Folkways Years (1959-1961)

Product Description:
Rough, gritty folk guitarist and singer, Van Ronk is one of the genre's most expressive musicians. These 20 tracks represent Van Ronk's best loved material and reveal his original synthesis of jazz and folk. Titles include Willie the Weeper, Come Back Baby, and Yas, Yas, Yas. Van Ronk's handpicked favorites from his Folkways LP's. Compiled and annotated by Kip Lornell and Dave Van Ronk. "...his carefully crafted guitar accompaniments are varied, inventive, and often surprisingly delicate. The reasons for Van Ronk's impact remain loud and clear." -- Sing Out --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Folkways Years (1959-1961),Dave Van Ronk,Smithsonian Folkways,Contemporary Folk,Folk,Folk & Traditional,Folk Revival,Folk-Blues,Folk-Jazz,Folksongs,Jazz Music,Pop,Singer/Songwriter

Average customer rating: The Mayor of MacDougal Street Speaks For Himself In Song When Folk Was King (or Queen) For the Folk Purist Preserved on CD, for better or for worse

Dave Van Ronk: The Folkways Years, 1959-1961 Dave Van Ronk Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Contemporary Blues | Blues | Styles | Music General | Blues | Styles | Music Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Revival | Folk | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Traditional Jazz General | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Smithsonian Folkways Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Inside Dave Van Ronk The Mayor of MacDougal Street: Rarities 1957-69 ...And the Tin Pan Bended and the Story Ended... Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk Sunday Street ASIN: B000001DI4 Release Date: 1992-07-13

Tracks:

1. Duncan And Brady
2. Hesitation Blues
3. In The Pines
4. Willie The Weeper
5. Twelve Gates To The City
6. River Come Down
7. Careless Love
8. Betty And Dupree
9. Bed Bug Blues
10. Leave Her Johnny
11. Yas, Yas, Yas,
12. Please See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
13. Winin' Boy
14. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
15. Gambler's Blues
16. Spike Driver's Moan
17. Georgie On The IRT
18. Come Back Baby
19. Black Mountain Blues
20. My Baby's So Sweet

Album Description

Rough, gritty folk guitarist and singer, Van Ronk is one of the genre's most expressive musicians. These 20 tracks represent Van Ronk's best loved material and reveal his original synthesis of jazz and folk. Titles include Willie the Weeper, Come Back Baby, and Yas, Yas, Yas. Van Ronk's handpicked favorites from his Folkways LP's. Compiled and annotated by Kip Lornell and Dave Van Ronk. "...his carefully crafted guitar accompaniments are varied, inventive, and often surprisingly delicate. The reasons for Van Ronk's impact remain loud and clear." -- Sing Out

Customer Reviews:

The Mayor of MacDougal Street Speaks For Himself In Song.......2007-01-03

I admit it. I LOVE Dave Van Ronk's music.... his styling, playing and singing .... I even like what I know about him from the book about him mentioned in the title of this review. I associate him and his music with my own coming-of-age in the early 60's. His music was gritty, tuneful and 'real' in a way that sharply contrasted the neatly produced works of such contemporaries as Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez and The Kingston Trio. His sound spoke to the way I wanted to see myself - and today, at 60, I still listen to it quite a bit and enjoy playing my own renditions of these tunes on both the 6 and 12 string guitar. A necessary addition to any folk music collection!

When Folk Was King (or Queen).......2006-04-01

When I first heard folk music in my youth I felt unsure about whether I liked it or not. As least against my strong feelings about the Rolling Stones and my favorite blues artist such as Howling Wolf and Elmore James. Then on some late night radio folk show here in Boston I heard Dave Van Ronk doing `Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies' and that was it. That old-time gravelly voice (even though I found out later that he was relatively young at that time) still commands my attention in the same way.

The last time I saw Dave Van Ronk perform, after not seeing him for a fairly long period of time, was not a particularly good night as he was pretty sick by that time. Moreover, his politics seemed to have crumbled over time from that of the hardened Trotskyist of his youth going out slay the benighted Stalinists for the soul of the working class. His dedication to leftist politics, as testified to by those who knew him well like Tom Paxton, was well know and passionate. A man who can write an interesting ditty about the notorious Moscow Lubyanka political prisonm is definitely a political man. Although no one asks a musical performer to wear politics on his or her sleeves as a litmus test, given his status as a prime historian/activist of the folk revival of the 1960's, this was disconcerting.

That folk scene, of which Dave was a central and guiding figure not fully recognized outside a small circle to this day, was not only defined by the search for root music and relevancy but by large political concerns such as civil rights, the struggle against war, and the need for social justice. Some of it obviously was motivated as well as simply a flat out need to make our own mark on the world. Dave was hardly the first person from this period to lose his political compass in the struggle against injustice. I say this with sadness in his case but I will always carry that memory of that late night radio experience in my head. That said, please listen to this man reach under a song. You will not forget it either.

For the Folk Purist.......2002-11-30

My first exposure to Dave Van Ronk, although I've known his name for years. Definitely a winner for those interested in roots folk/blues. Fabulous unique and creative guitar rhythms blend perfectly with Van Ronk's rough voice. Mostly obscure songs from the early 1900s learned from friends and off the street - a plus for me. The album includes a sheet of comments about the songs.
My favorite: "Just a Closer Walk with Thee", the old spiritual done as never before.

Preserved on CD, for better or for worse.......2000-09-27

I listened to Dave Van Ronk's old Folkways records a LOT growing up - most of these songs I have not heard in years. There are enough good songs to make this CD worth owning ("River Come Down" is a particular favorite of mine). My 12-year-old enjoys the same songs I enjoyed at his age: "Yas-Yas-Yas", "Willie the Weeper". A number of the old folk tunes sound so amateurish to me now they are painfully embarassing to listen to: "Saint James Infirmary" for example is just awful. Nevertheless this is a good collection and a good example of a genre that was extremely popular during the Folk Revival of early 60s.

