The New Lost City Ramblers 50 Years: Where Do You Come From? Where Do You Go?

Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD-40180

Format: 3xCD, Various Artists
Country: US
Released: 2009
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Country, Old Time
[Tracklist]
Disk One
1-01 Colored Aristocracy: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:05)
1-02 Hopalong Peter: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:04)
1-03 Don't Let Your Deal Go Down: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:26)
1-04 When First Unto this Country: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:48)
1-05 Sales Tax on the Women: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:14)
1-06 Rabbit Chase: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:30)
1-07 Leaving Home: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:05
1-08 How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:34)
1-09 Franklin D. Roosevelt's Back Again: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:19)
1-10 I Truly Understand You Love Another Man: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:29)
1-11 The Old Fish Song: The New Lost City Ramblers (4:52)
1-12 The Battleship of Maine: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:05)
1-13 No Depression in Heaven: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:56)
1-14 Dallas Rag: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:02)
1-15 Bill Morgan and His Gal: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:56)
1-16 Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:31)
1-17 The Lady of Carlisle: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:32)
1-18 Brown's Ferry Blues: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:46)
1-19 My Long Journey Home: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:37)
1-20 Talking Hard Luck: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:40)
1-21 The Teetotals: The New Lost City Ramblers (1:00)
1-22 Sal Got a Meatskin: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:24)
1-23 Railroad Blues: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:41)
1-24 On Some Foggy Mountain Top: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:25)
1-25 My Sweet Farm Girl: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:22)
1-26 Crow Black Chicken: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:35)
Disk Two
2-01 John Brown's Dream: The New Lost City Ramblers (1:32)
2-02 Riding on That Train: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:19)
2-03 The Titanic: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:59)
2-04 Don't Get Trouble in Your Mind: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:15)
2-05 Cowboy Waltz: The New Lost City Ramblers (1:49)
2-06 Shut Up in the Mines of Coal Creek: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:49)
2-07 Private John Q: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:03)
2-08 Old Johnny Bucker Wouldn't Do: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:01)
2-09 I've Always Been a Rambler: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:16)
2-10 Automobile Trip Through Alabama: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:15
2-11 Who Killed Poor Robin?: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:52)
2-12 My Wife Died on Saturday Night: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:18)
2-13 Little Satchel: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:47)
2-14 Black Bottom Strut: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:09
2-15 The Cat's Got the Measels, the Dog's Got the Whooping Cough: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:55)
2-16 Dear Okie: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:14)
2-17 Smoketown Strut: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:16)
2-18 The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:31)
2-19 Fishing Creek Blues: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:01)
2-20 '31 Depression Blues: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:31)
2-21 Black Jack Daisy: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:31)
2-22 Victory Rag: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:05)
2-23 The Little Carpenter: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:50)
2-24 On Our Turpentine Farm: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:51)
2-25 Parlez-Nous à Boire: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:35)
2-26 Valse du Bambocheur: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:59)
2-27 Old Joe Bone: The New Lost City Ramblers (1:59)
Disk Three
3-01 Colored Aristocracy: The Rich Family (1:37)
3-02 Cluck Old Hen: Wade, Crockett and Fields Ward (1:31)
3-03 Young Emily: Dellie Norton (2:03)
3-04 Going Down the River: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:40)
3-05 Billy Grimes the Rover: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:26)
3-06 Pretty Little Miss: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:20)
3-07 Dark & Stormy Weather: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:24)
3-08 Sioux Indians: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:01)
3-09 Moonshiner: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:07)
3-10 Long Lonesome Road: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:56)
3-11 Cotton Eyed Joe: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:14)
3-12 New White House Blues: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:41)
3-13 Milwaukee Blues: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:31)
3-14 Poor Old Dirt Farmer: Tony Balfa, Tracy and Peter Schwarz (3:40)
3-15 Cady Hill: Arthur Smith & Sam and Kirk McGee (1:22)
3-16 I Belong to the Band: Reverend Gary Davis (3:56)
3-17 Freight Train: Elizabeth Cotten (2:38)
3-18 I'm Leaving You: Sara Carter Bayes and Maybelle Carter (2:35)
3-19 Walking Boss: Clarence Tom Ashley (2:28)
3-20 Mother's Advice: Dock Boggs (2:48)
3-21 Hills of Mexico: Roscoe Holcomb (2:29)
3-22 Galax Rag: Kilby Snow (2:49)
3-23 Say Old Man, Can You Play a Fiddle?: Eck Robertson, The New Lost City Ramblers (2:50)
3-24 Awake, Awake: Dillard Chandler (4:12)
3-25 Bowling Green: Cousin Emmy with The New Lost City Ramblers (3:49)
3-26 Madeleine: Dewey & Rodney Balfa, Allie Young, & Weston Bergeau (2:54)
3-27 Fishing Creek Blues: Sue Draheim, Mack Benford, Eric Thompson, Jody Stecher, Hank Bradley, Will Spires, Kenny Hall, Holly Tannen, & Larry Hanks (2:39)
3-28 Sally In the Garden: New Tranquility String Band & friends (2:21)
[Credits]
Producers: John Cohen, Mike Seeger and Tracy Schwarz, Liner Notes: Jon Pankake and Ray Allen, Photographers: Robert Frank and Chris Strachwitz, Designer: Visual Dialogue
[Notes]
Collectively known as the New Lost City Ramblers, Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley were pioneers in the revival of Southern mountain music during the folk music revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s. They brought the sounds of genuine old-time string band music and early bluegrass to eager city and college audiences who had grown disillusioned with the commercial pap of the folk boom. This set features two previously released CDs of the Ramblers classic Folkways recordings: The Early Years, 1958-1962 with the original trio, and Out Standing in Their Field: Volume II, 1963-1973, with Tracy Schwarz replacing Tom Paley. A newly compiled third disc,Where Do You Come From? Where Do You Go? celebrates the band's 50th anniversary in 2009, presenting more choice Ramblers selections along with their field recordings of the traditional Southern musicians who inspired them including: Dock Boggs, Roscoe Holcomb, Tom Ashley, Maybelle Carter, Elizabeth Cotten, Eck Robertson, Cousin Emmy, Reverend Gary Davis, Kilby Snow, Dillard Chandler, Dellie Norton, and the Balfa Brothers. 81 tracks, over 3 ½ hours of music, 88-page booklet over 3 CDs. Disc #3 includes 6 previously unreleased songs.

