Sunday, December 14, 2014

The complete recordings of Jimmie Wilson`s Catfish String Band


Well, here`s some music you won`t likely be able to listen to all in one place. Jimmie Wilson`s Catfish String Band was sort of miss-named as a string band, they were actually what you might call a novelty band. Many of the sounds you will hear are home made or dime store type instruments. Such as the slide whistle and the bones. Another unusual sound you will hear is the bass fiddle played with a bow. At least I think it`s a bass, could be another home made instrument of some kind. The names of the members of the group, as far as I can find out with my limited research, were Jimmie Wilson, Jack Gillis, John Ed Harris, Dick Fahrenwald, Orrin Potter, Charlie Potter, Franklin Ward, Bob Dennis, and Speedy Mouleer. I have no other information about the group except that they were based somewhere in Oklahoma and must have played on KVOO in Tulsa by information we can obviously see the picture. All the information I found was from an internet search, so anyone can do more reasearch as easily as what I done. I also found the group picture on the internet.
They had a session for OKeh in 1925 and another for Victor in 1929. The discs I have are in pretty good condition and these are plenty listenable, although the OKeh discs are noisier than the Victor discs. Happy downloading!





Jimmie Wilson`s Catfish String Band / OKeh 45019
Let Me Call You Sweetheart / Snow Dear
recorded October 21, 1925 in Dallas, Texas
The two tunes here were quite common and popular tunes from earlier in the 1900`s. Interesting that deer is mis-spelled in Snow Deer, this tune was a song about an Indian maid much like the old song Red Wing.




Jimmie Wilson`s Catfish String Band / OKeh 45029
Medley Of Old Time Popular Songs / Over The Waves
session information same as above
Over The Waves is of course one of the all time, most popular waltzes. The tunes in the medley side are ??? ( I don`t know the name of the first tune, but have heard it), Bill Bailey,  There`ll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight, ??? I don`t recognize the last tune either.




Jimmie Wilson`s Catfish String Band / Victor V-40163
She`s Comin` `Round The Mountain / Catfish Whiskers
recorded October 17, 1929 in Dallas, Texas
She`s Comin` `Round The Mountain is the common old tune.  Catfish Whiskers is a medley with the first tune unknown to me, Bill Bailey, There`ll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight, and the last tune is also unknown to me.




Jimmie Wilson`s Catfish String Band / Victor V-40216
Catfish Medley March / Argentine Rag
session information same as above
The tunes in Catfish Medley March are ???, I Want A Gal Just Like The Gal That Married Dear Old Dad, and ???. This side has a neat guitar turn around in it. Argentine Rag is unknown to me also.

Jimmie Wilson`s Catfish String Band - Victor V-40240
Polecat Creek-Waltz / My Two Sweethearts
session information same as above
Polecat Creek Waltz is unknown to me. My Two Sweethearts is a pretty well known old-time song.

Click here to download the complete recordings of Jimmie Wilson`s Catfish String Band


The Phipps Family - Give Me The Roses While I Live


The Phipps Family LP`s are usually about the most downloaded posts I make, so here you are, Phipps Family fans! This LP has a good mix of old time gospel songs and Carter Family songs. Enjoy!





Click here to download The Phipps Family - Give Me The Roses While I Live

The Show Boat Boys - Champion 16077


The Showboat Boys - Champion 16077
Old Time Melodies Part 1 / Old Time Melodies Part 2
recorded June 28, 1930 in Richmond, Indiana
Here is the only record issued by this group (it was also issued on Gennett 7270). It`s sort of a barbershop quartet type record. They have pretty good harmony going here. Part of the song "snippets" on these two sides are Stephen Foster tunes. WARNING! There are some words in the songs that are racist words, also known as "Coon Songs", so if you are offended by this type of material, please don`t download this. Some of the song "snippets" are also from old spiritual type songs.

Click here to download The Show Boat Boys - Champion 16077

The Carter Family On Border Radio


Here`s The Next LP in the Maybelle Carter series, although this is really a Carter Family LP. This is material from the period the Carter Family was on border radio. I`ve described the border radio "phenomenon" of the late 1930`s before on some previous post, so I`m not going to get into that now. There`s some fine material here, so give it a listen.






Click here to download The Carter Family On Border Radio

Monday, December 1, 2014

Roy Acuff - Inside Music City interview


Here`s a pretty neat interview for all you Roy Acuff fans out there. Happy downloading!

Click here to download Roy Acuff - Inside Music City interview

Gennett 3062 - George Ake / David Miller


George Ake / David Miller / Gennett 3062
Sand Cave / Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane
A side recorded April 30, 1925 in Richmond, Indiana / B side recorded December 16, 1924 in Cincinnati, Ohio
I have no information at all about George Ake except to say that this is the only known recording he made. The Song Sand Cave is about the doomed spelunker from Kentucky, Floyd Collins. There were several songs written about him. There are a couple of books out about Floyd Collins also that are very good if you are interested in the story behind the songs.
David Miller recorded several songs from 1924 through 1931. The song here is the old tune Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane and is famous in the country music field because it was the first vocal recorded by a country artist, Fiddlin` John Carson for OKeh.
I have no idea why record companies put two different country artists on the same disc. It was fairly common from 1924 till about 1924-ish when this practice had fairly much stopped being used.
As for sound quality on this disc, it is an acoustic (pre microphone) recording and the sound quality isn`t too bad at all for a 90 year old disc that was only in fair condition.

Click here to download George Ake / David Miller on Gennett 3062

The Carter Family - Country`s First Family


Here`s the next LP in my series featuring Mother Maybelle Carter. Enjoy!





Click here to download The Carter Family - Country`s First Family