*The Fire Next Time- Bluegrass Variety- Carolina Chocolate Drops

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Carolina Chocolate Drop Doing "Cornbread And Butterbeans"

CD Review

Dona Got A Ramblin’ Mind, Carolina Chocolate Drops (Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson and the spirit of fiddler Joe Thompson), MusicMaker, 2006.



Recently I posed a question in this space about who would continue the blues tradition today, now that most, if not all, of the famous old blues singers are dead or retired. One answer that I came up with was the talented Keb’ Mo’. There are others I am sure. I have also posed that same question here in regard to the folk music movement that now is seeing more than its fair share of old time performers pass from the scene, most recently the likes of Odetta and Utah Phillips. One answer that I came up with was the talented Woody Guthrie devotee Alastair Moock. Again, there are others I am sure. Here I pose the same question in regard to another important form of American music, bluegrass (or more generally, mountain music). As previously, the role of succession begs an important question now that many of the best of this genre have also passed or retired. Who would, if anyone, continue that old tradition?

That is where the artists under review, Carolina Chocolate Drops, come into the picture. When I think about Carolina, in this case North Carolina, I think of the famous black women virtuoso blues guitarists, Elizabeth Cotton and Etta Baker, whom I have previously reviewed in this space. More generally though I think of Ralph Stanley, Doc and Merle Watson and other white musicians from the mountains. I admit my error. That is not nearly inclusive enough. I have noted previously that in the 19th century the closeness of black and white variations of rural music were quite common and, in some cases, mutually shared. I then gave, as an example, the classic song “John Henry” done by both races in many variations. Thus, for these talented young black musicians to take up the struggle for continuity is a natural. And this CD proves the point. Enough said.

So what is good here? Obviously the classic “Sally Ann” that like “John Henry” has had a million incarnations. Hats off also to “Little Sadie” and “Black Annie”. However, if you only have time to listen to one give a listen to the title track “Dona Got A Ramblin’ Mind” then you will know why the old bluegrass tradition like the blues and folk ones are still in capable hands. Kudos, Drops.

*********************

Sally Ann

SALLY ANN [1]. AKA and see “Beano,” “Darneo,” "Dineo." Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. One version of the tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's. See also related tunes "Big Sweet Taters in Sandy Land," "Great Big Tater(s) in Sandy Land/Lot," "Sandy Land," "Sail Away Ladies" (Kentucky/Tennessee), "Wish(ed) I Had My Time Again" (Ky.). One version of the tune goes by the name "Dineo" in the Franklin/Floyd County area of southwestern Virginia, and it was recorded as “Darneo” by the Blue Ridge Highballers (Yazoo CD 2046). Among the many early recordings of the tune was a version by the Ashe County, North Carolina, string band Frank Blevins and His Tar Hell Rattlers, a name made up on the spot at the 1927 Columbia recording session in Atlanta for 16 year old fiddler Frank Blevins, his older brother and guitarist Ed Blevins and banjo player Fred Miller. The band’s playing was inspired by a few shots of corn liquor from a convenient jug. The Hill Billies, a Galax, Va., area band, recorded an influential version in 1925 (re-released on Document DOCD-8039). Fiddler Joe Birchfield (1911-2001) of Roan Mountain, Tennessee, played a version of “Sally Ann” in the key of C.

***

Cecil Sharp noted the following set of words from Mrs. Dellie Hughes of Crane River, Burnsville, North Carolina, in 1918:

***

O where are you going Sally Anne (x3)

I’m going to the wedding, Sally Anne.

***

O shake that little foot, Sally Anne (x3)

You’re a pretty good dancer, Sally Anne.

***

These are from another traditional source (from Mudcat):

***

Ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann,

Draggin' his thick tail through the sand,

Pickin' a banjo, kickin' up sand?

I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

***

Chorus:

I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,

I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,

I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

***

Make my livin' in sandy land,

Make my livin' in sandy land,

Make my livin' in sandy land,

Raise them taters, Sally Ann.

***

So, y'ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann,

Draggin' his thick tail through the sand,

Pickin' a banjo, kickin' up sand?

