Various Artists
Classic Field Recordings: Landmark Country Sessions from a Lost Era
Classic Field Recordings: Landmark Country Sessions from a Lost Era
UPC: 788065713126
Format: CD (4 disc)
Release Date: Jul 13, 2010
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Liner Note Authors: Pat Harrison; Johnny Barfield.
First off, the songs collected on this four-CD, 100-track box of early country and old-time sides released in the 1930s and early '40s aren't exactly field recordings, at least not in the normal sense. The artists compiled here, ranging from string bands like the Tennessee Ramblers and the Pine Ridge Boys to duos like Dewey & Gassie Bessett and polished (for the era) solo singers like Johnny Barfield, were professional musicians to some degree and these recordings were made with an eye to being commercial on the radio, whether or not they actually achieved that aim. That doesn't make them somehow less authentic, however, since these tracks are only a slight half-step removed from the music played on rural back porches throughout America in the 1930s and 1940s and they prefigure the more stylized and codified motifs of what would eventually come to be known as country music. Among the highlights in this expansive box are Johnny Barfield's "Ain't I Right" (a version of the folk tune "Railroad Bill"), Smith's Carolina Crackerjacks' "There Are No Disappointments in Heaven," the Tennessee Ramblers' "Don't Put a Tax on Beautiful Girls," and a truly haunting version of "Maggie" by Blind Fiddler. There's a lot of history collected here, and listening to these 100 tracks, one can almost hear modern country music coming just around the bend. ~ Steve Leggett
First off, the songs collected on this four-CD, 100-track box of early country and old-time sides released in the 1930s and early '40s aren't exactly field recordings, at least not in the normal sense. The artists compiled here, ranging from string bands like the Tennessee Ramblers and the Pine Ridge Boys to duos like Dewey & Gassie Bessett and polished (for the era) solo singers like Johnny Barfield, were professional musicians to some degree and these recordings were made with an eye to being commercial on the radio, whether or not they actually achieved that aim. That doesn't make them somehow less authentic, however, since these tracks are only a slight half-step removed from the music played on rural back porches throughout America in the 1930s and 1940s and they prefigure the more stylized and codified motifs of what would eventually come to be known as country music. Among the highlights in this expansive box are Johnny Barfield's "Ain't I Right" (a version of the folk tune "Railroad Bill"), Smith's Carolina Crackerjacks' "There Are No Disappointments in Heaven," the Tennessee Ramblers' "Don't Put a Tax on Beautiful Girls," and a truly haunting version of "Maggie" by Blind Fiddler. There's a lot of history collected here, and listening to these 100 tracks, one can almost hear modern country music coming just around the bend. ~ Steve Leggett
Tracks:
Disc 1:
1 - Long Tongue Women
2 - Ain't I Right?
3 - Desert Lullaby
4 - Heartaches and Tears
5 - Don't Take My Memories
6 - Love Me Only
7 - Boogie Woogie
8 - Everybody's Tryin' to Be My Baby
9 - My Poodle Doodle Dog
10 - That Little Shirt My Mother Made for Me
11 - It Ain't No Good
12 - New Boogie Woogie
13 - Story of Love Divine
14 - Gamblin' on the Sabbath
15 - My Little Mountain Lady, Queen of Alabam
16 - Heaven Bound Gold
17 - Free as I Can Be
18 - Red Roses, Sweet Violets So Blue
19 - Keep Your Love Letters, I'll Keep Mine
20 - Goodbye Baby, Goodbye
21 - Love Hunting Blues
22 - There's a Grave in the Wilderness
23 - Great Final Agreement
24 - Blue Moon
25 - Back Water Blues
Disc 2:
1 - Rock City Blues
2 - Lonesome Life of Worry
