Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music: You Ain't Talkin' to Me:

Legacy – C3K 92780

Format: 3 x CD, Compilation, Box Set
Country: United States
Released: 2005
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Old Time, & Country
[Disc One}
01 Shootin' Creek (03:26)
02 Baltimore Fire (03:13)
03 Leaving Home (03:11)
04 There'll Come a Time (03:31)
05 White House Blues (03:31)
06 The Highwayman (03:20)
07 Hungry Hash House (03:25)
08 The Letter That Never Came (02:51)
09 Take a Drink on Me (03:17)
10 Husband and Wife Were Angry One Night (02:52)
11 Ramblin' Blues (03:07)
12 Took My Gal A-Walkin' (02:48)
13 Old and Only in the Way (03:29)
14 Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues (02:53)
15 Bill Mason (03:01)
16 A Kiss Waltz (03:10)
17 Flop Eared Mule (03:00)
18 A Trip to New York, Pt. 1 (03:06)
19 Sweet Sixteen (02:54)
20 Write a Letter to My Mother (03:03)
21 If the River Was Whiskey (03:10)
22 Mother's Last Farewell Kiss (03:05)
23 Milwaukee Blues (03:18)
24 Where the Whippoorwill Is Whispering Good-Night (03:09)
[Disc Two]
01 The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee (03:21)
02 Sunny Tennessee (03:18)
03 Bulldog Down in Sunny Tennessee (02:40)
04 Moving Day (03:14)
05 It's Movin' DayHarry Von Tilzer (03:28)
06 Home Sweet, Home (02:34)
07 I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World (03:04)
08 Man That Rode the Mule Around the World (02:56)
09 Lynchburg Town (03:02)
10 Going Down to Lynchburg Town/Don't Let Your Deal Go Down (03:10)
11 Some One (03:05)
12 Monkey on a String (02:33)
13 Monkey on a String (03:09)
14 Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister (03:13)
15 May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister (02:54)
16 Married Life Blues (02:41)
17 The Infanta March (04:22)
18 Sunset March (02:41)
19 I'll Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms (02:59)
20 Goodbye Eliza Jane (01:39)
21 Good-Bye Sweet Liza Jane (03:06)
22 Good-Bye Booze (03:17)
23 Goodbye Booze (02:51)
24 You Ain't Talking to Me (02:56)
25 You Ain't Talkin' to Me (02:57)
[Disc Three]
01 If I Lose, I Don't Care (03:09)
02 The Battleship of Maine (03:18)
03 Budded Rose (03:04)
04 Standing by a Window (03:17)
05 Uncle Dave's Beloved Solo (03:06)
06 Come Take a Trip in My Airship (02:11)
07 I Once Loved a Sailor (03:08)
08 Dixie Medley (02:43)
09 My Wife, She Has Gone and Left Me (03:18)
10 My Wife Went Away and Left Me (02:56)
11 Baby Rose (04:14)
12 Just Keep Waiting Till the Good Time Comes (03:27)
13 Shuffle Feet, Shuffle (02:40)
14 Coon From Tennessee (03:13)
15 Coon From Tennessee (03:06)
16 On the Banks of the Kaney (03:08)
17 Dixie Medley (04:10)
18 Southern Medley (03:06)
19 The Man That Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man (03:14)
20 Sweet Sunny South (02:55)
21 Take Me Back to the Sweet Sunny South (02:46)
22 Oh! Didn't He Ramble (02:11)
23 He Rambled (03:00)
[Credits]
Charlie Poole (banjo/ocals) Posey Rorer (fiddle) Odell Smith (fiddle) Roy Harvey (guitar) Henry Whitter (guitar) Uncle Dave Macon (banjo/vocals) Gid Tanner (fiddle/vocals) Doc Walsh (banjo/vocals) Charlie Parker (banjo/vocals) Snuffy Jenkins (banjo) Francis Jenkins (banjo)
Producer: Henry Sapoznik, Liner Notes: Kinney Rorrer, Cover Art: Robert Crumb Designer: Michelle Holme
[Notes]
First, a word about what You Ain't Talkin' to Me is not: it is not a box set of Charlie Poole's complete recorded work. He recorded some 110 songs for the Columbia, Paramount, and Brunswick labels between 1925 and 1931, and 43 of those tracks are collected here, with the balance of this three-disc set given over to sides by Poole's stylistic predecessors and contemporaries. Creating a feel for Poole's life and milieu is the goal here, and presenting musical evidence to place him as the clear grandfather of both bluegrass and modern country is the not-so-hidden agenda. Poole was never an overwhelming banjo player, but his three-finger picking style certainly carries trace elements of what would become bluegrass some 20 years later (when a banjo whiz named Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's band in 1946). Poole wasn't a particularly strong singer, either, but his rambling, gambling persona and flamboyant stage antics (and frequent multi-week alcoholic benders) provide convincing evidence that Poole was outlaw country five decades before the term was even born. Poole's real genius -- since he didn't write songs -- was his ability to take folk tunes, pop songs, fiddle reels, blues fragments, and church hymns and reconfigure them into autobiographical statements by dropping or importing a verse, adding a stray line here and there, changing the title, and eventually delivering fresh, stripped-down versions of familiar songs that now seemed entirely Poole's. What You Ain't Talkin' to Me does best is document how this process worked, and after a first disc of acknowledged Poole classics ("Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues," "White House Blues," "If the River Was Whiskey," "Ramblin' Blues"), the second and third discs present Poole songs alongside their antecedents in what is essentially a workshop in how pop folk is created in a mechanized age. On disc three, for example, you hear Arthur Collins' 1902 version of "Oh! Didn't He Ramble" as a heavily stylized and orchestrated bit of vaudeville. In Poole's hands, stripped down and shaped into a sinewy, sexy, and bluesy ensemble piece for banjo, guitar, and fiddle, it became the self-referential "He Rambled" in 1929. Similarly, Eddie Morton's civil and orchestrated "You Ain't Talking to Me" from 1909 becomes an ominous barroom boast in Poole's version, released as "You Ain't Talkin' to Me" in 1927. This ability to create new possibilities from old choices is what has driven American music from the very beginning, and Poole's talent for making it all seem like personal autobiography makes him very much a modernist, only a short leap away from an artist like Hank Williams. Doubters need only listen to Poole's "If I Lose, I Don't Care," which leads off the third disc, to clearly see the kind of DNA that went into modern country. As a glimpse of Poole's life and times, and a look behind the curtains at the adaptive nature of his creative process, this attractive set (it comes in a small cigar box with a R. Crumb illustration of Poole on the lid and includes a 60-page book insert) does a super job, but listeners should be aware that it is hardly comprehensive. Those interested in a more extensive sampling of Poole's work should check out JSP's four-disc box, Charlie Poole With the North Carolina Ramblers and the Highlanders, which features 96 of his 110 known recordings.-- AllMusic Review by Steve Leggett

