Cecil Campbell & The Tennessee Ramblers - Steel Guitar Classics

Cecil Campbell played the old style lap steel. He was heavily Hawaiian influenced, like many of the first generation country steel players were.
This LP has some good, solid, real country music on it and some Hawaiian influenced instrumentals.
Here is a paragraph from the back of the LP cover as sort of a biography --- "Cecil Campbell Got His Professional Start On Radio In Winston-Salem, North Carolina after being born and raised on a Carolina tobacco farm. He has appeared in a half dozen motion pictures and has made many tours and personal appearances with such movie stars as Johnny Mack Brown, and others. Cecil Campbell is also an accomplished banjo player, band leader, and master of ceremonies. He was featured for many years on CBS coast to coast radio shows and appeared in a number of motion pictures with Gene Autry and other western stars. The recordings on this album were made in the early 1950`s when Cecil Campbell & The Tennessee Ramblers were at their peak."
A few of the songs on this LP have been issued on a cd. I used the cd tracks where I could as the sound of the cd tracks are better than my LP. Hope you all enjoy this LP.

Track listing---
Steel Guitar Ramble
Left All Alone With A Broken Heart
Steel Guitar Wiggle
Tear Drops
Steel Guitar Tango
Please Daddy Don`t Drink No More
Steel Guitar Dig
Tennessee Border
Steel Guitar Swing
Please Don`t Call In Any Help
Beaty Steel Blues
No Wedding Bells For Me

Click here to download Cecil Campbell - Steel Guitar Classics

Benny Martin - Old Time Fiddlin` & Singin` LP

Hello folks, here`s a good one for Benny Martin fans. There`s plenty of information about Benny Martin out there, so I`m not going to go into anything here. I`ve had to start working nights, so the blog stuff is likely gonna slow down some. Especially the information department. So--I hope you all still enjoy my page, it`s all about the music anyhow!!

Track listing---
Coming Attractions
Me And My Fiddle
(By The) Law Of My Heart
To Cry The Blues Each Day
Slim Chance
Lover Of The Town
I`m Right And You`re Wrong
Girls, Girls
I`m Checking Out
Take My Word

Click here to download Benny Martin - Old Time Fiddlin` & Singin`

Jasper Bisbee on the Edison label

Hello folks, it`s been a while since I put any 78`s on here, so here we go!
All of these sides are old-time fiddlin`with piano accompaniment. I`m not going to go into anything on Jasper Bisbee because there is an article on him in a past issue of The Old-Time Herald magazine that is WAY better and more informative than anything I could write about him.
Click here to read Jasper Bisbee article.
It`s an extra interesting article that is very well written and tells some great stories about Mr. Bisbee meeting Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.
I`ve done about the best I could with noise reduction of these discs. The third and fourth songs are noisier than the other four songs as my record was worn pretty bad. The other four tunes turned out pretty good I think, these two discs are in near mint condition.
Happy listening!!

Track listing---
McDonald`s Reel - Edison 51278
Opera Reel With Calls - Edison 51278
Money Musk - Edison 51381
The Girl I Left Behind Me-Medley - Edison 51381
College Hornpipe - Edison 51382
The Devil`s Dream (Reel) - Edison 51382

Click here to download Jasper Bisbee`s complete Edison recordings.

Obray Ramsey & Byard Ray as White Lightnin` - Fresh Air

Well folks, here`s another LP by Obray Ramsey, this one is with his fiddling cousin Byard Ray. I`ve already posted another Obray Ramsey LP, so if you want to know what little information I know about Obray Ramsey, go read the other post. I don`t know any new information about him since the other post, although some people posted a little information about him in the comments on the LP.
This LP was recorded in 1970 for the Polydor label. This is a pretty unique record for an old-time banjoist & fiddler. They are playing with other musicians here, and they are sure enough not what we`d call old-time style musicians or instruments. There is electric guitar, drums & cello, pretty unusual for this type music. So, if you like Obray Ramsey, give this a listen!!

Track list---
Cumberland Gap
Up Country Blues
Life`s Railway To Heaven
Scotland
Little Margaret
Orange Blossom Special
I`ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Billy In The Lowground
Farther Along
Liza Jane

Click here to download Obray Ramsey & Byard Ray as White Lightnin` - Fresh Air

Curly Fox & Texas Ruby - Fantastic Fiddlin`, Fun, And Songs By The Stars Of The Grand Ole Opry