I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

***

Source for notated version: John Ashby (Virginia) [Brody, Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 244. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; pg. 209. County 405, "The Hillbillies." County 727, John Ashby‑ "Old Virginia Fiddling." Document 8039, “The Hill Billies/Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters: Compoete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 1” (reissue). Folkways FA2434, Norman Edmonds and the Old Timers ‑ "The 37th Old‑Time Fiddlers' Convention at Union Grove, North Carolina" (1961). Library of Congress (2741-B-1), 1939, J.W. 'Peg' Thatcher (Franklin County, Virginia). Musical Traditions MTCD321-2, Pug Allen (et al.) – “Far on the Mountain: vol’s. 1 & 2” (re-release, 2002). OKeh 40336 (78 RPM), The Hillbillies (1925). Old Hat Enterprises CD, “Music from the Lost Provinces” (1997). Revonah RS‑932, The West Orrtanna String Band ‑ "An Orrtanna Home Companion" (1978. Learned from Henry Reed via the Hollow Rock String Band). Rounder 0058, Clell Caudill‑ "Old Originals, vol. II" (1978). Rounder CD0262, Mike Seegar - "Fresh Old-Time String Band Music" (1988. Appears as "Pork Fat Makes My Chicken Tan," an unusual variation by the Horseflies and the Agents of Terra, Ithaca, N.Y., string bands in which the fiddle is tuned EDad). Yodel-Ay-Hee 020, Rafe Stefanini & Bob Herring - "Old Paint."

*In Honor Of The Late Ralph Stanley-The Root Of The Matter-Putting Bluegrass and Gospel Together For Real- “We Are Family”

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of The Easter Family performing "Roses Will Bloom Again".

DVD Review

We Are Family, various artists from the Easter and Lewis families, Daywind Records, 2008



Sometimes when reviewing roots music CDs and DVDs you come across material that you are both somewhat unfamiliar with and that does not fit easily in the various known categories of roots music. That is the case here with the combination of bluegrass and white gospel presented by the Easter Brothers and their family, very extended family as its turns out. A regular reader of this space might be somewhat puzzled by this remark. Of course, particularly over the last few months, I have reviewed reams of bluegrass music from the old days with the likes of Roscoe Holcombe, Ralph Stanley and the like.



Certainly the bluegrass folk revivalists of the 1960s, like the New Lost City Ramblers and The Greenbriar Boys, have gotten plenty of space. Moreover, one cannot really review Harry Smith’s “Anthology Of American Folk Music”, as I have in this space without running into plenty of bluegrass and gospel music. What is rather startling in this presentation these days is that combination, present here, of true believers in the gospel who bring their message through their bluegrass concerts for the folks. Frankly, I am much more comfortable with a secular group like The Bluegrass Gospel Project, who belt out the old tunes with fervor but not fever. .



Nevertheless, despite my befuddlement and a natural inclination to write this stuff off, this group, or rather real life extended family (I never did really get all the relationships down), knows how to sing this white gospel bluegrass music. Not enough to make me jump up and run out and get their albums but enough to appreciate that this Georgia -based group had something to say. That certainly is the case with a couple of songs, “Roses Will Bloom Again” and “I Need You”.



Roses Will Boom Again

Written by Marsha Henry
performed by Jeff and Sheri Easter
From the album, “By Request”

Verse 1


I planted a little rose bush
I tended it with care
It’s buds began to blossom
Their fragrance filled the air
But when winter came it withered,
The petals drooped and fell to the ground
My heart sank as it faded
But I’d forgotten who had made it


Chorus
Roses will bloom again
Just wait and see
Don’t mourn what might have been
Only God knows how and when that
Roses will bloom again


Verse 2
Rose was his only sweetheart
A loving wife for forty years
Cherished every day they had
And held memories oh so dear
He never dreamed he’s bury love
And go to live alone
But he lay his Rose to rest
Looked up to heaven and tried his best
To believe that