In The Pines: Tar Heel Folk Songs & Fiddle Tunes

Old-Time Music of North Carolina 1926-1936

Old Hat Records – CD1006

Format: CD, Album, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2008
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Old Time
[Tracklist]
01 In The Pines: Dock Walsh (3:08)
02 Mountain Sweetheart: The Red Fox Chasers (2:56)
03 Mistreated Blues: Carolina Buddies (3:10)
04 Johnson City Hop: Carolina Ramblers String Band (2:46)
05 DAre You Sure?: Dixon Brothers & Mutt Evans (3:14)
06 The Rose With A Broken Ste: North Carolina Cooper Boys (3:02)
07 Jack Of Diamonds: Ben Jarrell (2:43)
08 Otto Wood: Thompson & Cranford (2:36)
09 Richmond Square: The Highlanders (2:58)
10 Will, The Weaver: Charlie Parker & Mack Woolbright (2:52)
11 Lindy: Proximity String Quartet (2:56)
12 Working On The Railroad: Blankenship Family (2:41)
13 Carolina's Best: The Grady Family (3:12)
14 Banjo Sam: Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles (3:05)
15 New River Train: Cauley Family (2:39)
16 Little Bunch Of Roses: Clarence Greene (2:42)
17 That Lonesome Valley: Carolina Ramblers String Band (2:52)
18 Honeysuckle Rag: Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers (2:57)
19 A Pretty Gal's Love: Whitter - Hendley - Small (2:42)
20 Tom Dooley: Grayson & Whitter (3:08)
21 The Longest Train: J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers (3:10)
22 Sweet Freedom: E.R. Nance Family with Clarence Dooley (2:27)
23 Sunny Home In Dixie: Frank Jenkins' Pilot Mountaineers (3:10)
24 My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains: Carolina Tar Heels (3:20)
[Credits]
Producer: Marshall Wyatt, Liner Notes: Wayne Martin, Photographers: Tony Russell & Kip Lornell, Engineers: Christopher C. King & Jeff Carroll
[Notes]
In the early days of the recording industry, North Carolina was a hotbed of string bands playing traditional Appalachian folk-rooted music. This compilation collects 24 such recordings from the era immediately preceding and following the onset of the Depression, many of them quite obscure. Listeners with a general knowledge and appreciation of early American folk recordings might have heard of the Dixon Brothers and Mainer's Mountaineers, but for the most part, these performers will probably be unfamiliar to everybody except scholars and aficionados in the field. While they might have originated in the same region, this music shares many of the characteristics of early American recordings of what was then marketed as hillbilly music: plaintive heartfelt singing (and sometimes harmonizing); lively ensemble playing by varying combinations of guitar, fiddle, and banjo; and a repertoire growing out of traditional folk songs, even if the songs were sometimes written by the musicians (such as the one penned by Cranford & Thompson in honor of outlaw Otto Wood). The most renowned of these specific tracks by far is the first recorded version of "Tom Dooley" (by Grayson & Whitter in 1929), about 30 years before the Kingston Trio took it to the top of the charts, though both the tune and arrangement are much different in this early guise. Some other songs continue to echo as standards in the American popular music consciousness, such as "That Lonesome Valley" (here done by Carolina Ramblers String Band), "In the Pines" (here performed by "Dock" Walsh), and a variation of "In the Pines," "The Longest Train" (here presented by Mainer's Mountaineers). The 24-page booklet is of exceptional quality, with historical liner notes that comment upon each track and even offer a history of outlaw Otto Wood, as well as superb vintage photos of North Carolina folk musicians.-- AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger

