Sunday, December 20, 2009

The Carolina Tar Heels

Here`s a great LP-----period. The Carolina Tar Heels were originally a group in the late 20`s. Here is a "re-discovery" of an artist from the 20`s, Dock Walsh being the core of this group. Originally the other two members of the group were Clarence "Tom" Ashley, who was also a re-discovered artist in the late 50`s or early 60`s, and Gwen Foster, who was a good harmonica player and somewhat of a country guitar virtuoso of the 20`s. The liner notes I`m including tells a short story of the original group and the group on this record also. Likely the most fascinating thing on this LP is Dock`s slide banjo. It`s sort of a haunting sound to me. Dock Walsh is sort of an overlooked artist I think. Although Dock had recorded in the 20`s with this group, he had recorded in 1925 & 1926 solo for Columbia and these are great sides. Listen to them if you get the chance. I may post them someday. Hope you all enjoy this one.




Click here to download The Carolina Tar Heels.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Two Howard Vokes LP`s

Right here is some hard-core country! Unfortunately, Howard Vokes never made the BIG big time. He is likely virtually unknown actually. I done a quick internet search and there are a few good biographical pages on him, so I`ll not go into that here.
I mentioned he is pretty obscure, but apparently was a pretty well know regional artist in the east. His material runs from somewhat novelty numbers to drinking, broken heart songs and also tragedy and disaster type songs. The tragic and disaster type songs seem to have been his specialty. He made a record for Starday that was just disaster and tragedy songs. It`s morbid ,but it`s great!! The Starday LP has been issued on cd in the last few years and I highly recomend getting it.
When Howard is really bearing down on a good tragic number, he will surely remind you of Roy Acuff singing. The sound of his band is even Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys-ish sounding. Roy even recorded a song or two Howard was known for, such as A Plastic Heart, Willie Roy, The Crippled Boy and Mountain Guitar.
Give these two LP`s a listen, I bet you`ll like them. If you like these I highly recommend getting the Starday cd mentioned above.



Track list for Pennsylvania`s King Of Country Music---
A Plastic Heart
Your Kisses And Lies
Keep Cool But Don`t Freeze
Empty Victory
West Of The Yukon
Break The News
It Takes Six Men To Carry A Man To His Grave
(But Only One Woman To Put Him There)
Judge Of Hearts
My Weeping Heart
Born Without A Name
I Was A Fool
Tomorrow Is My Last Day

Click here to download Pennsylvania`s King Of Country Music



Track list for Tears At The Grand Ole Opry
This Prison I`m In
Ghost Of A Honky Tonk Slave
The One I Once Knew
If This World Wants Peace
Forever
Willie Roy, The Crippled Boy
Mountain Guitar
Tears At The Grand Ole Opry
Down In The Hollow
The Polka From Outer Space
It`s All Right Now
Keep Cool But Don`t Freeze

Click here to download Tears At The Grand Ole Opry

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Roy Harper & Blake Bynum - Pine Mountain LP`s

Today I`m posting 2 LP`s by Roy Harper & Blake Bynum on the Pine Mountain Records label.
Roy Harper will be no stranger to anyone from middle or east Tennesse that frequents the old-time music festivals and contests. He is a well known songster, largely in the Jimmie Rodgers style. He has won many old-time singing contests over many years. He plays flat-top rhythm guitar and harmonica in a rack so he can play both instruments at the same time. He is also known to play the kazoo.
Blake Bynum was a great instrumentalist, playing finger-picked country style guitar and was also great in the old country-Hawaiian lap style. He usually played an old National square neck Tri-Cone guitar, but also played electric lap steel occasionally. His guitar styliongs were also very blues influenced. He sort of had a style of his own on each instrument, being influenced by country & blues finger picking and Hawaiian guitar styles. I love the Hawaiian instrumentals he does here. Straight forward Hawaiian songs with a little country blues influence makes for some fime picking in my book. I don`t know hardly anything about Blake Bynum, except that he had a group in at least the late 40`s and into part if not all of the 50`s called The Sand Mountain Boys. An internet search on Mr. Bynum turns up pretty much nothing. I`d like to hear any information on Blake anyone might have.
I have a couple more of their records I`ll post someday----hope you enjoy!