Billy McComiskey Family Band

Event Date: 2016/06/28 Runnung Time: 62 minutes

Traditional Irish musician Billy McComiskey is joined in this performance by Myron Bretholz, Josh Dukes, Angela Fee, Catriona Fee, Mikey McComiskey and Patrick McComiskey.

Billy McComiskey is one of the nation's leading players of Irish traditional music. He has won the All-Ireland championship on the button accordion, and is a veteran of bands such as the Irish Tradition, the Green Fields of America, and Trian, He is a native of Brooklyn, New York, and learned to play from Sean McGlynn, a master and proponent of the East Galway style that now characterizes the playing of many of the country's finest Irish accordion players. Billy McComiskey earned a 2016 National Heritage Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

  For more information, visit the website of the Library of Congress

Classic Piedmont Blues

Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40221

Series: Smithsonian Folkways Classic Series
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: Mar 24, 2017
Genre: Blues
Style: Piedmont Blues
[Tracklist]
01 Truckin' Little Baby: John Jackson (3:00)
02 Mamie: John Cephas and Phil Wiggins (4:13)
03 Hey Bartender, There’s a Big Bug in My Beer: Warner Williams and Eddie Pennington (2:47)
04 Confusion: Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry (3:21)
05 T.B. Blues: Josh White (3:24)
06 If I Could Holler Like a Mountain Jack: Baby Tate (3:06)
07 Clog Dance: Hobart Smith (1:09)
08 Daisy: Brownie McGhee (3:27
09 Going Down the Road Feeling Bad: Elizabeth Cotten (2:13)
10 I Got a Woman 'Cross Town: Pink Anderson (1:56)
11 Red River Blues: John Jackson (3:01)
12 I Ain’t Gonna Pick No More Cotton: Warner Williams and Jay Summerour (3:50)
13 Sweet Woman: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (3:06)
14 The Train that Carried My Girl from Town: Doc Watson (2:22)
15 Mountain Jack: Reverend Gary Davis (3:31)
16 Crow Jane: John Cephas and Phil Wiggins (3:04)
17 Fore Day Creep: Brownie McGhee (4:14)
18 Sittin’ On Top of the World: Roscoe Holcomb (2:43)
19 Meet Me in the Bottom: Pink Anderson (3:33)
20 Dirty Mistreater: Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and J. C. Burris (3:01)
21 The Road Is Rough And Rocky: Archie Edwards (3:24)
[Credits]
Liner Notes: Barry Lee Pearson, Producer: D.A. Sonneborn and Huib Schippers, Production Manager: Mary Monseu, Photographers: Ruby Lomax Photography, Ben Shahn and Nick Spitzer
[Notes]
With a selection of indelible recordings made over 70 years, Classic Piedmont Blues captures the essence of this fascinating blues tradition. Originating in the foothills of Southern Appalachia, the Piedmont blues served as a breeding ground for cross-pollination between traditions: rural and urban, black and white, country and coastal. Swept up on the tide of the Great Migration, it was carried from the Carolinas and Virginia, north and east through Maryland and Washington, D.C., to New York City and back again. Featuring influential artists like John Jackson, Cephas & Wiggins, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, and many others, this collection offers an illuminating overview of the Piedmont style. 64 minutes, 36-page booklet with extensive notes.