Charlie Poole With The Highlanders – The Complete Paramount & Brunswick Recordings, 1929

Tompkins Square – TSQ 2875

Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2013
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country, Old Time
[Tracklist]
01 Lynchburg Town (3:04)
02 San Antonio (2:52)
03 Richmond Square (3:03
04 May I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister (3:13)
05 A Trip To New York, Part I (3:10)
06 A Trip To New York, Part II (3:00)
07 A Trip To New York, Part III (2:50)
08 A Trip To New York, Part IV (2:59)
9 Flop Eared Mule (3:02)
10 Tennessee Blues (3:05)
11 Under The Double Eagle (3:00)
12 What Is Home Without Babies (3.02)
[Notes]
From 1926 to 1930 one of the most popular rural string bands on record was Charlie Poole and The North Carolina Ramblers. Through their 78 RPM discs and their various performances, Charlie Poole was second only to Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. Poole’s uniquely syncopated three finger banjo picking style coupled with his Piedmont vocal inflections eventually colored and defined much of what we consider "old-time" music. The classic configuration of banjo, fiddle and guitar with vocals was encouraged by the main label that promoted Poole but he also wanted to record instrumentals featuring twin-fiddle and piano. As renaming his group The Highlanders, Poole was able to actualize this musical vision. This collection contains all of the sides that Poole made with Roy Harvey, Lucy Terry, and twin-fiddlers Lonnie Austin & Odell Smith. Remastered in beautiful sound by Christopher King and with notes written by old-time musician and scholar Kinney Rorrer.

Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns The Soundtrack

Public Broadcasting Service

Format: 5xCD, Compilation, Limited Edition, Stereo, Mono
Country: US
Released: 2019
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass, Country, Honky Tonk, Western Swing
[Tracklist]
Disc One
101 Can the Circle Be Unbroken: The Carter Family
102 Blue Yodel No. 8 (Mule Skinner Blues): Jimmie Rodgers
103 Barbara Allen: Bradley Kincaid
104 I'll Fly Away: James and Martha Carson
105 If the River Was Whiskey: Charlie Poole with The North Carolina Ramblers
106 Fox Chase: DeFord Bailey
107 Blue Yodel No. 9 (Standin' on the Corner): Jimmie Rodgers
108 Wildwood Flower: The Carter Family
109 In the Jailhouse Now: Jimmie Rodgers
110 Comin' Round the Mountain: Uncle Dave Macon and Sam McGee
111 Pretty Polly: Coon Creek Girls
112 T.B. Blues: Jimmie Rodgers
113 Mountain Dew: Grandpa Jones and his Grandchildren
114 Home On the Range: Gene Autry
115 I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart: Patsy Montana & The Prairie Ramblers
116 Tumbling Tumbleweeds: The Sons Of The Pioneers
117 Medley: Keep on the Sunny Side / I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes: The Carter Family
118 The Great Speckled Bird: Roy Acuff
119 Whoa Babe: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
120 New San Antonio Rose: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
121 Wabash Cannonball: Roy Acuff
122 Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel #8): Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys
Disc Two
201 Honky Tonkin': Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
202 It's Mighty Dark to Travel: Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys
203 New Mule Skinner Blues: Maddox Brothers and Rose
204 I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms): Eddy Arnold
205 Foggy Mountain Breakdown: Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs with The Foggy Mountain Boys
206 Molly and Tenbrook: The Stanley Brothers
207 Lovesick Blues: Hank Williams
208 I Saw the Light: Hank Williams
209 Hey, Good Lookin': Hank Williams
210 It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels: Kitty Wells
211 I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry: Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
212 Jambalaya: Little Brenda Lee
213 New Step It Up and Go: Maddox Brothers and Rose
214 I Walk the Line: Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two
215 Crazy Arms: Ray Price
216 Bye, Bye Love: The Everly Brothers
217 The Long Black Veil: Lefty Frizzell
218 El Paso: Marty Robbins
219 Night Life: Ray Price
220 Hello Walls: Faron Young
221 I Fall to Pieces: Patsy Cline
222 Ring of Fire: Johnny Cash
223 Crazy: Patsy Cline
224 I Can't Stop Loving You: Ray Charles
Disc Three
301 Dang Me: Roger Miller
302 I've Got a Tiger by the Tail: Buck Owens
303 Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind): Loretta Lynn
304 Coal Miner's Daughter: Loretta Lynn
305 Kiss an Angel Good Mornin': Charley Pride
306 Hungry Eyes: Merle Haggard & The Strangers
307 Mama Tried: Merle Haggard & The Strangers
308 Harper Valley P.T.A.: Jeannie C. Riley
309 Don't Touch Me: Jeannie Seely
310 Folsom Prison Blues: Johnny Cash
311 Stand by Your Man: Tammy Wynette
312 She Thinks I Still Care: George Jones
313 You Ain't Goin' Nowhere: The Byrds
314 Me and Bobby McGee: Kris Kristofferson
315 Help Me Make It Through the Night: Sammi Smith
316 Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down: Kris Kristofferson
317 Okie from Muskogee: Merle Haggard
318 Man in Black: Johnny Cash
319 Girl from the North Country: Bob Dylan with Johnny Cash
320 Grand Ole Opry Song: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
321 Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Disc Four
401 Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way: Waylon Jennings
402 Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8): Dolly Parton
403 Jolene: Dolly Parton
404 I Will Always Love You: Dolly Parton
405 We're Gonna Hold On: George Jones & Tammy Wynette
406 Texas Cookin': Guy Clark
407 If I Needed You: Townes Van Zandt
408 I Can't Stop Loving You: Johnny Rodríguez
409 I've Been a Long Time Leaving (But I'll Be a Long Time Gone): Waylon Jennings
410 Love Hurts: Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels
411 Boulder to Birmingham: Emmylou Harris
412 Bluebird Wine: Emmylou Harris
413 Whiskey River: Willie Nelson
414 Miles and Miles of Texas: Asleep At The Wheel
415 Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain: Willie Nelson
416 A Good Hearted Woman: Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
417 Family Tradition: Hank Williams Jr.
418 Seven Year Ache: Rosanne Cash
419 Pancho and Lefty: Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson
420 He Stopped Loving Her Today: George Jones
Disc Five
501 Don't Get Above Your Raisin': Ricky Skaggs
502 On the Road Again: Willie Nelson
503 Amarillo by Morning: George Strait
504 Somebody Should Leave: Reba McEntire
505 Diggin' Up Bones: Randy Travis
506 Why Not Me: The Judds
507 Honky Tonk Man: Dwight Yoakam
508 Streets of Bakersfield: Dwight Yoakam with Buck Owens
509 Where've You Been: Kathy Mattea
510 I'm No Stranger to the Rain: Keith Whitley
511 Go Rest High on That Mountain: Vince Gill
512 Guitar Town: Steve Earle
513 She's In Love with the Boy: Trisha Yearwood
514 Tennessee Flat Top Box: Rosanne Cash
515 Get Up John: Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers
516 Uncle Pen: Ricky Skaggs
517 I Still Miss Someone: Rosanne Cash
518 Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
[Notes]
"If you write the truth and you're writing about your life, it's going to be country. It'll be country 'cause you're writing what's happening. And that's all a good song is." Loretta Lynn COUNTRY MUSIC, the eight-part, 16-hour film by Ken Burns, chronicles the creation of a truly American genre of music through the songs and stories of its greatest trailblazers. Country Music A Film By Ken Burns (The Soundtrack) includes more than 100 timeless classics as heard in the film, including songs by The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and many more. This deluxe 5CD set includes 68 pages of liner notes and rarely seen archival photos, documents and memorabilia.