Average customer rating: Otherworldly, unforgettable music Ground Zero GREAT CD!!!!!!!!!! Blues Old Timey Blues Old Timey, banjo, banjo, banjo Applachian Best Too much of a good thing?

Dock Boggs: His Folkways Years 1963-1968 Dock Boggs Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Blues | Styles | Music Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music General | Country | Styles | Music Old-Time Country | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Revival | Folk | Styles | Music Appalachian | North America | International | Styles | Music Smithsonian Folkways Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: The High Lonesome Sound An Untamed Sense of Control Black Banjo Songsters of North Carolina and Virginia Greenback Dollar: 1929-1933 Clarence Ashley And Doc Watson: The Original Folkways Recordings, 1960-1962 [2-CD Set] ASIN: B00000AFQO Release Date: 1998-09-15

Tracks:

1. Down South Blues
2. Country Blues
3. Pretty Polly
4. Coal Creek March
5. My Old Horse Died
6. Wild Bill Jones
7. Rowan County Crew
8. New Prisoner's Song
9. Oh, Dear
10. Prodigal Son
11. Mother's Advice
12. Drunkard's Lone Child
13. Bright Sunny South
14. Mistreated Mama Blues
15. Harvey Logan
16. Mixed Blues
17. Old Joe's Barroom
18. Danville Girl
19. Cole Younger
20. Schottische Time
21. Papa, Build Me A Beat
22. Little Black Train
23. No Disappointment In Heaven
24. Glory Land

Tracks:

1. Banjo Clog
2. Wise County Jail
3. Sugar Baby
4. The Death Of Jerry Damron
5. Railroad Tramp
6. Poor Boy In Jail
7. Brother Jim Got Shot
8. John Henry
9. Davenport
10. Dying Ranger
11. Little Omie Wise
12. Sugar Blues
13. Loving Nancy
14. Cuba
15. John Hardy
16. Peggy Walker
17. I Hope I Live A Few More Days
18. Turkey In The Straw
19. Calvary
20. Roses While I'm Living
21. Leave It There
22. Prayer Of A Miner's Child
23. Coke Oven March
24. Ruben's Train
25. Cumberland Gap
26. Careless Love

Amazon.com

Dock Boggs champions will look back at 1998 as a monumental year for the Virginia-born banjo-playing songster who, but for a few years in the late '20s and the early '60s, lived in obscurity. His first recordings have been beautifully reissued in Revenant's Country Blues: Complete Early Recordings package. His shadow looms over Greil Marcus's Invisible Republic--the critic's best book since Mystery Train. And Smithsonian Folkways has brought back 50 recordings made by Mike Seeger during the autumn of Boggs's life. Together with the Revenant material, this two-CD reissue--including a brilliant essay by Barry O'Connell--details one of the most mysterious voices in American music. When Boggs sings he tears each line to pieces and, in turn, the language of his death-obsessed blues rends his voice into a scratchy, painful tremolo. This is not folk music for the timid. "Oh, I've got no sugar baby now," he wails in one of his best-known songs. "It's all I can do for to see peace with you / And I can't get along this-a-way." Along with celebrated material from the '20s, Boggs also chose for these '60s sessions a few gospel tunes, which are sung with the revealing intensity. And on every track, even on the shaky, jagged instrumentals, Boggs captures the darkest and resiliency of a man's soul. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews:

Otherworldly, unforgettable music Ground Zero.......2006-12-21

Dock Boggs is the quintessential haunting and haunted banjo player and singer. When I first heard his music a decade ago I felt a shock of recognition that I've never experienced with ANY other musician, regardless of musical style. Perhaps growing up in the backwoods of Mississippi in the 1960s lent me a familiarity to his musical & personal power that may be missing from more "modern" sensibilities. Every fibre in my body has been shaped and haunted by intensely personal innerworkings created by listening to & singing old-time songs and hymns and I find that my emotions are exactly reflected in Dock's music.

Upon hearing him for the first time, I immediately became a Dock Disciple and have incorporated many of his songs into my own banjo & guitar repetoire. It's a long shot that folks with more modern sensibilites will be as overwhelmed by Dock's vision as I, but I can only hope & pray that there are people out there (particularly the younger folks) that will be as moved by the awesome power of Dock as I have been. Dock represents a wisdom and strength of character that is becoming increasingly rare in the country's population today.

Several years ago, when I sat down on his grave in Norton, Virginia and played several of his songs to him on the banjo, the sun was beaming as bright as it could be; when I finished half an hour later with his devastating song "Calvary", it was pouring rain....which seemed so very fitting. Dock's playing & singing reflect an overwhelming quality of "terrible beauty".

It's difficult for me to put into words exactly what Dock's legacy means to me but, if you're ready & willing to give yourself over to an unparalled example of the vanishing strength of American character and the power of an absolutely unique, touching and simple-yet-complex life, Dock's music will thrill you and haunt you as no other. His biography reads like a parable straight from the Old Testement and every moment of his life, from his birth to his death, can be heard in his music.

ESSENTIAL listening; now more than ever, this CD set should be issued to every American upon birth.

GREAT CD!!!!!!!!!!.......2004-02-25

These are two vry good cds. Dock Boggs' work is amazing. I like his Prodigal Son so much. All the songs are good. So are the liner notes. Any one who likes Bascom Lamar Lunsfod, Uncle Dave Macon, Tom Ashley, Grayson & Whitter and all those old time guys will love these cds, Buy 'em now.

Blues Old Timey Blues Old Timey, banjo, banjo, banjo.......2004-01-07

Dock Bogg's music is typical of old time music by white appalachian performers, particularly banjo players. In this forum, his grand neice points out that he has one of the best combinations of Blues and country ever found. He was a singularly personal performer.