Music with Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer

Event Date: 2016/05/11 Runnung Time: 54 minutes

athy Fink and Marcy Marxer made some big noise in the Young Readers Center. First graders from Leckie Elementary School learned about how music is made with instruments played in their performance such as banjo, mandolin, electric guitar, steel drum, ukulele and even spoons.

  For more information, visit the website of the Library of Congress

Bluegrass Early Cuts 1931-1953: Classic Recordings Remastered

JSP Records 7731A-7731D

Format: Boxed Sets 4CDs, Various Artists, Remastered
Country: UK
Released: June 21, 2004
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass, Early Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
Disc: A (1947-1953)
01 Orange Blossom Special: Jerry & Sky
02 The Old Grey Goose: Red Belcher & The Kentucky Ridgerunners
03 Kentucky Is Only A Dream: Red Belcher & The Kentucky Ridgerunners
04 Holston Valley Breakdown: Red Belcher & The Kentucky Ridgerunners
05 Somebody Touched Me: John Reedy & His Stone Mountain Boys
06 Jesse James: Toby Stroud & The Blue Mountain Boys
07 Tragic Romance: Toby Stroud & The Blue Mountain Boys
08 Lint Head Stomp: Phebel Wright
09 Jesse James: Whitey & Hogan
10 Radio Boogie: L.C Smith
11 Bluebonnet Lane: Colwell Brothers
12 Mother, Sweet Mother: Rebe & Rabe
13 Helen: Rebe & Rabe
14 Home Sweet Home: Hack Johnson & His Tennesseans
15 Let Me Rest (At The End Of My Journey): Shenandoah Valley Trio
16 This World Can't Stand Long: Stoney Cooper & Wilma Lee
17 Wicked Path Of Sin: Stoney Cooper & Wilma Lee
18 Hallelujah, We Shall Rise: Sauceman Brothers
19 They Sleep Together Now At Rest: Lilly Brothers
20 What Are They Doing In Heaven Today: Lilly Brothers
21 Pain In My Heart: Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
22 Lonesome, Sad And Blue: Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
23 Don't Forget Me: Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
24 Will I Meet Mother In Heaven?: Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
Disc: B (1945-1953)
01 You Broke Your Promise: Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
02 I'm Left Alone: Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
03 Nobody Cares (Not Even You): Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
04 Twenty One Years: Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
05 Lonesome Pine Breakdown: Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
06 New Campdown Races: Marvin Cobb
07 You're The One (I See In My Dreams): Frank Wakefield & Buster Turner
08 Leave Well Enough Alone: Frank Wakefield & Buster Turner
09 Long Time, No See: Frank Hunter & His Black Mountain Boys
10 Weary Hobo: Pee Wee Lambert & Curley Parker
11 Just A Memory: Pee Wee Lambert & Curley Parker
12 Going Back To Old Kentucky: Hobo Jack Adkins
13 Rattlesnake Daddy: Bailey Brothers & The Happy Valley Boys
14 I'm On My Way To The Old Home: Sonny Osborne
15 I've Never Been So Lonesome: Ted Lundy
16 Roll On Blues: Connie & Babe
17 How Will The Flowers Bloom: Connie & Babe
18 The Last Love Letter: Connie & Babe
19 The Lonely Waltz: Connie & Babe
20 Better Late Than Never: Buster Pack & His Lonesome Pine Boys
21 The Bright Crystal Sea: Cecil Surratt & His West Virginia Ramblers
22 Where Will You Spend Eternity: Cecil Surratt & His West Virginia Ramblers
23 He Saved My Soul: Hamm Brothers
24 You Have Left Me Memories: Hobo Jack Adkins
Disc: C (1938-1951)
01 Florida Blues: Jim Eanes & His Shenandoah Valley Boys
02 Blue Yodel #1: Jim Eanes & His Shenandoah Valley Boys
03 Missing In Action: Jim Eanes & His Shenandoah Valley Boys
04 Curtains Of Sorrow: Jim Eanes & His Shenandoah Valley Boys
05 Little Brown Hand: Jim Eanes & His Shenandoah Valley Boys
06 Down Among The Budded Roses: Jim Eanes & His Shenandoah Valley Boys
07 Tomorrow May Be Different: Jim Eanes & His Shenandoah Valley Boys
08 Come Back My Little Pal: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
09 Wabash Cannon Ball: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
10 Lonesome Dove: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
11 Where The Roses Never Fade: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
12 Natural Bridge Blues: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
13 The Best Of Friends Must Part Sometime: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
14 Polecat Blues: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
15 I Wonder Where You Are Tonight: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
16 Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
17 Can You Forgive: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
18 Loving You Too Well: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
19 'Neath The Bridge At The Foot Of The Hill: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
20 Little Sweetheart Come And Kiss Me: Roy Hall & His Blue Ridge Entertainers
21 Little Mohee: The Hall Brothers
22 The Wrong Road: The Hall Brothers
23 Orange Blossom Special: The Rouse Brothers
24 Let Me Be Your Salty Dog: The Morris Brothers
Disc: D (1931-1946)
01 Married Life Blues: Byron Parker & His Mountaineers
02 Up Jumped The Devil: Byron Parker & His Mountaineers
03 We Shall Rise: Byron Parker & His Mountaineers
04 C & N W Railroad: Byron Parker & His Mountaineers
05 Carroll County Blues: Byron Parker & His Mountaineers
06 Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar: Byron Parker & His Mountaineers
07 Concord Rag: J.E Mainer's Mountaineers
08 Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind: J.E Mainer's Mountaineers
09 Drunkard's Hiccoughs: J.E Mainer's Mountaineers
10 Blue Ridge Mountain Blue: J.E Mainer's Mountaineers
11 Johnson's Old Grey Mule: J.E Mainer's Mountaineers
12 Maple On The Hill: J.E Mainer's Mountaineers
13 Seven And A Half: J.E Mainer's Mountaineers
14 Short Life & It's Trouble: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
15 Wild Bill Jones: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
16 Lonely Tombs: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
17 Poor Drunkard's Dreams: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
18 I Won't Be Worried: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
19 Ramshackle Shack: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
20 Old Reuben: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
21 Don't Leave Me Alone: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
22 You May Forsake Me: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
23 Rambling Boy: Wade Mainer & The Sons Of The Mountaineers
24 I'll Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms: Buster Carter & Preston Young
[Credits]
Liner Notes: Pat Harrison
[Notes]
This four-disc box set from JSP Records collects tracks from the earliest years of bluegrass music, and in a rather curious sequencing decision, runs them backwards from the first disc, which includes the latest selections from the 1950s, to the fourth, which is made up of what are essentially high-octane string band tracks from the early '30s. Arranged this way, it neither functions effectively as a history or as an overview of early bluegrass, but that may well be secondary, since it does put about 90 hard to find 78s in one place, which no doubt will be its main attraction to bluegrass scholars and collectors. It is particularly interesting to hear the selections from Byron Parker & His Mountaineers, which all feature DeWitt "Snuffy" Jenkins on five-string banjo. Jenkins' three-finger picking style clearly prefigures the later work of banjo great Earl Scruggs, whose lightning three-finger runs have become the standard -- if not the very backbone -- of modern bluegrass. Also of interest here is the first version of "Orange Blossom Special," recorded by the Rouse Brothers in New York City in 1939. The song was actually written by the fiddler Ervin Rouse, and this simple early rendition is quite striking, particularly when you stop and ponder how many thousands of times the song has been recorded and performed since. Serious fans of bluegrass will find this box set useful and instructive, but casual listeners will no doubt find it to be about three discs too long. -- Review by Steve Leggett