Anthology of American Folk Music: Edited by Harry Smith

Smithsonian Folkways SFW-40090

Format: 6-CD, Compilation, Enhanced, Reissue, Box Set
Country: United States
Released: 1997
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Cajun, Country, Gospel, Blues
[Tracklist]
Disk One
101 Henry Lee: Dick Justice (3:28)
102 Fatal Flower Garden: Nelstone's Hawaiians (2:58)
103 The House Carpenter: Clarence Ashley (3:16)
104 Drunkard's Special: Coley Jones (3:16)
105 Old lady and the Devil: Bill and Belle Reed (3:05)
106 The Butcher's Boy: Buell Kazee (3:05)
107 The Wagoner's Lad: Buell Kazee (3:05)
108 King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-me-o: Chubby Parker (3:09)
109 Old Shoes And Leggins: Uncle Eck Dunford (3:01)
110 Willie Moore: Richard Burnett and Leonard Rutherford (3:16)
111 A Lazy Farmer Boy: Buster Carter and Preston Young (3:00)
112 Peg And Awl: The Carolina Tar Heels (2:59)
113 Ommie Wise: G. B. Grayson (3:12)
114 My Name Is John Johanna: Kelly Harrell and the Virginia String Band (3:13)
Disk Two
201 Bandit Cole Younger: Edward L. Crain (2:57)
202 Charles Giteau: Kelly Harrel And the Virginia String Band (3:05)
203 John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man: The Carter Family (2:57)
204 Gonna Die With My Hammer In My hand : The Williamson Brothers and Curry (3:26)
205 Stackalee (Stagger Lee): Frank Hutchison (3:01)
206 White House blues Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers (3:31)
207 Frankie: Mississippi John Hurt (3:28)
208 When That Great Ship Went Down (The Titanic): William and Versey Smith (2:58)
209 Engine 14(3 The Carter Family (3:19)
210 Kassie Jones, Parts 1 and (2: Furry Lewis (6:16)
211 Down On Penny's Farm: The Bently Boys (2:50)
212 Mississippi Boweavil (Boll Weevil) Blues: The Masked Marvel (3:09)
213 Got The Farm Land Blues: The Carolina Tar Heels (3:17)
Disk Three
301 Sail Away Lady: Uncle Bunt Stephens (2:58)
302 The Wild Wagoner: Jilson Setters (3:17)
303 Wake Up Jacob: Prince Albert Hunt's Texas Ramblers (2:55)
304 La Danseuse: Delma Lachney and Blind Uncle Gaspard (2:56)
305 Georgia Stomp: Andrew and Jim Baxter (2:47)
306 Brilliancy Medley: Eck Robertson and Family (3:01)
307 Indian War Whoop: Hoyt Ming and the Pep Steppers (3:13)
308 Old Country Stomp: Henry Thomas (2:55)
309 Old Dog Blue: Jim Jackson (3:04)
310 Saut Crapaud: Columbus Fruge (2:49)
311 Acadian One-Step: Joseph Falcon (3:00)
312 Home Sweet Home: The Breaux Freres (3:00)
313 The Newport Blues: The Cincinnati Jug Band (2:58)
314 Moonshiner's Dance Part One: Frank Cloutier and the Victoria Cafe Orchestra (2:40)
Disk Four
401 Must Be Born Again: Rev. J.M. Gates (1:31)
402 Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting: Rev. J.M. Gates (1:29)
403 Rocky Road: Alabama Sacred Harp Singers (2:45)
404 Present Joys: Alabama Sacred Harp Singers (2:53)
405 This Song of Love: Middle Georgia Singing Convention No. 1 (2:58
406 Judgement: Rev. Sister Mary Nelson (2:25
407 He Got Better Things For You: Memphis Sanctified Singers (2:54)
408 Since I Laid My Burden Down: The Elders McIntorsh and Edwards' Sanctified Singers (3:19)
409 John The Baptist: Rev. Moses Mason (3:05)
410 Dry Bones: Bascom Lamar Lunsford (3:00)
411 John The Revelator: Blind Willie Johnson (3:21)
412 Little Moses: The Carter Family (3:14)
413 Shine On Me: Ernest Phipps and His Holiness Singers (3:03)
414 Fifty Miles Of Elbow Room: Rev. F.M. McGee (2:43
415 I'm In The Battlefield For My Lord: Rev. D.C. Rice and His Sanctified Congregation (3:20)
Disk Five
501 The Coo Coo Bird: Clarence Ashley (2:56)
502 East Virginia: Buell Kazee (3:01)
503 Minglewood Blues: Cannon's Jug Stompers with Noah Lewis (3:44)
504 I Woke Up One Morning In May: Didier Hébert (3:04)
505 James Alley Blues: Richard "Rabbit" Brown (3:07)
506 Sugar Baby: Dock Boggs (2:58)
507 I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground: Bascom Lamar Lunsford (3:21)
508 The Mountaineer's Courtship: Ernest and Hattie Stoneman (2:44)
509 The Spanish Merchant's Daughter (No, Sir No): The Stoneman Family (3:18)
510 Bob Lee Junior Blues: The Memphis Jug Band (3:11)
511 Single Girl, Married Girl: The Carter Family (2:47)
512 Le Vieux Soulard et Sa Femme: Cleoma Breaux and Joseph Falcon (3:10)
513 Rabbit Foot Blues: Blind Lemon Jefferson (2:57)
514 Expressman Blues: Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell (3:02)
Disk Six
601 Poor Boy Blues: Ramblin' Thomas (2:24)
602 Feather Bed: Cannon's Jug Stompers (3:16)
603 Country Blues: Dock Boggs (2:59
604 99 Year Blues: Julius Daniels (3:07)
605 Prison Cell Blues: Blind Lemon Jefferson (2:47)
606 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean: Blind Lemon Jefferson (2:55)
607 C'est Si Triste Sans Lui: Cleoma Breaux and Joseph Falcon (3:01)
608 Way Down the Old Plank Road: Uncle Dave Macon (3:01)
609 Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line: Uncle Dave Macon (3:15)
610 Spike Driver Blues: Mississippi John Hurt (3:17)
611 K.C. Moan: The Memphis Jug Band (2:33)
612 Train on the Island: J.P. Nestor (3:00)
613 The Lone Star Trail: Ken Maynard (3:15)
614 Fishing Blues: Henry Thomas (2:45)
[Credits]
Producer: Harry Everett Smith, Designer: Scott Stowell, Mastering Engineer: David Glasser, Pete Reiniger & Charlie Pilzer, Liner Notes: Greil Marcus, Neil Rosenberg, Luis Kemnitzer, Jon Pankake, Peter Stampfel, Luc Sante, Kip Lornell, Eric Von Schmidt, John Fahey & Jeff Place
[Notes]
The Anthology of American Folk Music, edited by Harry Smith (1923–1991), is one of the most influential releases in the history of recorded sound. Originally issued by Folkways Records in 1952, the Anthology brought virtually unknown parts of America's musical landscape recorded in the late 1920s and early 1930s to the public's attention. For more than half a century, the collection has profoundly influenced fans, ethnomusicologists, music historians, and cultural critics; it has inspired generations of popular musicians, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Jerry Garcia, and countless others. Many of the songs included in the Anthology have now become classics, as has Harry Smith's unique "scientific/aesthetic handbook" of song notes and drawings. Reissued by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in 1997, this deluxe 6-CD collector's boxed set contains a 96-page book featuring Harry Smith's original liner notes and essays by Greil Marcus and other noted writers, musicians, and scholars. "Anthology was our bible…. We all knew every word of every song on it, including the ones we hated. They say that in the 19th-century British Parliament, when a member would begin to quote a classical author in Latin the entire House would rise in a body and finish the quote along with him. It was like that." – Dave Van Ronk "Had he never done anything with his life but this Anthology, Harry Smith would still have borne the mark of genius across his forehead. I'd match the Anthology up against any other single compendium of important information ever assembled. Dead Sea Scrolls? Nah. I'll take the Anthology." – John Fahey "First hearing the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music is like discovering the secret script of so many familiar musical dramas. Many of these actually turn out to be cousins two or three times removed, some of whom were probably created in ignorance of these original riches. It also occurred to me that as we are listening at a greater distance in time to a man or woman singing of their fairly recent past of the 1880s, we are fortunate that someone collected these performances of such wildness, straightforward beauty, and humanity." – Elvis Costello

Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers Vol. 2: Old Time Songs Recorded 1926-1930

County Records CD-3508

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: Feb 27, 1996
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country
[Tracklist]
01 If the River Was Whiskey (3:09)
02 Bill Mason (3:00)
03 Baltimore Fire (3:11)
04 Honeysuckle (3:14)
05 My Gypsy Girl (2:56)
06 Ragtime Annie (3:12)
07 It's Movin' Day (3:26)
08 Budded Rose (3:02)
09 A Kiss Waltz (3:08)
10 Jealous Mary (2:59)
11 Wild Horse (3:07)
12 If I Lose, I Don't Care (3:06)
13 There'll Come a Time (3:29)
14 Southern Melody (3:05)
15 Mother's Last Farewell Kiss (3:03)
16 One Moonlight Night (3:21)
[Credits]
Charlie Poole (banjo/vocals) Lonnie Austin (fiddle) Odell Smith (fiddle) Posey Rorer (fiddle) Norman Woodlieff (guitar) Roy Harvey (guitar)
Liner Notes: Kinney Rorrer, Producer: Dave Freeman, Remastering: Peter Siegel
[Notes]
County Records' second installment of Charlie Poole & the North Carolina Ramblers is another great testament to this seminal band: while most or all of Poole and the Ramblers' best-known songs are included on the earlier volume of Old Time Songs, the lesser-known tunes on this disc are every bit as entertaining, if often less familiar.

