Sunday, January 11, 2009

Hard Times - 1/11/2009

A few weeks ago a listener, probably digesting the daily news, requested we do a show about "hard times." We didn't want to make such a show the last of the year or the first of the year, so this second show of the year seemed to be a good time to do it. Of course hard times tend to bring out many songwriting talents, and the many economic trials of the early-to-mid 20th century -- in particular the great depression of the 1930s -- coincided with the blossoming of recording technology to leave quite a musical legacy.

We had many songs to choose from, but picked the following tracks to illustrate hard times as depicted by early recorded songsters.

Thanks for listening.

Jim & Marti

Title / Artist / Album / Label

  • Aunt Hattie Dalton "Old Red Rooster Party" Introduction (1994)
  • Job (1937) / Golden Gate Quartet / Complete Recorded Works Volume 1 / Document
  • Blue Harvest (1928) / Mississippi John Hurt / 1928 Sessions / Yazoo
  • How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live (1929) / Blind Alfred Reed / Complete Recorded Works / Document
  • How Can A Broke Man Be Happy (1937) / Dixon Brothers / Complete Recorded Works Volume 2 / Document
  • All I Got's Gone (1934) / Ernest Stoneman / The Unsung Father Of Country Music / 5-String
  • The Tramp (1927) / Sam & Kirk McGee / Uncle Dave Macon - 1928 - 1936 / JSP
  • The Railroad Tramp (1926) / Walter Morris / Complete Recorded Works / Document
  • The Georgia Hobo (1927) / Cofer Brothers / Georgia String Bands / Document
  • Waiting For A Train (1928) / Jimmie Rodgers / The Early Years, 1928-1929 / Rounder
  • Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister (1925) / Charlie Poole with the North Carolina Ramblers / Charlie Poole with the North Carolina Ramblers / JSP
  • Remember The Poor Tramp Has To Live (1928) / Ernest V. Stoneman / Edison Recordings - 1928 / County
  • What Will I Do When My Money Is All Gone (1927) / Uncle Eck Dunford / Serenade In The Mountains / JSP
  • The Farm Relief Song (1929) / Vernon Dalhart / Volume II On The Lighter Side / Old Homestead
  • One Old Shirt (1938) / Roy Acuff / His Earliest Recordings / Recall Records
  • Work In 1930 (1933) / Fisher Hendley & His Aristocratic Pigs / Fisher Hendley & His Aristocratic Pigs / B.A.C.M
  • Bread And Gravy (1953) / Grandpa Jones / You're Never Too Old For Love / B.A.C.M

Mayberry Corner Trivia: How was Barney related to Andy in the early episodes of The Andy Griffith Show? Answer: Barney was Andy’s cousin

  • Prosperity And Politics - Part 1 & Part 2 (1934) / Gid Tanner and The Skillet-Lickers / Complete Recorded Works Volume 6 / Document
  • Bread Line Blues (1931) / Slim Smith / Mountain Blues / JSP
  • N. R. A. Blues (1933) / Bill Cox / Mountain Blues / JSP
  • Bad Time Blues (1928) / Barbecue Bob / Hard Times Come Again No More Vol.2 / Yazoo
  • One Dime Blues (1927) / Blind Lemon Jefferson / Hard Times Come Again No More Vol.1 / Yazoo
  • Times Is Tight Like That (c.1928-31) / Bo Carter & Walter Vinson / Hard Times Come Again No More Vol.2 / Yazoo
  • No Dough Blues (c.1928) / Blind Blake / Complete Recorded Works / Document
  • Eleven Cent Cotton (1928 or 29) / Vernon Dalhart / Volume II On The Lighter Side / Old Homestead
  • Price Of Cotton Blues (1930) / Allen Brothers / Hard Times Come Again No More Vol.2 / Yazoo
  • Cotton Mill Colic (1930) / Dave McCarn / Hard Times Come Again No More Vol.2 / Yazoo
  • Serves 'Em Fine (1931) / Dave McCarn / Hard Times Come Again No More Vol.1 / Yazoo
  • The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore (1975) / June Carter Cash / Keep On The Sunny Side: Her Life In Music / Columbia
  • Things Are Getting Rough All Over (1952) / Hank Penny & His California Cowhands / The Penny Opus #1 / Jasmine
  • Poor Boy Blues (1974) / Doc & Merle Watson / Then And Now/Two Days In November / Sugar Hill
  • Hard Times Come Again No More (c.1932) / Graham Brothers / Hard Times Come Again No More Vol.1 / Yazoo
  • Waitin' For The Hard Times To Go (1993) / Nashville Bluegrass Band / Waitin' For The Hard Times / Sugar Hill

Fiddlers - 1/4/2009

For the first show of the new year we focused on the great fiddlers of early recorded music. I learned recently that old-time fiddling was quite the fad in the 1920s primarily because Henry Ford promoted the style as preserving something uniquely American. The early bands were very fiddle-centric as a result, and many of these early fiddlers were recorded in the 1920s into the 1930s. We also heard a few recent fiddle tunes from local group Notorious, and Texas fiddlers The Quebe Sisters.