Track listing for Echoes Of The Past---
Blake`s Chimes
Way Out There
Home Sweet Home
You Guessed It
Old Spinning wheel
Train Whistle Blues
Birmingham Jail
Stormy Tropical Seas
Steel Guitar Rag
Do You Miss Me
Hurrying Home
Over The Waves



Click here to download Echoes Of The Past



Track list for Country Music Treat---
I`ll Be All Smiles Tonight
Why There`s A Tear In My Eye
Tennessee Steel Guitar
Spanish Fandango
The Waltz You Saved For Me
Columbus Stockade Blues
Hawaiian Blues
Maggie
The Flat Top Ramble
Careless Love
Where The Palm Trees Sway
Sweet Bunch Of Daisies
Rolling Down The Line
Jimmie Brown The Newsboy
Bury Me Beneath The Willow
Spanish Guitar Chimes



Click here to download Country Music Treat

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Lew Childre update

My good friend Robert Montgomery just sent me an un-released song for Lew Childre`s Old Time Get-Together LP. So I thought I`d post the song along with some pictures of a couple souvenir books I have. Thanks for the song Robert!!
Pictures from Lew`s own book---


Play guitar just like Lew!!---



Get a Lew Childre fishing pole here!!---


Pictures from Lew & The Duke Of Paducah`s souvenir book---


Were you there??!!---


Click here to download Lew Childre`s Big Rock Candy Mountain

Monday, December 7, 2009

Junior Samples, Junior Samples, Junior Samples!!

Here is something I don`t believe you`ll find anywhere on the internet. All of Junior Samples released sides! As far as I know this is everything ever released by Junior Samples. I`ll not go into any biography stuff, I looked some on the internet and it`s plenty easy to find information about Junior if you want to. As far as I know there was 6 LP`s issued of Junior, many of the LP`s had repeat tracks from other LP`s. I`d venture to say that if none of the LP`s had repeat material that only 4 LP`s would hold all the tracks. As always, click on any image to enlarge it.
So here he is, the great funny man, Junior Samples!!!

Cover from Moonshining---


Click here to download Moonshining

Cover from That`s A Hee Haw---


Click here to download That`s A Hee Haw

Cover for The Best Of Junior Samples----


Click here to download The Best Of Junior Samples

Cover from The World Of Junior Samples---


Click here to download The World Of Junior Samples.

Cover from Bull Session At Bull`s Gap---



Click here to download Bull Session At Bull`s Gap

Click here to download Star Of Hee Haw

Cover for Star Of Hee Haw----









Sunday, December 6, 2009

Lew Childre - Old Time Get-Together

Here`s a great Starday LP. I believe this is the only LP Lew Childre ever made, although he had a few 78`s in the early 30`s and early 50`s.
Lew was a great entertainer. He was a walking old song library. I`ve heard some radio transcriptions and it`s pretty hard to believe the wide range of styles of songs he knew and adapted to his own special style of playing Hawaiian type guitar and singing.
Lew had started out entertaining by busking, graduated to the medicine show circuit, and finally "hitting it big". He was one of the more popular acts on the Grand Ole Opry in the mid and late 40`s, often performing duets with The Kentucky Wonder, Stringbean.
Lew was also a famous fisherman. He and his son had a company that made and sold handmade cane fishing poles and also developed some of their own fishing lures!
Here are the notes from the back of the LP (just click on the pictures to enlarge)----



This LP is just like a live show, so I have just left it as 2 tracks, side 1 & 2 from the LP. You all will surely like this one!

