is from the great compilation Under the Coconut Tree on Original Music. And now we hear some fine Hungarian orchestrated soul from Asszony Lesz A Lanybol with "Levelem, Levelem" and then, also from Hungary, one of Bela Bartok's legendary cylinder recordings. This is of two girls, Battovsky and Zichla, performing "Megjott A Level Fekete Pecsettel," and it is from around 1910.
4 comments:
What do you know bout Sandy and Jeanie Darlington. Jeanie wrote a column in the 60s alternative press Good Times newspaper entitled Grow Your Own. I collected the columns and still have them someplace. Her husband also wrote about wine--I think a book on Zins. Anyway I would love to know what happened to them.
Well, I don't know too much beyond this album I have here: it's on Folk Legacy (a Vermont label that issued a ton of Appalachia among other stuff) from 1966, and though it's more trad its got a lot in common intellectually with the Farinas. I know they performed at the Berkeley Old Time Fiddler's Convention some time too.
Here's a quote from the notes:
"We're mostly urban people, out of power and nervous. And one of the things we do is use folk music. Most of us have no genuine connection with any folk community, and these songs are not genuine to us in any objective way. In other words, nobody thinks we're natives, and we don't have a native music. But since we don't, we're free (given a good bit of nerve) to grab whatever music we like and use it. The result is that we end up doing just like mountain people, or blues singers, or cowboys, but relative to our own situation; singing in order to stay sane, and stubborn, and to have a good time, and to say how we feel."
Oh yeah, & they learned the song I used from the Folkways Watson Family LP.
And furthermore, it looks like Jeanie is now Jeanie McLerie and plays Cajun music in New Mexico. Here's an old photo from the group's website:
http://www.bayouseco.com/content/sandy-and-jeanie-berkeley-ca-1967
I saw Sandy & Jeanie perform in Liverpool in about, oh, 1966, and have their album (titled Sandy & Jeanie). They divorced and Sandy died of a stroke in Mexico in 1989. I may try to see Bayou Seco perform in Clovis later this year.
Mike
Sandy and Jeannie Darlington spent time in the UK after a European sojourn, living in North London , Camden Town. Significantly they accompanied Pete Seeger on his "All My Trials" Anti apartheid tour,
including a date in June 1964 at Hornsey Town Hall.
Post a Comment