There`s some good stuff on this one. Curly Fox was a "show" fiddler (meaning he was as much a visual act as a musical act), but also was a great fiddler. He was also a good harmonica player. His harp specialty was novelty tunes such as train imitations and fox race type tunes.
Curly got started in the 30`s, working for a while with the great Clayton McMichen. I don`t really know much about his early career. He wound up on the Grand Ole Opry, performing show pieces up into at least the early 70`s.
He was even in one episode of the Andy Griffith Show. He fiddled in sort of a cameo in an episode where a "city Slicker" had came to Mayberry to collect folk songs to put out an LP. Salty Holmes was also in this episode playing a Jew`s harp. My good friend Robert Montgomery pointed this Curly Fox fact out to me.
Now I`ll tell you all what little I know about Texas Ruby. Really about all I know is that she started performing in the 30`s as sort of a yodeling cowgirl type act. I don`t know how she and Curly met, on the road likely. The were married, but I don`t know when, early 40`s I`d guess. In contrast to Curly`s music, which trended towards old-time type stuff played in a hot style what might be called pre-bluegrass, Ruby`s music was western swing, pop like.
I will mention that Ruby died in a fire of their home one Saturday night in the 60`s while Curly was at the Opry performing. Here is a paragraph written about this terrible accident on the back of the LP cover----"Note: Less than 72 hours after these notes were written, Texas Ruby perished in a fire at Nashville while Curly Fox was performing on the Opry. Miss Texas Ruby was Mrs. Curly Fox in private life. Starday joins with country music fans everywhere in mourning the loss of this fine artist." So, I`d say her songs on this LP is the very last recordings Texas Ruby made. Hope you like this LP!!

Track list----
The Old Grey Mule
Shanty Street
Fire On The Mountain
Chasin` The Fox
Love Me Now
The Mockingbird Reel
Wink Your Little Eye
The Model T And The Train Race
Big Silver Tears
Whistlewood
Hang Out The Front Door Key
The Twighlight Waltz
I Don`t Love Nobody
Curly`s Talkin` Blues

Click here to download Curly Fox & Texas Ruby - Fantastic Fiddlin`, Fun & Songs by the stars of the Grand Ole Opry

Slim "88" Wilson - Country Honky Tonk Piano

Hello folks! Here`s a good LP if you like old honky tonk type piano.
I know, nor could find, absolutely nothing about this guy. This is an old LP of my mom`s, we used to listen to it all the time when I was a kid. I did find on the internet that this LP was issued in 1964. My mom has long been a fan of honky tonk, barrel house and ragtime piano. Give it a listen and enjoy it!!

Track listing---
Down Yonder
Maggie
Listen To The Mockingbird
Clementine
Comin` Around The Mountain
Golden Slippers
There`s A Tavern In The Town
Wabash Cannonball
Railroad Honkytonk
Buffalo Gal
Corina, Corina
Lonely Honkytonk

Click here to download Slim "88" Wilson - Country Honky Tonk Piano

Mother Maybelle Carter - jam session LP

Although this 2 disc LP is self titled, I give it the name Jam Session with Maybelle because that`s what it is, a jam session.
I`m not going to go into any history of Mother Maybelle, because it`s plenty easy to find information on the internet about her and all the other Carter Family folks.
So----I`ll just say a little bit about this LP---
As I said, it`s pretty much a jam session with Maybelle. I`ve heard other LP`s that were supposed to be spontaneous jam sessions with the artist, but this is the best one I`ve heard as far as it sounding like a genuine jam session. The people with Maybelle just talk with her and ask some questions about the old days and then Maybelle of someone else cooks up the idea of playing a certain number and then they`re off!! There are some flubs on some songs and such as that, making this LP feel like you`re really there at the jam with Maybelle.
That`s enough talk about this LP---just give it a listen for yourself!!

Track listing---
Good Old Mountain Dew
Still
Arkansas Traveler
Waterloo
Black Mountain Rag
Wabash Cannon Ball
Rocky Top
Release Me
Hey Liberty
Chinese Breakdown
The Bells Of St. Mary`s
The World Needs A Melody
Never On Sunday
Tennessee Waltz
Red Wing
Wildwood Flower
Running Bear
Drunkard`s Hell
Sweet Allie Lee

Click here to download Mother Maybelle Carter

Obray Ramsey Sings Folksongs From The Gateways To The Great Smokies

Here`s an LP you`re going to like if you are a fan of REAL old-time banjo picking and singing. Nothing fancy out of Mr. Ramsey here, just good, solid, straight forward old-time singing with banjo. Most of these songs are sure enough traditional songs, some even going back to the traditional English ballad type songs.
I don`t know much to tell about Obray Ramsey, so I`m just going to type the one paragraph about him on the back of the LP cover-----
"Obray Ramsey is an excellent example of these processes (referring to the history of the "handing down" of this type of music). Ramsey was born on the banks of the Three Laurels to a western North Carolina family rich in Appalachian tradition. From his mother and grandmother he inherited his basic store of Anglo-Irish-American song. His repertoire includes not only the old ballads and lyrics, native and imported, but later forms and songs distributed by Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family, and other early hillbilly entertainers. He learned the guitar as a young man, but usually performed without accompaniment. The folksinger-collector-impresario Bascom Lamar Lunsford "discovered" Ramsey, encouraged him to become an excellent banjo picker, and featured his performances on the Asheville Folk Festival. Ramsey`s performances show varied influences, and he has extended his repertoire by festival contacts. He seems to have completely absorbed all he has learned of old and new styles, and his performances are excellent examples of a good portion of Appalachian song today. His singing often echoes the oldest of mountain styles; he plays "clawhammer" banjo without the flamboyance of the "bluegrass" performer; he is the composer of a number of gospel songs. Performers like Ramsey are of great importance in presenting folksong tradition to the "outsider" and preserving it for their own people."
So there you have it---hope you enjoy!!