In many ways he is more like the Skip James of old time banjo than the Robert Johnson, particularly if you listen to the haunted original recordings James made in the 1930s. In fact in the 1960s when he joined the folk revival and performed along with a lot of the old blues musicians who had similarly been "rediscovered" Dock Boggs said if he had to do it all over again, he would have learned to play guitar and sing the way Mississippi John Hurt played and sang!

The bluesiness of this all may be more pronounced in Boggs' work, but it was really typical of the white Southern banjo players of his era. They are playing an African instrument, transmitted into their area by African Americans, their repetoire ranges into blues, their musical styles on the instruments even in non-blues are influenced by blues music. They lived in a society where the formal racial separation of Jim Crow Segregation and Lynch law existed because of the actual integration of the lives and cultures of white and black workers and farmers and above all musicians was greater than what we have today.

Dock Boggs was quite explicit. He recalled the names of the black banjo players he saw in childhood who played banjo finger style, rather than in the claw hammer style that his brothers played. From childhood he wanted to play like them. Many of the tunes he recorded he said he got from listening to Black blues records. Anyone who cares to read the many interviews with Boggs that have been published or listen to the cds and lps of his memories can learn about this.

Bogg's skills as a singer, as a banjo player, and, above all, as a performer who throws himself entirely into his songs,are unique. But the mixture of African and European American music he represents is hardly unique.

He may collide with the rather false, sometime boring, washed white fantasies about old time white country music nourished by folkies and post folkies and with what white racists who cling to as something purely "white," but Boggs' bluesyness is part of being real old time and not a suburban 60-90s fantasy of old time life.

What about the other great finger picking discovery of old-time banjo playing, Roscoe Holcomb. When he was rediscovered though Holcomb's repetoire included all kinds of music played on banjo, guitar, harmonic, and fiddle, he said he was a blues singer and one of the better ones around his area of Kentucky!

The mixture is real. If you go back and listen to say the Carter family (whose guitar style came from a black man Leslie Riddle who performed on several of their cuts) or to Bill Monroe (who along with fellow western Kentuckian Merle Travis learned much of his music from Black bluesman Arnold Schultz) they sound so much blusier, so much more black influences, than the Allison Krauses and Nickel Creeks reared in suburbia and not the world of racial cultural mix that Dock Boggs comes from.

Just a point of fact, Bogg's banjo style is closer to bluegrass than most other banjo players of his time. Most of Boggs contemporaries were frailers of various kinds, whereas Boggs was a finger picker for the most part. Bluegrass banjo involves precisely adding in the bluesier licks and sounds to the music in an systematic fashion. It is a finger style with just the kind of synchopation that Boggs was a master at.

Particularly the initial bluegrass recordings of Bill Monroe at the end of WWII are obviously a reaction to the rhythmns of Swing. The setup of the tunes, playing the melody first and then opening for improvisational solos by virtuosi musicians, comes from the combo swing and bop then prevelant and has nothing to do with how old time music functioned. As the greatest Bluegrass Fiddler Kenny Baker said, to play Bluegrass Fiddle you need to think like playing Jazz.

Applachian Best.......2003-01-27

My review is a "little" prejudiced since Dock Boggs was my great uncle but I think his music is the best combination of blues and folk around. He put all he had into his music and loved it. It will bring chills and good feelings to anyone who loves music for the soul done as he did! All his songs are good!

Too much of a good thing?.......2002-01-17

One man, one banjo. Boggs was to Old Timey music what Johnson was to the Blues. His simple, heart felt banjo playing accompanies his soulful singing wonderfully. Boggs bares his soul through his voice - the pain, loss and loves of his life can be felt clearly in every one of these traditional folk, bluegrass and blues songs. There are even a few of his own compositions that fit in amongst the classics very comfortably. A must for every Old Timey music fan. However, I feel this collection would be a better offering if the best of them were combined on to a single CD. There is more than two hours here - and it's a little too much.

Average customer rating: Have it All: Together with CH's "Best of the Vanguard Years" Pure unadulterated American folk music..... Without Cisco, any Woody Guthrie collection is incomplete... A woefully forgotten voice in many good performances

Cisco Houston: The Folkways Years, 1944-1961 Cisco Houston Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Smithsonian Folkways Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Best of the Vanguard Years Cisco Houston Sings the Songs of Woody Guthrie Volumes 1 & 2 Dave Van Ronk: The Folkways Years, 1959-1961 The Early Years (1958-1962) ASIN: B000001DIY Release Date: 1994-05-01

Tracks:

1. I Ain't Got No Home
2. Hard Traveling
3. Rambling, Gambling Man
4. Hobo Bill
5. There's A Better World A-Comin'
6. The Strawberry Roan
7. The Great American Bum
8. The Intoxicated Rat
9. The Cat Came Back
10. The Frozen Logger
11. Pat Works On The Railroad
12. Dark As A Dungeon
13. Diamond Joe
14. The Girl In The Wood
15. Ship In The Sky
16. The Fox
17. What Did The Deep Blue Sea Say
18. Saint James Infirmary
19. Born 100,000 Years Ago
20. Pie In The Sky
21. Mysteries Of A Hobo's Life
22. 900 Miles
23. Great July Jones
24. A Picture From Life's Other Side
25. Farmer's Lament
26. The Killer
27. I Ride An Old Paint
28. Zebra Du.
29. Passing Through

Album Description

Houston (1918-1961) was a vital figure in the folk music movement of the 1940s and 1950s. These 29 songs (including two with Woody Guthrie) feature material Cisco learned while working and traveling across the country: cowboy songs, railroad songs, hobo songs, union songs, work songs, protest songs, children's songs, and love songs. Guy Logsdon's notes about Cisco's life provide a rich background and complement this collection. Includes A Better World A Comin', I Ain't Got No Home, and Rambling, Gambling Man. Compiled by Guy Logsdon. "An exhilarating romp through the classic American folk repetoire." -NY Daily News

Customer Reviews:

Have it All: Together with CH's "Best of the Vanguard Years".......2006-06-28

I bought these 2 albums together a couple of months ago, and have been playing them constantly since then. Ranging from deep and serious, funny and ridiculous, to serene and haunting, the songs all reveal an incredibly modest soul. The baritone voice is a balsam for your battered psyche. With these two albums you not only get the best of CH, but also a "Best of the Folk Repertoire" from 1944 to 1963" excepting that of Bob Dylan and perhaps a few others. Aside from his haunting ballads, I especially love the kids' songs. Some of the best of the genre from that era. The albums complement each other perfectly, with no duplication.