Chorus
Roses will bloom again
Just wait and see
Don’t mourn what might have been
Only God knows how and when that
Roses will bloom again


Verse 3
The precious Rose of Sharon
Broken and bruised in cruel shame
Stained on the cross of Calvary
So that men might be saved
Oh, satan cheered as He died
While Mary and the others cried
Then God raised Him up from that sleep
And kept a promise only He could keep


Chorus
Roses will bloom again
Just wait and see
Don’t mourn what might have been

*The Roots of Bluesgrass Back In The Day- The Bluegrass Music Of Charlie Poole, The North Carolina Ramblers, and The Highlanders

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Charlie Poole and his band performing "White House Blues"

CD Review

Charlie Poole: The North Carolina Ramblers and The Highlanders, 4 CD set, JSP Records, 2004

The roots of American folk music are not depleted by Child ballads, the blues, city or country, mountain music, cowboy songs or topical Tin Pan Alley tunes as the artist under review, Charlie Poole and his various bands, proved conclusively. Old Charlie took a little from each tradition and created some very nice sounds and arrangements that have been called the direct precursors to what we today call bluegrass music. I agree.

Some of the melodies are very familiar and repeated in various renditions on this four disc CD compilation of Charlie's "greatest hits". It is interesting to compare some different versions of the same song, like "Bill Mason", that are compiled here. While this CD is hardly strictly for the aficionado both that type of listener and novices to bluegrass music will be tapping their feet on many of the tracks on this one. Googling a list of Charlie Poole's lyrics indicated that almost all of them are contained in the songs here, in one form or another. Thus, this may be the definitive collection, although as noted by others more familiar than I with the intricacies of record production the technical quality of this compilation is uneven.


Here are the stick outs on each disc: Disc One -“Wild Horse”, “Budded Rose”, “Goodbye Booze”; Disc Two “Bill Mason”, “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down”,“Blue Eyes”; Disc Three- "George Collins”, “ I Once Loved A Sailor”, “Baltimore Fire”, “Sweet Sunny South”; and, Disc Four- “Under The Double Eagle”, “San Antonio”, “If The River Was Whiskey”


Baltimore Fire

It was always through a falls by a narrow.
That I heard a cry I ever shall remember,
The fire sent and cast its burning embers
On another fated city of our land.

Fire, fire, I heard the cry
From every breeze that passes by,
All the world was one sad cry of pity
Strong men in angry praise,
Calling loud to Heaven for aid,
While the fire in ruin was laying
Fair Baltimore, the beautiful city

Amid an awful struggle of commotion,
The wind blew a gale from the ocean,
Brave firemen struggled with devotion,
But they after all proved in vain.


Bill Mason

Bill Mason was an engineer
He'd been on the road all of his life
I'll never forget the morning
He married himself a wife
Bill hadn't been married more than an hour
'Till up came a message from Kress
And ordered Bill to come down
And bring out the night express

While Maggie sat by the window
A waiting for the night express
And if she hadn't a done so
She'd have been a widow, I guess
There was some drunken rascals
That come down by the ridge
They come down by the railroad
And tore off the rail from the bridge

Well, Maggie heard them working
"I guess there's something wrong
In less than fifteen minutes
Bill's train would be along"
She couldn't come near to tell it
A mile it wouldn't've done
She just grabbed up the lantern
And made for the bridge alone

By Jove, Bill saw the signal
And stopped the night express
And found his Maggie crying
On the track in her wedding dress
Her crying and laughing for joy
Still holding on to the light
He came around the curve a-flying
Bill Mason's on time tonight


Budded Rose

Little sweetheart, we have parted
From each other we must go
Many miles may separate us
From this world and care and woe

But I treasure of the promise
That you made me in the lane
When you said we'd be together
When the roses bloom again

Now this parting gives us sorrow
Oh, it almost breaks my heart
But say, darling, will you love me
When we meet no more to part?

Down among the budded roses
I am nothing but a stem
I have parted from my darling
Never more to meet again

Will this parting be forever?
Will there be no coming day
When our hearts will be united
And all troubles pass away?

