Except for the usual opener by The Golden Gate Quartet, this entire show was a tribute to Ralph Peer's first recording session in Bristol, TN, for the Victor record company. The recordings, made in a studio assembled in a hat warehouse on State Street on the Tennessee side of the Virginia-Tennessee line, were made between July 25th and August 5th, 1927.The first few days of recording were dominated by the extended family of Ernest V. Stoneman -- one of the artists Peer knew before the sessions and had invited to attend prior to the sessions. Concerned that he might not have enough musicians to fill out his planned two-week stay in Bristol, Peer invited the press to attend a session and the publicity from the resultant newspaper articles caused rural musicians to travel to Bristol in hopes of recording for Victor. This included the great discoveries The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers.
Nineteen performers recorded seventy-six songs at the Sessions of which sixty-nine were released.
The artistic and commercial success of the Bristol sessions has led some musicologists and historians to call the event the "Big Bang of Country Music."
On this show we played songs from all artists who recorded at the 1927 Bristol sessions (except for two artists whose recordings did not survive.) If you want to own recordings of the complete Bristol sessions, we highly recommend the comprehensive box set from Bear Family titled "The Bristol Sessions."
We hope you enjoyed this slice of music history.
Jim & Marti
Artist / Song / Disk / Label / Year
- Golden Gate Quartet / Didn't It Rain / Complete Recorded Works / Document / 1941
- Ernest V. Stoneman - E. Kahle Brewer - Walter Mooney / Dying Girl's Farewell / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Ernest V. Stoneman - E. Kahle Brewer - Walter Mooney / Tell Mother I Will Meet Her / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Ernest V. Stoneman & His Dixie Mountaineers / Sweeping Through The Gate / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Ernest Phipps & His Holiness Quartet / Happy In Prison / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Ernest Phipps & His Holiness Quartet / Don't Grieve After Me / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Uncle Eck Dunford - Hattie Stoneman / What Will I Do, For My Money's All Gone / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Uncle Eck Dunford / The Whip-poor-will's Song / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Uncle Eck Dunford / Skip To Ma Lou, My Darling / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Uncle Eck Dunford - Ernest Stoneman / Barney McCoy / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers / Old Time Corn Shuckin', Part 1 / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Johnson Brothers / The Jealous Sweetheart (Take 1) / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Johnson Brothers / Just A Message From Carolina / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Blind Alfred Reed / The Wreck Of The Virginian (Take 2) / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Johnson Brothers with Tennessee Wildcats / The Soldier's Poor Little Boy / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- El Watson / Pot Licker Blues / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- B. F. Shelton / Pretty Polly / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Alfred G. Karnes / Where We'll Never Grow Old / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- J. P. Nester / Train On The Island / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Bull Mountain Moonshiners / Johnny Goodwin / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- The Carter Family / Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- The Carter Family / Single Girl, Married Girl / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Alcoa Quartet / Remember Me, O Mighty One / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Henry Whitter / Rain Crow Bill / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- The Shelor Family / Billy Grimes, The Rover / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Mr. & Mrs. J. W. Baker / The Newmarket Wreck / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Jimmie Rodgers / The Soldier's Sweetheart / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- Tenneva Ramblers / Sweet Heaven When I Die / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
- West Virginia Coon Hunters / Greasy String / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family /
- Tennessee Mountaineers / Standing On The Promises / The Bristol Sessions / Bear Family / 1927
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