Group Sound
* Old Baptist Church: When We Shall Meet (7.5 mb) | Amazing Grace (7.5 mb)
From Mountain Music Of Kentucky : Smithsonian Folkways : SF CD 40077
Back in September, I posted a couple of songs by old tyme superstar, Roscoe Holcomb (look here). And since that time, I picked up this incredible compilation, Mountain Music Of Kentucky. I mostly bought it because I noticed that there were a bunch of Roscoe Holcomb tracks on the compilation and I suspected that anything that included the peers of Roscoe Holcomb would result in some damn fine listening. And, as I suspected, the whole compilation is really stunning.
These 1959 recordings present the vigorous music of Kentucky mountain people. They sang and played banjo with a terrific energy that is almost unheard of now. They learned their music in a setting totally different from our contemporary life, in an era before people got their experiences from TV or their music from Nashville, when people plowed with mules, canned beans and tomatoes from their gardens, and reclined on front porches with slatted wooden swings attached to rafters by metal chains. Their musical memories provide us with a glimpse of a pattern which had endured for centuries. (from the liner notes)
But what really knocked my socks off on this compilation were these two songs recorded at an Old Baptist Church. These songs are absolutely amazing, with the call and response and the way the voices interweave with each other. Whenever I listen to them, I get this sense that time has shifted and lengthened.
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ben said,
October 27, 2006 @ 11:06 pm
yes, those are some of the best tracks on that record. no question. there are som dvds of roscoe out there that are pretty amazing… some of them have kilby snow on them, who’s worh checking out too.
but anyway, if you like those old regular baptist tracks, get this cd:
http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Old-Regular-Baptists-Southeastern/dp/B000001DK1/sr=8-1/qid=1162007615/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1875079-0205634?ie=UTF8&s=music
thanks for the blog!
jean philippe chabot said,
October 30, 2006 @ 5:47 am
…try dock boggs if you don’t already know him.you are in for a BIG
surprise.
cb said,
October 30, 2006 @ 11:07 am
Oh yeah! Dock Boggs is the gold standard of the old tymers.
Ben - i’ll definitely be checking that album out. I love that old church sound.
-cb
jd said,
November 17, 2006 @ 4:29 pm
The Old Baptist songs remind me of Ladysmith Black Mambazo - the call and response and acapella harmonies. Good Stuff - thanks for sharing….