Pure unadulterated American folk music............2002-05-23

The Folkways Years (1944-1961) is the necessary companion to his Vanguard compilation. With the two single disc anthologies you'll have a very good though not complete musical picture of this great folk singer who succumbed to cancer at the age in 42 in April, 1961. The music here is spare, authentic and often haunting, for the most part just Cisco and his acoustic guitar in the studio. The dates are a bit misleading because, with the exception of 3 songs recorded with Woody Guthrie in 1944 (Cisco sings harmony) and his solo version of Strawberry Roan (which could very well be his first known solo recording), all the others were recorded in the 1950's before he switched to Vanguard for his final 3 albums. Two of the Guthrie corroborations (...Deep Blue Sea and Picture from Life's Other Side - also with Beth Lomax Hawes harmoninzing) show a different side to both; they are old-timey country tunes which could have been performed by the Monroe Brothers, Browns Ferry Four or similar group. Better World a Comin', the pro-union anthem, is done with Guthrie in a neo-spiritual manner. The other 25 songs run the gamut from humorous larks (Intoxicated Rat, Frozen Logger, Great July Jones), melancholy ballads (Hobo Bill's Last Ride made famous by Jimmie Rodgers; Dark As a Dungeon); traditional folk (Pat Works On the Railroad; The Fox); social commentary (I Ain't Got No Home; Hard Traveling; Pie in the Sky); Cowboy and Western Songs (Diamond Joe, I Ride an Old Paint, Zebra Dun, The Killer), railroad songs (900 Miles). This album contains his definitive versions of Dark as a Dungeon and Diamond Joe, both far better than the recordings on his Vanguard disc. Other great songs include The Killer, Passing Through, I Ain't Got No Home and Rambling, Gambling Man. World class notes and booklet by professor and author Guy Logsdon with detailed biographical summary of Cisco's life, song background and recording information. Overall, a quality package, what you'd expect from Smithsonian/Folkways. Highly recommended.

Without Cisco, any Woody Guthrie collection is incomplete..........2001-09-24

I discovered Cisco back in the early l960's when I was in high school and The Kingston Trio led me to Woody. I fell in love with his vocals and guitar-playing, and to me he was better than Woody at both singing and pickin'. Woody wrote the immortal songs, but at that time Cisco recorded the best versions, more accessible than Woody's, yet more "authentic" than the covers by the folkies who popped up in the late 50's and the early 60's. Cisco and Woody were not only fine friends of long-standing who developed their gifts together; Cisco was also broke, also handicapped (almost blind), also often blacklisted, and also met a tragic end (cancer took him before Woody died of Chorea.) Personally, I have either heard or owned just about everything Cisco ever released on record. For the most consistently enjoyable recordings, I vote for the Vanguard collection, which presents his final works. For the best historical recordings, however, this collection cannot be beaten. The versions here are sparse and under-produced compared to the Vanguard sessions, but when you listen, you cannot help but see Cisco (and sometimes Woody) sitting in a tiny studio with guitar, in the early l940's, making these tracks for love, not for money. As one would expect with Smithsonian products, the accompanying booklet is almost worth the price of the CD without the dang music. There are 29 tracks, and less than half-a-dozen are written by Woody...while that fact is probably why you won't play it as often as the "Vanguard Years" collection, this album shows us clearly the kinds of songs that Cisco and Woody performed most often at Union Halls, Communist Party events and on radio shows. For the best Cisco collection, buy this plus "The Best of the Vanguard Years." Cisco's life story would make a powerful movie in the right hands. He deserves wider recognition as a positive force in helping Woody Guthrie eventually become "Woody Guthrie."

A woefully forgotten voice in many good performances.......1999-03-09

Cisco Houston had an extraordinary voice. I listened to my parents' scratchy old Vanguard records and was in awe. 35 years later I still am. Woody Gutherie wrote, but Cisco could sing. This record is an eclectic collection, ranging from pedestrain to spectacular, but his glorious voice makes even the silliest song sound good. Fine guitar playing to accompany it. Now we need those Vanguard records redone!

And 2 years later they are--get 'em while you can! Again, not perfect, but awfully tasty!

Average customer rating: Great picking, good singing Great 1960s bluegrass!

The Folkways Years: 1964-1983 Red Allen & Frank Wakefield Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music Traditional | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music Bluegrass | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Smithsonian Folkways Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Keep on Going: The Rebel & Melodeon Recordings Lonesome and Blue: The Complete County Recordings Midnight on the Mandolin Don't Lie to Me Country Songs Old & New ASIN: B00005ABLQ Release Date: 2001-04-24

Tracks:

1. Little Maggie
2. Somebody Loves You, Darling
3. New Camptown Races
4. Are You Afraid To Die?
5. Sweetheart, You Done Me Wrong
6. Are You Washed In The Blood?
7. Deep Elem Blues
8. Ground Hog
9. Catnip
10. The Little Girl And The Dreadful Snake
11. I'm Just Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail
12. Shake Hands With Mother Again
13. All The Good Times Are Passed And Gone
14. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again
15. Can You Forgive?
16. Old Joe Clark
17. Knocking At Your Door
18. Green Apples
19. Hello City Limits
20. Victim To The Tomb
21. Are You Teasing Me?
22. My Sweet Love Ain't Around
23. Dig A Hole In The Meadow
24. I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling
25. Stone Wall
26. Troubles Around My Door
27. I Guess I'll Go On Dreaming
28. Christian Life