Click here to download Lew Childre - Old Time Get-Together

Monday, November 30, 2009

Kalama`s Quartette - Early Hawaiian Classics

Here is a good LP from the Folklyric label, number 9022. There is some great music here, even though I of course don`t speak Hawaiian, so I can`t understand a word they are singing. I listen mostly to the instruments playing, but even though I can`t understand their language on the songs they sing in Hawaiian, I still enjoy the sounds and especially the harmony of their voices.
I don`t know anything about these guys, so I`m just posting the notes from the back of the album cover, which were written by Bob Brozman. There is likely nobody that is more knowledgeable about Hawaiian music, especially lap slide style.
As you listen to this, keep in mind, if it wasn`t for this type lap slide playing, we might not have pedal steel, electric lap steel and dobro in country music today. All the acoustic resonator instruments were invented as a way to amplify volume for Hawaiian lap style guitarists. When these instruments such as the National Tri-Cone, National "biscuit" style resonator and the dobro style guitar were developed, it was more volume the inventors were looking for, not the unique tone each of these types of instruments produced. The same goes for electric guitars. The first electric guitars were Hawaiian style, that is made to play laying down.
Here are the notes from the back of the LP cover (click on them to enlarge them)---



Track listing----



Click here to download Kalama`s Quartette - Early Hawaiian Classics

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Bascom Lamar Lunsford - Minstrel Of The Appalachians

Here`s a great LP with a great cover. This LP is on the Riverside label, number RLP 12-645. This LP must be pretty rare, I looked for this one for a few years. That`s one of my favorite album covers! I guess I`ll stick to talking about the music. Album cover art could be a subject for a whole blog page on it`s own.

This autograph isn`t a real autograph, it`s printed on the back of the album cover. How many Bascom Lamar Lunsford autographs do you suppose exist? And what a unique autograph at that. Of course the uniqueness of the autograph matches the uniqueness of the man. Not only was he a great old-time singer and banjo picker, he practically invented the idea of what we now call an old-time music festival, which could be considered the daddy of the bluegrass festivals today. He started the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival at Asheville, North Carolina. This became the biggest festival of this type in the 30`s through the 50`s. (I`m not 100% sure when this festival got it`s start, but I believe in the mid to late 30`s) This festival was the daddy to what we consider the greatest old-time music festivals today like the ones at Galax & Mt. Airy, North Carolina.
I`m not going to try to go into Mr. Lunsford`s biography as there are a couple videos out about him and also a book I believe. None should be hard to find by doing an internet search. I am including a piece of what is written on the back of the LP cover.






















Track listing---
Poor Jesse James
Go To Italy
The Merry Golden Tree
I Shall Not Be Moved
The Derby Ram
The Old Man From The North Country
The Miller`s Will
Sundown
Fly Around, My Blue-Eyed Girl
Black Jack Davy
Weeping Willow Tree
Swing Low, Chariot
The Sailor On The Deep Blue Sea
John Henry

Click here to download Bascom Lamar Lunsford - Minstrel Of The Appalachians

Burl Ives - The Wayfaring Stanger - 10 inch Stinson LP!!

Here`s something that is surely un-common. A Burl Ives 10 inch LP on the Stinson Records label. The catalog number for this LP is SLP #1, so this must have been the first LP this label issued.I don`t know what year this was issued (there`s no date on the LP cover) but ole Burl looks pretty young. I think Columbia was the first out with 10 inch LP`s around 1948. I bet this is not much newer than 1948.
Any folk music fan will be familiar with Burl Ives. Besides maybe Pete Seeger, he is likely about the best know folk type singer. He was pretty popular in the 50`s.
I usually am not a fan of folk type music, especially protest type songs. I don`t really know why, I just never could get turned on to that. I wouldn`t call Burl a strictly folk singer though. His material had lots of old-time type songs and also alot of old ballad type stuff, especially English isle type ballads.
I really don`t know much about the personal life of Burl Ives. He was popular though. He was particularly good at connecting with children and had many kid type songs he performed. He was also in some movies. I remember seeing him in a western playing sort of a mean good guy once!
Now, I`ll give you a few words about 10 inch LP`s. Most of the 10 inch LP`s I`ve ever heard didn`t have any better sound quality than the 78`s that were being pressed at the same time. We usually think of LP`s having superior sound to the old 78`s, but that`s not usually the case with 10 inch LP`s. I just thought I`d say this so if you download this and the sound isn`t as good as you`d expect for an LP, this is the reason why. Hope you all like this one!