Charlie Poole And The North Carolina Ramblers: Old Time Songs Recorded 1925-1930

County Records CD-3501

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1993
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country
[Tracklist]
01 White House Blues (3:26)
02 Sweet Sunny South (2:53)
03 Shootin' Creek (3:23)
04 He Rambled (2:57)
05 The Letter That Never Came (2:47)
06 Mountain Reel (3:02)
07 You Ain't Talkin' To Me (2:53)
08 Sweet Sixteen (2:50)
09 Leaving Home (3:08)
10 Took My Gal A-Walkin' (2:46)
11 Monkey On A String (3:05
12 Ramblin' Blues (3:05)
13 Flying Clouds (3:15)
14 Falling By THe Wayside (3:04)
15 Don't Let Your Deal Go Down (2:51)
16 Take A Drink On Me (3:13)
[Credits]
Charlie Poole (banjo/vocals) Lonnie Austin (fiddle) Posey Rorer (fiddle) Norman Woodlieff (guitar) Roy Harvey (guitar)
Liner Notes: Kinney Rorrer, Producer: Dave Freeman, Remastering: Peter Siegel
[Notes]
Old-Time Songs contains 16 songs Charlie Poole recorded for Columbia Records between 1925 and 1930. This sampling features nearly every one of his best songs -- including the hits "White House Blues" and "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues" -- and provides the definitive retrospective of Poole, as well as a good glimpse into the style and sound of old timey country music in the first half of the 20th Century.

Old Time Southern Dance Music: String Bands Vol. 1

Old Timey Records LP-100

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1965
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country, Zydeco, Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 Chinese Rag: The Spooney Five
A2 Moatsville Blues: Moatsville String Ticklers
A3 If The River Was Whiskey: Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers
A4 Japanese Breakdown: Scottdale String Band
A5 Crowley Waltz: Hackberry Ramblers
A6 Allen Brothers Rag: Allen Brothers
A7 Tickle Her: Hackberry Ramblers
A8 Jackson Stomp: Mississippi Mud Steppers
B1 Hawkins' Rag: Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers
B2 Hungry Hash House: Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers
B3 Train 45: Grayson & Whitter
B4 Down Yonder: Hershel Brown & His Washboard Band
B5 Dickson County Blues: Arthur Smith Trio
B6 Osson: Joseph Falcon with Clemo & Ophy Breaux
B7 Home Town Blues: Roane County Ramblers
B8 Nobody Loves Me: Hershel Brown & His Washboard Band
[Credits]
Liner Notes: Chris Strachwitz

Charlie Poole & the North Carolina Ramblers: Volume 4

County Records COUNTY–540

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: United States
Released: 1976
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Old Time, & Country
[Tracklist]
A1 Honeysuckle
A2 Coon From Tennessee
A3 Flying Clouds
A4 I'm The Man That Rode The Mule Around The World
A5 Kiss Waltz
A6 Jealous Mary
B1 Southern Medley
B2 Falling By The Wayside
B3 Baby Rose
B4 The Girl I Left In Sunny Tennessee
B5 Mother's Last Farewell Kiss
B6 You Ain't Talkin' To Me
[Credits]
Charlie Poole (banjo/vocals) Lonnie Austin (fiddle) Odell Smith (fiddle) Posey Rorer (fiddle) Roy Harvey (guitar)
[Notes]
Original recordings made in 1925-30

The Legend of Charlie Poole

County Records COUNTY-516

Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: United States
Released: 1968
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Old Time, & Country
[Tracklist]
A1 Look Before You Leap
A2 Hungry Hash House
A3 Old And Only In The Way
A4 Write A Letter To My Mother
A5 Goodbye Booze
A6 My Wife Went Away And Left Me
B1 Goodbye Liza Jane
B2 Leaving Dear Old Ireland
B3 Budded Roses
B4 The Highwayman
B5 Goodbye Mary Dear
B6 Milwaukiee Blues
[Credits]
The North Carolina Ramblers: Charlie Poole (banjo/vocals) Posey Rorer (fiddle) Roy Harvey (guitar)
[Notes]
County continues its excellent survey of works by this popular banjoist and vocalist with this third volume of rural, old-time string-band dance tunes, novelties, minstrel songs, and folk ballads. This time-capsule disc of Poole's North Carolina Ramblers features his nimble three-fingered playing and dry-humored tenor singing with fiddle and guitar. Their tunes were well received in their day; their first eight sides sold almost half a million copies by 1927, and their first two alone sold 167,000 in one year. These first-class transfers belie their age and make enjoying the music easy. This is moving stuff.-- AllMusic Review by Sigmund Finman