Amazon.com

Red Allen is the kind of singer who makes one realize whence the term "high lonesome" originates. Possessing an intense tenor voice, Allen often sings like a man possessed. This compilation of his work with Folkways Records showcases the uncompromising nature of bluegrass music at its best, as Allen invests each song with searing conviction. One listen to the opening "Little Maggie," featuring the virtuoso mandolin of Allen's longtime partner Frank Wakefield, and the listener is transported. The Folkways Years includes the landmark 1964 LP Bluegrass in its entirety plus outtakes from its sessions and a handful of later recordings. Each song is a masterpiece in miniature, absolutely flawless in its compression of experience and feeling into its three minutes. Bluegrass music has a few legendary masters by which all others are measured (Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Stanley Brothers), and though Allen and Wakefield are part of bluegrass's "second wave," they must be held in nearly the same esteem as their better-known brethren. --Mike Johnson

Album Description

The late Red Allen is considered to be one of the most important exponents of the "high, lonesome sound," the epitome of bluegrass singing. Red Allen's spirited vocals and strong rhythm guitar make him one of the greatest innovators in bluegrass while remaining true to his roots, playing it straight and singing it with soul. Allen's 1964 Folkways album bluegrass, featuring mandolin virtuoso Frank Wakefield, is regarded as one of the most influential documents in the genre. Smithsonian Folkways presents this remarkable album plus six never-released cuts and additional selections from four later Folkways albums. 72 minutes, 36-page booklet, photos and extensive notes

Customer Reviews:

Great picking, good singing.......2005-04-19

Red Allen's vocals are indeed high and lonesome as the Amazon reviewer says, but they lack the chilling soulfulness of Bill Monroe or Ralph Stanley. But whose don't? The reason to buy this is for the extraordinary picking, esp. by Frank Wakefield (that's Franklin Delano Wakefield to you, New Deal nostalgists), as well as by Red. Bill Keith appears for a couple of dazzling banjo-mando duets, and Vassar Clements also performs some early magic. All in all, passionate, beautiful exhilirating!

Great 1960s bluegrass!.......2002-07-02

A stunning set of "high lonesome" recordings from one of Bill Monroe's greatest folk revival disciples. The soft-pedaled vocals are sublime, the picking is flawless, and the material is classic. A wonderful retrospective, with not a single wasted moment. Highly recommended & sizzling.

Average customer rating: Start here, and get all the rambler's records Traditional Americana as it should be... Great Old Time Music!

The Early Years (1958-1962) The New Lost City Ramblers Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Country | Styles | Music Old-Time Country | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Bluegrass | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music Traditional Country | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Smithsonian Folkways Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Close To Home: Old Time Music From Mike Seeger's Collection 1952-1967 Best of Vanguard Years Old Time Music 40 Years of Concert Performances Clarence Ashley And Doc Watson: The Original Folkways Recordings, 1960-1962 [2-CD Set] ASIN: B000001DHT Release Date: 1992-07-13

Tracks:

1. Colored Aristocracy
2. Hopalong Peter
3. Don't Let Your Deal Go Down
4. When First Unto This Country
5. Sales Tax On Women
6. Rabbit Chase
7. Leaving Home
8. How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?
9. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Back Again
10. I Truly Understand You Love Another Man
11. The Old Fish Song
12. The Battleship Of Maine
13. No Depression In Heaven
14. Dallas Rag
15. Bill Morgan And His Gal
16. Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
17. Lady Of Carlisle
18. Brown's Ferry Blues
19. My Long Journey Home
20. Talking Hard Luck
21. The Teetotals
22. Sal Got A Meatskin
23. Railroad Blues
24. On Some Foggy Mountain Top
25. My Sweet Farm Girl
26. Crow Black Chicken

Album Description

The lively, good humored Ramblers introduced generations to old-time string band music and influenced artists as diverse as Doc Watson and the Holy Modal Rounders. This collection of 26 songs and instrumentals highlights the virtuosity and splendid variety of 12 Folkways albums recorded by the original group (John Cohen, Tom Paley, and Mike Seeger). "...amusing in spots, touching in others and captivating all the way through..." -- The Fresno Bee

Customer Reviews:

Start here, and get all the rambler's records.......2002-08-20

This is a compilation of the New Lost City Ramblers after Tom Paley Left. I confess I am old enough to be used to feeling the world was divided between people who felt that the NLCR was no good after Paley left and those who were willing to accept New Commer Tracy Schwartz who probably going to take the NLCR out of Western Swing and into Rock and Roll or some other forms of modern foolishness. I wonder if there would have been such squacking if the Ramblers had obtain the services of the man they wanted to replace Paley with, Doc Watson!!!

I remember going down to a record store off Dupont Circle in DC on one afternoon in 1965 when I picked up the first post Paley Album "Gone to the Country." Boy were those bluegrass numbers, the Stanley's I'm just a Rovin' Rambler and Little Glass of Wine. But it wasn't just up tempo, on that CD was the marvelous, obvious medieval, and mysterious "Little Carpenter" and Mike Seeger's superb banjo picking on his friend Dock Bogg's tune "Down South Blues." And who can forget their swinging Wild and Western Hobo.

The Ramblers were off. I think they were more adventurous in the years coming. A few tunes that were Western Swing and several early bluegrass tunes, and some things like Seargeant John Q that were taken out of the electric Nashville Country Music. And Tracy who was a much better fiddler than Mike Seeger and who has become a great fiddler (and now even Tom Paley has become a great fiddler and one of the leading experts on old time fiddle, just today I was passing around the Net his last intervention on Fiddle-l) and took the band into Cajun music and backward into unaccompanied music, or great model accappella and banjo music.

