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Red Tail Ring - II. Mountain Shout
USA / 2012 / Appalachian Folk, Old-Time When it comes to making an album like this–stepping away from original songs to delve into trad folk–the magic comes in song selection and arrangement. The field is wide open, which means one might be paralyzed by choice, but this duo does an excellent job at choosing a dozen songs that, through instrument choice and passionate delivery, evoke that…
Have you heard The Devil Makes Three?
Yes
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Have you heard Carolina Chocolate Drops?
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Saturday, April 27th, I attended a concert in Huntington Beach by the legendary Mike Compton and Joe Newberry. The concert featured bluegrass standards, old-time fiddle tunes, gritty Southern blues, a couple of originals, and more. Joe alternated between rhythm guitar and 5-string clawhammer banjo, and both sung. It was a wonderful evening. They have a live album available for streaming, if you're so inclined. One of my favorite moments from the evening and the album was "How Long Blues," and Mr. Newberry did a fantastic job singing Kentucky Waltz. If you have the chance, you should see them, or at least listen to their album.
Bill Cox (1897-1968), West Virginia's second-most prolific recording artist of the pre-WW2 era. Billed as the Dixie Songbird, when WOBU (WCHS after 1933) went on the air in Charleston in 1928, Bill soon had a program on the station. The station owner procured a recording contract for Cox so the records could be played when he failed to show up, which was pretty often. Cox started out as a Jimmie Rodgers imitator who sounded very similar to a young Gene Autry, but both eventually found their own styles.
Cox partnered with tenor singer Cliff Hobbs from Cedar Grove, WV in 1933 and wrote some good songs (including "Filipino Baby" and "Sparkling Brown Eyes"), stole a couple more, and eventually had most of his own stolen from him. Cox drifted into obscurity, alcoholism, and poverty; by the mid-60s he was living in a converted chicken house in the Charleston slums. Like many still-living old-time country recording artists of the era, Cox was eventually visited by fans, folklorists, and record collectors who were interested in his music. He recorded this album for Kanawha Records, but died the following December trying to mount a comeback.
Have you heard Old Crow Medicine Show?
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Have you heard Kossoy Sisters?
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