Darling, meet me up in heaven
That's my true and earnest prayer
If you loved me here on earth, dear
I am sure you'll love me there


If The River Was Whiskey

If the river was whiskey and I was a duck
I'd dive to the bottom and I'd never come up

Oh, tell me how long have I got to wait
Oh, can I get you now, must I hesitate?

If the river was whiskey and the branch was wine
You would see me in bathing just any old time

I was born in England, raised in France
I ordered a suit of clothes and they wouldn't
send the pants

I was born in Alabama, I was raised in Tennessee
If you don't like my peaches, don't shake on my tree

I looked down the road just as far as I could see
A man had my woman and the blues had me

I ain't no doctor but the doctor's son
I can do the doct'rin' till the doctor comes

Got the hesitation stockings, the hesitation shoes
Believe to my Lord I've got the hesitation blues

White House Blues

McKinley hollered, McKinley squalled
Doc said to McKinley, "I can't find that ball",
From Buffalo to Washington

Roosevelt in the White House, he's doing his best
McKinley in the graveyard, he's taking his rest
He's gone a long, long time

Hush up, little children, now don't you fret
You'll draw a pension at your papa's death
From Buffalo to Washington

Roosevelt in the White House drinking out of a silver cup
McKinley in the graveyard, he'll never wake up
He's gone a long, long time

Ain't but one thing that grieves my mind
That is to die and leave my poor wife behind
I'm gone a long, long time

Look here, little children, (don't) waste your breath
You'll draw a pension at your papa's death
From Buffalo to Washington

Standing at the station just looking at the time
See if I could run it by half past nine
From Buffalo to Washington

Came the train, she's just on time
She run a thousand miles from eight o'clock 'till nine,
From Buffalo to Washington

Yonder comes the train, she's coming down the line
Blowing in every station Mr. McKinley's a-dying
It's hard times, hard times

Look-it here you rascal, you see what you've done
You've shot my husband with that Iver-Johnson gun
Carry me back to Washington

Doc's on the horse, he tore down his rein
Said to that horse, "You've got to outrun this train"
From Buffalo to Washington

Doc come a-running, takes off his specs
Said "Mr McKinley, better pass in your checks
You're bound to die, bound to die"

*Continuing The Bluegrass Tradition- A Documentary

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of the bluegrass group Nickel Creek in the film documentary "Bluegrass Journey"

DVD Review

Bluegrass Journey: A Documentary, various artists, 2004

If someone was to ask me quickly of f the top of my head to name a bluegrass group I would probably jump on the name Bill Monroe and his various bands. After that it would be the figures from the 1960s folk revival like The New Lost City Ramblers and the Greenbriar Boys. They while not , for the most part, raised in the country and thus bred to this type of music saw it as an important form of roots music and did as much as anyone to publicize it to urban audiences back then . I think, however, that most people who are not aficionados would have stopped at Bill Monroe. This film documentary, while paying due tribute to the pioneer efforts of Monroe and his combing of various genres to form what has since come to be called bluegrass, concentrates on the apparently thriving modern “real” (meaning people from the country are playing it) bluegrass music movement. So of you are trying to orient yourself to bluegrass music, what is currently good (and not good) this is not a bad place to start. Moreover, the bluegrass festival (rain and all) that forms the centerpiece for this exploration of the music features some very proficient guitar, fiddle, and above all mandolin players. You will feel right at home, especially with Tony Rice on "Shenandoah" and the Nickel Creek band (with a great fiddle player)on several tunes.


Man Of Constant Sorrow

Im a man of constant sorrow,
Ive seen trouble all my days.
Ill say goodbye to colorado
Where I was born and partly raised.

Your mother says Im a stranger;
My face youll never see no more.
But theres one promise, darling,
Ill see you on gods golden shore.

Through this open world Im a-bound to ramble,
Through ice and snows, sleet and rain,
Im a-bound to ride that mornin railroad,
Perhaps Ill die on that train.

Im going back to colorado,
The place that Ive started from.
If Id knowed how bad youd treat me,
Honey I never would have come.