So much variety. So much joy, so much dedication to the traditions, to the sounds that came from back porches, and parlors,. barbeques and barn raising, and yes stages in Movie Theaters, school houses and even that awful Ryman auditorium.

Today a lot of people who think they know something about old time music have forgotten that the Ramblers pretty much started it all. They present a much better survey of the music and the culture than do a lot of current bands that are more about cashing in on the contra dance industry than they are about reviving the music.

Get this, so you can get all the rest of their records, now availabe by order from Folkways.

Traditional Americana as it should be..........2000-06-18

Fans of the alt.country movement should go back to the roots to see where the folk-country scene came from. No one takes old-timey songs and updates them better than the New Lost City Ramblers did, unless you like the fun spin that the Holy Modal Rounders put on it. (Also VERY highly recommended, the newly compiled Holy Modal Rounders 1 and 2 on one CD.) Classic old-timey music fills this 70-minute collection of tunes culled from early New Lost City Ramblers albums. If you like a good smile, check out No Sales Tax on the Women. Any Deadheads out there will like Don't Let This Deal Go Down, which the Grateful Dead morphed into Deal. The digital audio restoration quality is top-notch and this collection is essential to anyone whose interests lie in folk or alt.country, or Americana as it's now being called. There's not a weak link on this collection, which captures everything from traditional ballads to Piedmont blues and everything in between. If you're like me, this collection will enchant you so much that you'll buy its sequel, "Out Standing in the Field," which culls music from 1962 to the mid-60s. Five stars, only because I can't give it more...

Great Old Time Music!.......1999-12-01

The New Lost City Ramblers have done an amazing job in recording their versions of classic old time music. They have a reverent respect for these old tunes but have certainly put their stamp on the styles and methods in which the songs have been played. If you've never owned any music from TNLCR, then this is a great place to start.

Average customer rating: 21 tracks spanning Peggy Seeger's contribution to folk music

Peggy Seeger: The Folkways Years, 1955-1992 - Songs Of Love And Politics Peggy Seeger Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Country | Styles | Music General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music Contemporary | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Singer Songwriters | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Smithsonian Folkways Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Period Pieces: Women's Songs for Men & Women Love Call Me Home Odd Collection Heading for Home Three Score and Ten ASIN: B000001DIH Release Date: 1993-09-14

Tracks:

1. Pretty Saro
2. Lady, What Do You All Day?
3. Broomfield Hill
4. The Squire & The Colic
5. Jellon Graeme
6. Going to the West
7. Jane Jane
8. When I Was Single
9. The Wedding Dress Song
10. Freight Train Blues
11. Song of Myself
12. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
13. My Son
14. Song for Calum
15. Little Girl Child
16. Gonna Be an Engineer
17. Song of Choice
18. Talking Wheelchair Blues
19. Nobody Knew She Was There
20. Thoughts of Time
21. Garden of Flowers

Album Description

Peggy personally selected these traditional and original songs focused primarily on the themes of love and politics. From a dominant figure in the folk song movement in the U.S. and England for more than 35 years, these titles have reached millions: Freight Train, First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Gonna Be An Engineer. "21 tracks display the variety of Peggy's repertoire, her range of styles, love of tradition and innovative songwriting prowess." -- Homespun Tapes

Customer Reviews:

21 tracks spanning Peggy Seeger's contribution to folk music.......2001-08-29

This is a very generous anthology of songs in the folk idiom so listeners are bound to have particular favourites. The first ten tracks (apart from track 2) are traditional songs played on a variety of instruments - banjo, tinwhistle, guitar, autoharp, mandolin, and dulcimer. What mainly binds these songs together is the quality of performance. The songs illustrate a range of vocal effects and instrumental techniques. "Broomfield Hill" (Child 43) tells the story of a rather flirtatious lady who outwits a young man, who would have taken advantage, had he been permitted to. "Jellon Graeme" (Child 90) is a gory ballad, which acts as a warning to men who kill their pregnant lovers rather than doing the honourable thing. A common interest in ballads was one of the factors that brought Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl together. Two Child ballads are well performed to banjo accompaniment. Peggy's banjo playing was another factor that attracted Ewan's attention (apart from seeing Peggy Seeger's face!). Needless to say, these songs are traditional, as is the humorous "The Squire and the Colic". The jubilant chorus line and the Squire's productivity, bring back memories of audiences at The Singer's Club (Britain's first Folk Club, of which MacColl, Seeger and the Critics Group were residents) enjoying folk music's equivalent to a rugby song. Of the traditional songs, my favourites are: "Going To The West", "Freight Train", "When I Was Single" and "Pretty Saro" - which show the length of my listening span. I like to compare Peggy Seeger's version of "Pretty Saro" with that of "Judy Collins". The two versions illustrate the many variants of lyrics and musical accompaniment in folk music. The contemporary songs on the album are written by Peggy Seeger except for tracks 12, 18 and 19. Track 12 "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was written by Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger. They partnered one another for over 30 years. Ewan wrote Track 19 "Nobody knew she was there?" for his mother, Betsy Miller whose life was a catalogue of domestic duties, bar her enormous repertoire of songs. I am used to hearing Ewan sing of Betsy's hard life. Here the song is hauntingly sung and accompanied on the Appalachian dulcimer by Peggy. Peggy's contemporary lyrics illustrate both her social concerns and her role as a counterpart to Ewan in the best folk duo of the twentieth century. Many of Ewan's earlier song compositions celebrated 'the working man as hero' while Peggy's earlier songs relate to her own voyage through life "Song of Myself", her family - "My Son" and "Song for Calum" and women's issues "Little Girl Child" (written later for her daughter Kitty) and "Gonna Be an Engineer". "Song of Choice" could almost have been written by either Peggy or Ewan. Together they were fierce critics of the unacceptable faces of capitalism and Ewan's anti nuclear campaigning is founded in his work with Joan Littlewood - his first wife with whom he co-founded Theatre Workshop. "Thoughts of Time" has all the benchmarks of Peggy's realism - the circles and seasons quality which pervades many Seeger family songs. Americans obviously notice the weather and the time of year! There is a refreshing innocence in many of the songs that Peggy chooses to sing, though she can compose in several modes. "Thoughts of Time" reflects on the twenty year age difference between MacColl and Seeger and the inevitability that they will go their different ways. The lyrics are simple and honest. Compare "Thoughts of Time" with track 2 "Lady, What Do You Do All Day" or "Enough is Enough" and you will see that Peggy Seeger is capable of composing and delivering very complex lyrics, which she can sing and play at the speed of an express train. When the content is biting social or political satire, these songs can be as challenging to audiences as some of the longer ballads and are vastly entertaining, providing you understand any contemporary reference to British or American politics. These days I have to brush up on my campaigners for women's rights! Track 18 "Talking Wheelchair Blues" (written by Fred Small) is reminiscent in its wit and social message of Peggy's own wheelchair song (based on field work) "Woman on Wheels". Irene Scott, who since Ewan's death in October 1989 has performed on a growing number of albums with Peggy, contributed to the words of "Garden of Flowers", written for Ewan in June 1989. Peggy left England to set up home in America in the 1990s, marking the end of the Folkways Years and a new beginning, which has broadened the base of her music - moving away from 'strictly folk' to songs which feature her versatility as a pianist and vocalist, supported by the fine voice of Irene Scott and the vocal backings and instrumental skills of a family of accomplished musicians, who include her sons and daughter - Neill, Calum and Kitty MacColl.