Traditional Country Classics 1927-1929

Historical Records HLP-8003

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: United States
Released: 1968
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Old Time, & Country
[Tracklist]
A1 Leather Breeches: Earl Johnson (fiddle/vocals) Red Henderson (banjo)
A2 What You Gonna' Do With The Baby: Grayson & Whitter, G.B. Grayson (fiddle/vocals) Henry Whitter (guitar/vocals)
A3 Gray Eagle: Taylors' Kentucky Boys, Marion Underwood (banjo) Jim Booker (fiddle)
A4 Kenney Wagner's Surrender: Ernest V. Stoneman (guitar/harmonica/vocals) Kahle Brewer (fiddle)
A5 Honeysuckle Time: Paul Miles (banjo/vocals) Guy Brooks (fiddle) A.P. Thompson (guitar/vocals) Bob Cranford (harmonica)
A6 Sugar Hill: George Crockett (banjo/vocals)
A7 Georgia Wobble Blues: Carrol County Ramblers, Unknown Artists (banjo/fiddle/vocals)
B1 Red Hot B Take Me Back To The Sweet Sunny South: DeCosta Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, DeCosta Woltz (banjo) Frank Jenkins, Ben Jarrell (vocals)
B4 ust Keep Waiting Till' the Good Time Comes: North Carolina Ramblers, Charlie Poole (banjo/vocals) Lonnie Austin (fiddle) Roy Harvey (guitar)
B5 She's A Flower From the Fields of Alabama: Burnett & Rutherford, Dick Burnett (banjo/vocals) Leonard Rutherford (fiddle/vocals)
B6 Oh Molly Lye Soap Breakdown: Dilly and his Dill Pickles, Pink Lindsey (bass) Bill Kiker (fiddle) Shorty Lindsey (mandolin banjo) Seven Foot Dilly (vocals)
[Credits]
Compiled by: Joe Bussard, Jr., Cover: Fred Romary, Liner Notes: Richard Nevins, Produce: Arnold S. Caplin

Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers: Old Time Songs Recorded from 1925-1930

County Records COUNTY-505

Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: United States
Released: 1965
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Old Time, & Country
[Tracklist]
A1 White House Blues
A2 Sweet Sunny South
A3 Shootin' Creek
A4 He Rambled
A5 The Letter That Never Came
A6 Sweet Sixteen
B1 Leaving Home
B2 Took My Gal A-Walkin'
B3 Ramblin' Blues
B4 Mountain Reel
B5 Don't Let Your Deal Go Down
B6 Take A Drink On Me
[Credits]
Charlie Poole (banjo/vocals) Lonnie Austin or Posey Rorer (fiddle) Norman Woodlieff or Roy Harvey (guitar)
Remastering: Peter Siegel, Producer: Dave Freeman
[Notes]
Charlie Poole was one of the founding fathers of recorded country music. His distinctive voice and innovative banjo playing have made Poole legendary. His band, The North Carolina Ramblers featured equally accomplished musicians. Charlie was born in 1892, in North Carolina. Around 1900 his family moved to Haw River in search of mill work. Charlie worked in the mill from an early age. Hours were long and wages were poor - $3 a week is cited. As to music, he appears to have made himself a banjo out of a gourd. Once at work he bought a proper instrument. In 1912 he married. The relationship failed, due to his rambling habits, but did produce a son. On one of his rambling jaunts, around 1917, he met fiddle player Posey Rorer. The third member of what would become the North Carolina Ramblers was guitarist Norman Woodlief. Poole claimed they'd recorded at a field session for OKeh in 1925 but no discs have been found. In July 1925, the three travelled to New York to cut four sides for Columbia. Poole would remain with the label until his final recording session. The four pieces cut at the initial Columbia session are presented here in the order they were cut but Columbia issued Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight b/w Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues. The sales were 102,000 at a time when 5000 was reckoned a good seller and 20,000 a hit. The Ramblers took up music full time. At some point Woodlief left the group although he did perform with them occasionally. The fine guitarist Roy Harvey replaced him. With their first issues a success Columbia wanted the Ramblers back in the studios - which Charlie was disinclined to do. He may have been dissatisfied with his royalties and felt the longer he ignored Columbia's pleadings the better the terms he'd get. In fact he did return often to the studio - producing in the process some of the finest music of the era. His waywardness persisted. He died in 1931 after a drinking bout that allegedly had lasted three months.