Track list---
Poor Wayfaring Stranger
Buckeyed Jim
The Foggy Foggy Dew
The Fox
Henry Martin
The Blue Tail Fly
Brennan On The Moor
The Bold Soldier
The Sow Took The Measles
Black Is The Color

Click here to download Burl Ives - The Wayfaring Stranger

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Country Music Cannonball on Starday LP

Here`s an LP by the great Smoky Mountain Boys & Girls, Roy Acuff`s Band. All of Roy`s band had made records on their own, mostly in the 60`s, but Oswald recorded on his own up into the 90`s.
The best well know would be Bashful Brother Oswald, playing dobro & 5-string banjo. The banjo he is holding on the album cover was one he had inherited from the great Dixie Dewdrop, Uncle Dave Macon.
Next in order of seniority would be Jimmie Riddle on piano & harmonica. He is holding a bass harp in the picture and was known to play this on Hee Haw when they had the harmonica band on the show. He is also famous for "Eeephing" on Hee Haw. I`ll be posting some Jimmie Riddle stuff on here someday. If you don`t remember him eeephing on Hee Haw, or even know what eeephing is, do an internet search or stay tuned here for when I post his stuff that I have.
Next we have Howdy Forrester, one of the best ever country fiddle players. He started playing professionaly around 1940 with Sunshine Slim Rutledge, then was with Bill Monroe in the late 40`s before Roy Acuff hired him. Check out my other post on Howdy if you want to learn & hear more.
Next is Jackie Phelps on electric guitar. Jackie was a good lead electric guitar picker and also played several other instruments including lap steel and a 2-finger bluegrass style banjo. His is likely most famous for being Jimmie Riddle`s partner on Hee Haw in the Eeephing & Hambone feature on the show. Jackie done the "hambone", which is a rhythm technique where a person slaps various body parts with their hands to keep time, sort of the same idea as playing a washboard.
June Stearns was a fairly new addition to the band when this LP was made. She was a good singer and had a real strong honky tonk type voice.
Lastly is Gene Martin on rhythm guitar and also as a lead singer. He was a brother to Benny Martin, who had at times fiddled for Roy some. Gene had a pretty good country voice and was good at imitating other country artists. He made at least one other LP for Starday that was mostly comedy doing imitations, I`ll post it sometime soon.
Starday albums such as these were nearly always songs recorded by artists for solo LP`s, sort of like a complimation record. Some of these songs are on other Starday LP`s, some were recorded just for this release I believe.
Starday would take material and put them on one LP to make it sound like a live show or some theme type thing. Sometimes the material used would be un-released stuff by a particular artist, material that didn`t make it onto the original released LP by the artist. One that comes to mind was by The Crook Brothers, Lost Indian. Lost Indian didn`t make it onto their LP with the McGee Brothers, but came out on a fiddle music themed LP Starday released later.
Starday was sort of a second string country label, although about at the top of the second string. If Starday hadn`t existed there is a lot of good country music by lesser known artists we likely would never have heard.
I hope you like this one!!

Track listing---
Y`All Come - Jackie Phelps
The Longest Train - Gene Martin
Still On The Hill - Howdy Forrester
Family Man - Gene Martin & June Stearns
Courtin` In The Rain - Bashful Brother Oswald
Just Another Song - June Stearns
Gospel Guitar - Jackie Phelps
Smoky Mountain Train - The Smoky Mountain Boys
Dobro Chimes - Bashful Brother Oswald
Mister Piano Man - Gene Martin
Coon Hound - Jimmie Riddle
We`ve Got Things In Common - Gene Martin & June Stearns
Rabbit In The Log - Bashful Brother Oswald
Wabash Cannonball - Jackie Phelps

Click here to download Country Music Cannonball

Monday, November 9, 2009

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

Saturday, November 7, 2009

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`

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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.