Average customer rating: This CD is excellent Nice collection of Slim's Folkways sides Amazing! Essential listening for blues fans Fabulous.

The Folkways Years: 1959-1973 Memphis Slim Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chicago Blues | Blues | Styles | Music General | Blues | Styles | Music Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music Acoustic Blues | Blues | Styles | Music Piano | Blues | Styles | Music Smithsonian Folkways Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: His Best Hoodoo Man Blues Otis Spann Is the Blues The Roots: The Soul of Chris Thomas King T-Bone Blues ASIN: B000047871 Release Date: 2000-02-22

Tracks:

1. Joggie Boogie
2. If Left That Town-Harlem Bound
3. Key To The Highway
4. Chicago Rent Party
5. Stewball
6. The Dirty Dozens
7. Beer-Drinking Woman
8. Walking Blues
9. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie
10. San Juan Blues
11. Prison Bound
12. If The Rabbit Had A Gun
13. Backwater Blues
14. You Name It
15. M & O Blues
16. Every Day I Have The Blues
17. Just A Dream
18. Midnight Special
19. The Bells
20. Mean Old Frisco
21. The Gimmick

Amazon.com

Urban enough to connect with inner-city blues fans and flexible enough to forge new audiences among starry-eyed blues revivalist on both sides of the Atlantic, Memphis Slim was what would now be called a crossover artist. Like his friend and frequent musical foil Willie Dixon, the pianist-vocalist was amiable and adaptable--characteristics that also came across in their music. The Folkways Years captures the man born Peter Chapman in a variety of sessions cut over a decade and a half. Slim and Dixon tackle "Joggie Boogie," "Stewball," "Beer-Drinking Woman," and Slim's trademark tune "Everyday I Have the Blues." A number of solo tracks and small ensemble pieces (many including guitarist Matt Murphy) add texture to the collection. And there's even a rather stiff Slim-Dixon-Pete Seeger take on "Midnight Special" that illustrates producer and Folkways head Moses Asch's efforts to give Memphis Slim's sophisticated blues a folksy slant. The handsome package and 65-page illustrated booklet add value to this satisfying anthology. --Steven Stolder

Album Description

This collection contains the best of blues pianist Memphis Slim's Folkways years and includes 3 previously unreleased tracks. The CD features solo performances, small ensembles, and accompaniment by Folkways artists including Willie Dixon, Jazz Gillum, and Pete Seeger. Slim plays highly personal interpretations of classic and original blues. 32 page booklet, extensive notes, lyrics, and photos. 65 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

This CD is excellent.......2006-02-24

Big Bill Morganfield is a chip off the old block. This CD
is excellent. Born to Boogie has an excellent groove. Highly
recommend this CD.

Nice collection of Slim's Folkways sides.......2004-10-30

Memphis Slim Chatman recorded on and off for the Folkways label for 14 years (although most of these titles appear to be from the late 50s and early 60s), and this 21-track compilation give a pretty good impression of what Slim's Folkways sides were like.
Folkways Records was a traditionally oriented label, so this is mostly sparsely accompanied or solo pieces, and "The Folkways Years" is among Slim's more restrained albums.

It is not one of his very best, but there is certainly a lot of good stuff here, and a great 32-page booklet as well.
Highlights include a great take on "Key To The Highway" which has Bill "Jazz" Gillum singing and playing harmonica, the soulful slow tunes "Prison Bound" and "If The Rabbit Had A Gun", the classic "Beer Drinking Woman", and the swaggering sort-of-instrumental "Chicago Rent Party"...Slim ocationally speaks while playing, but it's not actually a song.
"Harlem Bound" is a pleasant trifle, Slim does a really good take on Big Bill Broonzy's "Just A Dream", and the four CD bonus tracks include a delightfully jazzy "Folkways version" of "Nobody Loves Me" ("Every Day I Have The Blues").
Folk singer Pete Seeger singing the lead on "The Midnight Special" is a bit of an oddity, but Arbee Stidham's "Walking Blues" (no relation to Son House's late-20s song of the same name) is another highlight, and Stidham himself sings the lead vocal and plays guitar on what is probably the toughest number on the entire record. Nice solo by Slim about halfway through, and he also does a great "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" which wouldn't have embarrassed Clarence "Pinetop" Smith at all.