Carlos Nunez: Galician Bagpipes & Flutes

Event Date: 2014/08/19 Running Time: 59 minutes

A concert by bagpiper and flutist Carlos Nunez. Galicians trace their ancestry not only to Iberians but also to Celtic peoples, and their musical traditions reflect a connection to Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany. This concert features a special emphasis on the music collected by Alan Lomax in Galicia in the 1950s, which are part of the AFC archives, and which have inspired numerous musicians including Miles Davis. Nunez has visited AFC several times to research this important collection.

Speaker Biography: Carlos Nunez is a world-famous bagpiper and flutist from Galicia in Spain. Nunez is a traditional bagpiper as well as a classically-trained flute and recorder virtuoso. He has played with the Chieftains, Ry Cooder, Altan, Sinead O'Connor, Hector Zazou, Philip Pickett, and Tamiya Terashima, to name only a few. He has also performed with symphony orchestras and classical ensembles, and has appeared on prestigious stages the world over.

  For more information, visit the website of the Library of Congress

BeauSoleil Quartet: Cajun Music from Louisiana

Event Date: 2017/06/28 Runnung Time: 73 minutes

The BeauSoleil Quartet presents a concert of lively and soulful Louisiana Cajun music. The quartet includes Michael Doucet on fiddle, accordion and vocals, David Doucet on guitar and vocals, Mitchell Reed on fiddle and bass, and Billy Ware on percussion.

Speaker Biography: For four decades the BeauSoleil Quartet has taken traditional ingredients -- waltzes, two-steps, soulful Cajun French lyrics, hot fiddle licks and irresistible accordion -- and spiced them up with eclectic percussion, acoustic guitar in both finger-picked and flat-picked styles and an open and creative attitude toward the music. BeauSoleil was the first Cajun band to win a Grammy Award (1998) and added a second in 2008. In 2011 the quartet was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

  For more information, visit the website of the Library of Congress