Track listing---
The War Is A-Raging
Little Margaret
Down Beside The Ohio
Worried Man
Hold Fast To The Right
Pearl Bryant
Cripple Creek
I Wish I Were A Single Girl Again
Little Sparrow
Shortening Bred
The Roaming Boy
I Want To Go Home
Pretty Saro
Pretty Fair Miss
Man Of Constant Sorrow

Click here to download Obray Ramsey Sings Folksongs From The Gateways To The Great Smokies

Onie Wheeler - Something New And Something Old

This has to be a mega-rare LP!! It was issued in 1982 and by that time Onie would have been a really obscure artist. By this time about all he was known for was playing the harmonica and making the train whistle effect for Roy Acuff on the Opry.
Onie (that`s a great name!!) was born in Senath, Missouri (south-east Missouri) on November 10th, 1921 and passed away at a late night gospel performance on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry May 26th, 1984.
Onie`s early recorded music (1953) was a new type of country music. It was some pretty hard rockin` stuff that we now would call rockabilly, or at least pre-rockabilly. Onie was also well known as an excellent harmonica player.
I`m not going to go into a whole lot of detail about Onie because there just isn`t all that much information on him. If you like this LP even a little bit I HIGHLY recommend buying a cd called Onie`s Bop on the Bear Family label. It`s a great cd featuring music he recorded in the 50`s for Columbia and Sun. There is also a 24 page booklet with the cd. The quality of the cd package is excellent, which the Bear Family label is well known for excellent sound restoration and really nice liner notes and such.
A few interesting facts I know about Onie is that he toured some with Elvis when he was first starting out. He also toured some with George Jones. Sometime in the late sixties Roy Acuff added Onie to his Smoky Mountain Boys. I never have heard the story about Roy hiring Onie. I wonder if Roy hired him more for his train whistle imitation than his harmonica player because Roy already had the best harp player in country music, Jimmie Riddle. Look on you tube for an Onie Wheeler clips, there is at least one of Onie doing one of his own songs with the Smoky Mountain Boys and some other clips of him playing harmonica for Roy. On the Roy Acuff song, Freight Train Blues, Onie and Jimmie Riddle play some pretty intense twin harmonica.
Onie wrote 4 of the songs on this LP---Onie`s Bop, I`d Rather Scratch With The Chickens, his best know number John`s Been Shuckin` My Corn and it`s "answer" song, Shuckin` My Way To The Hall Of Fame.
Well, I guess that`s about all I can say about Onie, he was a great singer with a rich baritone lead voice and great harp player. As I said, if you like this LP, buy the Onie`s Bop cd!!

Track listing---
She`s Layin` Down The Lovin`
Lunch Box Hero
Wreck Of The Ole Ninety-Seven
Lucian`s Song
John`s Been Shuckin` My Corn
Layin` Around With Susie
Living Without You
Onie`s Bop
I`d Rather Scratch With The Chickens
Shuckin` My Way To The Hall Of Fame

Download Something New And Something Old Here

The Phipps Family sings the Most Requested Sacred Songs Of The Carter Family

Hello folks, it`s Sunday so I`ve posted a gospel album called Most Requested Sacred Songs Of The Carter Family - Played & Sung In The Old Original Carter Family Style By The A.L. Phipps Family. That`s a mighty long title for an LP, but it is a pretty good LP!! I don`t really understand the "Sacred" part of the title though. Not all the songs on the album are sacred songs. We have a few songs of home, a tear jerker or two and a disaster song.
The Phipps family were from south east Kentucky, around the Barbourville area. Basically, the Phipps Family pretty much identically copy the Carter Family. Usually, a group that copies another great group never captures the "feel" of the group being copied, that is not the case with the Phipps Family. It`s uncanny how close the Phipps Family sounds like The Carter Family. Their singing is so much like the Carter`s it`s almost hard to tell them apart. A.P. Carter was well known not to sing in a regular fashion (he might sing his bass line on the first 2 lines of the first chorus, the last line of the 2nd chorus, or just whenever the mood stuck him I guess) and A.L. Phipps has the "mood" of A.P.`s singing down pretty dang good. Even the Phipps Family instrument styles pretty much totally reproduce the Carter Family`s instrumental styles.
Now I`m going to say something that might be considered blasphemy to country music fans, I`d rather hear the Phipps Family do Carter Family music than the Carter Family themselves. I can`t explain why, it`s just that way. Apparently A.P. Carter loved them too, as he played dates with them and even recorded a record or two with them.
I hope you enjoy this gospel record. What could be more pure than Carter Family gospel done by the Phipps Family??!!

Track listing---
Keep On The Sunny Side
Lonesome Valley
Cyclone At Rye Cove
No Telephone In Heaven
River Of Jordan
Little Log Cabin By The Sea
I Can`t Feel At Home
On The Rock Where Moses Stood
Motherless Children
Anchored In Love Divine
Little Poplar Log House
Diamonds In The Rough
A Distant Land To Roam
Where Shall I Be

Click here to download Most Requested Sacred Songs Of The Carter Family by the A.L. Phipps Family