There are a few minor items here, and newcomers should start with the wonderful "Memphis Slim At The Gate Of Horn", but if you're a fan you will certainly want the cream of Memphis Slim's Folkways sides as well, and this is the best way to get them.
3 3/4 stars. Lots of good stuff here.

Amazing!.......2000-12-22

This is a great album and shows Memphis Slim at his best. If you love piano based blues then this album is for you. I have nearly worn out my copy, and could have it playing on continuous repeat if not for the fact that this would be at the expense of listening to another Memphis Slim album. ;-)

... but then again, I do have two CD players in the house... :-)

Essential listening for blues fans.......2000-06-14

If you're only going to have one Memphis Slim CD, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. This anthology covers his Folkways years and add three new tracks that have never been released. 'Chicago Rent Party' has a bit of a first-person storytelling aspect to it. 'I Left that Town-Harlem Bound' tells the story of Slim's journey north from Memphis. With 21 tracks and a time of more than 65 minutes, this CD is quite strong. Even some of the weaker tracks (there are no weak tracks!) such as 'Midnight Special' demonstrate just how important Memphis Slim is to the history of blues. And the booklet that Smithsonian Folkways includes adds all sorts of insight into the recording process, lyrics, and a couple of interesting essays on what it was like working with Slim. Essential.

Fabulous........2000-03-15

Great piano blues that make it hard to sit still. Has the emotion and raw intensity that so much music of all genres are missing today.

Average customer rating: Brownie's blues

Brownie McGhee: The Folkways Years, 1945-1959 Brownie McGhee Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Delta Blues | Blues | Styles | Music General | Blues | Styles | Music Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music East Coast Blues | Regional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Blues | Indie Music | Stores | Music Traditional Blues | Blues | Indie Music | Stores | Music Smithsonian Folkways Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Sonny Terry: The Folkways Years, 1944-1963 The Complete Brownie McGhee Backwater Blues Sonny & Brownie at Sugar Hill Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry Sing ASIN: B000001DHP Release Date: 1992-07-13

Tracks:

1. Daisy
2. Rising Sun
3. Careless Love
4. Cholly Blues
5. Just A Dream
6. Pawnshop Blues
7. Hangman's Blues
8. Living With The Blues
9. 'Fore Day Creep
10. Me and Sonny
11. Raise A Ruckus Tonight
12. Betty and Dupree
13. Long Gone
14. Grievin' Hearted Blues
15. I'm Gonna Tell God How You Treat Me
16. Can't Help Myself
17. Pallet On The Floor

Album Description

An 18-song compilation culled from the six LP's McGhee recorded for Folkways, illustrates this stellar blues guitarist's remarkable musicianship and repertoire of older blues ballads and original compositions. One selection is made available here for the first time. "...an exceptionally fine example of Brownie McGhee's work...most of the songs... are given such excellent arrangements and delivered with such charm as to be irresistible." -- Shanachie Review

Customer Reviews:

Brownie's blues.......2005-09-21

An excellent anthology of the great bluesman Brownie McGhee. The material is quite varied, from the standard 12-bar down-home classic to gospel tunes to 32-bar ballads to even an instrumental. DAISY, from 1957, is a real swinging gem utilizing the 8-bar form. Other highlights include RISING SUN (1955) and a previously unissued recording of JUST A DREAM, first recorded by Big Bill Broonzy in the mid-40's. Traditional blues fans should find plenty to like on this CD.

Average customer rating: A must-have

Sonny Terry: The Folkways Years, 1944-1963 Sonny Terry Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Delta Blues | Blues | Styles | Music General | Blues | Styles | Music Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music Acoustic Blues | Blues | Styles | Music East Coast Blues | Regional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music Harmonica Blues | Blues | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Blues | Indie Music | Stores | Music Traditional Blues | Blues | Indie Music | Stores | Music Smithsonian Folkways Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Absolutely the Best Brownie McGhee: The Folkways Years, 1945-1959 Backwater Blues Sonny & Brownie at Sugar Hill Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry Sing ASIN: B000001DHN Release Date: 1992-07-13

Tracks:

1. Old Jabo
2. Going Down Slow
3. Crow Jane Blues
4. Harmonica With Slaps
5. Pick A Bale Of Cotton
6. Dark Road
7. Skip To My Lou
8. The Woman Is Killing Me
9. Jail House Blues
10. Fox Chase/ Right On That Shore
11. Shortnin' Bread
12. Sweet Woman
13. Lost John
14. A Man Is Nothing But A Fool
15. Poor Man (But A Good Man)
16. I've Been Your Doggie Since I Been Your Man
17. Custard Pie Blues

Album Description

This 17-song anthology, selected from eight Sonny Terry LP's and other unreleased Folkways recordings, illustrates the remarkable variety of styles this influential harmonica player employed in his performance of blues, religious, and folk material. Produced and compiled by Kip Lornell. "...a first-rate sampling of Terry's lasting and important contribution to our musical heritage." --Sing Out

Customer Reviews:

A must-have.......2001-11-16

If you are a fan of blues harmonica - actually, even if can't stand the harmonica, you will love this CD. This is definitely a must-have for any fan of Sonny Terry and a good addition to any blues library.

Music Album:

1. Gonna Die with a Smile If It Kills Me
2. Greatest Yodelling Album of All Time [Import]
3. Growl
4. Halos & Horns
5. Hits: Greatest & Others
6. Huddie Ledbetter's Best
7. I Go to Pieces
8. I'm Already There
9. Identity Crisis
10. If You Saw Thro My Eyes [Import]

Music Album