The only songs not using fiddle were the opening Golden Gate Quartet number, and the ending number by local duet Blue Around the Edges (Dianna Tetreau & Carol Campbell).

Thanks for listening!

Jim & Marti

Title / Artist / Album / Label

  • Aunt Hattie Dalton "Old Red Rooster Party" Introduction (1994)
  • Bedside Of A Neighbor (1937) / Golden Gate Quartet / Complete Recorded Works Volume 1 / Document
  • Hand Me Down My Walking Cane (1926) / Gid Tanner & His Skillet-Lickers with Riley Puckett / Complete Recorded Works Volume 1` / Document
  • Turkey In The Straw (1922) / Eck Robertson / Vintage Recordings 1922-1929 / County
  • Brilliancy Medley (1929) / Eck Robertson / Vintage Recordings 1922-1929 / County
  • Little More Sugar In The Coffee (1930) / Fiddlin' John Carson / Complete Recorded Works Volume 6 / Document
  • Black Eyed Susie (1927) / Fiddlin' Doc Roberts / Complete Recorded Works Volume 1 / Document
  • Lonesome Road Blues (1927) / Williamson Brothers & Curry / Old Time Music From West Virginia / Document
  • Earl Johnson's Arkansaw Traveler (1927) / Earl Johnson & His Clodhoppers / Complete Recorded Works Volume 2 / Document
  • Henry Ford's Model A (1929) / Oscar Ford / Georgia Songsers / Document
  • Up Jumped The Rabbit (1930) / Georgia Pot Lickers / The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of / Yazoo
  • Rocking My Sugar Lump (1930) / Lowe Stokes & His Pot Lickers / In Chronological Order Volume 1 / Document
  • Give Me Back My Fifteen Cents (1928) / Binkley Brothers Dixie Clodhoppers / Nashville, 1928 / Document
  • The Georgia Hobo (1927) / Cofer Brothers / Georgia String Bands Volume 1 / Document
  • Jolly Blacksmith (1928) / Theron Hale & Daughters / Nashville, 1928 / Document
  • Stone Rag (1928) / Paul Warmack & His Gully Jumpers / Nashville, 1928 / Document

Maryberry Corner Trivia: What part did Barney sing in the Mayberry Choir? Answer: Tenor

  • Old Joe Clark (1927) / Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters / Complete Recorded Works / Document
  • Podunk Toddle (1935) / The Freeny Harmonizers / Mississippi String Bands Vol. 1 / Document
  • Ride That Mule (1927) / The Hill Billies / Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters / Complete Recorded Works Volume 3 / Document
  • Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues (1925) / The North Carolina Ramblers / Charlie Poole with the North Carolina Ramblers / JSP
  • Lye Soap (1930) / Dilly & His Dill Pickles / Old Mountain Stringband Songs & Tunes / Living Era
  • Never Be As Fast As I Have Been (1929) / Grayson & Whitter / Old Mountain Stringband Songs & Tunes / Living Era
  • Ragtime Annie (1931) / The Corn Cob Crushers / Old Mountain Stringband Songs & Tunes / Living Era
  • Johnny Grey (1938) / Uncle Dave Macon w. Sid Harkreader / Uncle Dave Macon 1928-1936 / JSP
  • Johnson’s Old Grey Mule (1936) / J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers / The Golden Age of J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers / Cattle
  • Cumberland Gap (c.1968) / Tommy Jarrell & Fred Cockerham / Tommy & Fred: Best Fiddle-Banjo Duets / County
  • Nobody Cares (Not Even You) (1952) / Lonesome Pine Fiddlers / Bluegrass - Classic Recordings Remastered / JSP
  • Orange Blossom Special (1939) / The Rouse Brothers / Bluegrass - Classic Recordings Remastered / JSP
  • Up Jumped The Devil (1940) / Byron Parker and his Mountaineers / Byron Parker and his Mountaineers / Old Homestead
  • Sarah Jane (2008) / Notorious / Elkins / Black Socks [local music!]
  • So Long To The Red River Valley (2007) / The Quebe Sisters Band / Timeless / FiddleTone
  • Let Your Light Shine On Me (2007) / Blue Around The Edges (Dianna Tetreau & Carol Campbell) / Heaven’s Front Door / Self-released [local music!]