3 - Burning of Cleveland School
4 - My Sweetheart Has Gone and Left Me
5 - Girl That Married My Mind
6 - Mollie Married a Travelin' Man
7 - Howell's Railroad
8 - Lost John
9 - Fiddle and Guitar Running Wild
10 - Fox Hunter's Luck
11 - He Turned Around and Went the Other Way
12 - Long anf Bony
13 - Farmer Grey
14 - Whoa, Mule, Whoa
15 - There Are No Disappointments in Heaven
16 - Your Soul Never Dies
17 - T.B. Killed My Daddy
18 - Little Paper Boy
19 - Precious Thoughts of Mother
20 - Shattered Love
21 - What a Change One Day Can Make
22 - Forbidden Love
23 - I Am On My Way to Heaven
24 - Just Over in the Glory Land
25 - I'm Glad I Counted the Cost
Disc 3:
1 - One Year Ago Today
2 - No Deep True Love
3 - Coupon Song
4 - Bury Me Out on the Prairie
5 - Disappointed in Love (I Wish I Had Never Met Sunshine)
6 - Rocking Alone in an Old Rocking Chair
7 - Answer to "Disappointed in Love"
8 - Cowboy Jack
9 - When I Was a Baby
10 - Bungalow Big Enough for Two
11 - I'll Remember You, Love in My Prayers
12 - I'm Not Angry with You Darling
13 - Don't Put a Tax on Beautiful Girls
14 - I'll Keep on Loving You
15 - Four or Five Times
16 - All My Natural Life
17 - You Are My Sunshine
18 - Farther Along
19 - Homecoming Time in Happy Valley
20 - I'll Never Leave Old Dixieland Again
21 - Little Blue Eyed Blonde, Goodbye
22 - It's So Hard to Be Just a Pal to You
23 - Fourteen Days in Georgia
24 - Chesapeake Bay
25 - I Want My Black Baby Back
Disc 4:
1 - Slim Girl
2 - Maggie
3 - Soap Box Blues
4 - Rabbit Blues
5 - Big Fat Gal
6 - Knocking On the Hen House Door
7 - Minor Blues
8 - Married Life Blues
9 - Back in My Home Town
10 - Home with Mother and Dad in the West
11 - How Many Biscutis Can I Eat?
12 - Side-Line Blues
13 - With My Banjo on My Knee
14 - Package of Love Letters
15 - Export Gal
16 - Sinful to Flirt
17 - Go 'Long Mule
18 - If You See My Saviour
19 - Tribulation Days
20 - Down in Baltimore
21 - Wind the Little Ball of Yarn
22 - Sweet Locust Blossoms
23 - I'll Remember You, Love, in My Prayer
24 - My Family Circle (Will the Circle Be Unbroken)
25 - Orange Blossom Special
1 - Long Tongue Women
2 - Ain't I Right?
3 - Desert Lullaby
4 - Heartaches and Tears
5 - Don't Take My Memories
6 - Love Me Only
7 - Boogie Woogie
8 - Everybody's Tryin' to Be My Baby
9 - My Poodle Doodle Dog
10 - That Little Shirt My Mother Made for Me
11 - It Ain't No Good
12 - New Boogie Woogie
13 - Story of Love Divine
14 - Gamblin' on the Sabbath
15 - My Little Mountain Lady, Queen of Alabam
16 - Heaven Bound Gold
17 - Free as I Can Be
18 - Red Roses, Sweet Violets So Blue
19 - Keep Your Love Letters, I'll Keep Mine
20 - Goodbye Baby, Goodbye
21 - Love Hunting Blues
22 - There's a Grave in the Wilderness
23 - Great Final Agreement
24 - Blue Moon
25 - Back Water Blues
Disc 2:
1 - Rock City Blues
2 - Lonesome Life of Worry
3 - Burning of Cleveland School
4 - My Sweetheart Has Gone and Left Me
5 - Girl That Married My Mind
6 - Mollie Married a Travelin' Man
7 - Howell's Railroad
8 - Lost John
9 - Fiddle and Guitar Running Wild
10 - Fox Hunter's Luck
11 - He Turned Around and Went the Other Way
12 - Long anf Bony
13 - Farmer Grey
14 - Whoa, Mule, Whoa
15 - There Are No Disappointments in Heaven
16 - Your Soul Never Dies
17 - T.B. Killed My Daddy
18 - Little Paper Boy
19 - Precious Thoughts of Mother
20 - Shattered Love
21 - What a Change One Day Can Make
22 - Forbidden Love
23 - I Am On My Way to Heaven
24 - Just Over in the Glory Land
25 - I'm Glad I Counted the Cost
Disc 3:
1 - One Year Ago Today
2 - No Deep True Love
3 - Coupon Song
4 - Bury Me Out on the Prairie
5 - Disappointed in Love (I Wish I Had Never Met Sunshine)
6 - Rocking Alone in an Old Rocking Chair
7 - Answer to "Disappointed in Love"
8 - Cowboy Jack
9 - When I Was a Baby
10 - Bungalow Big Enough for Two
11 - I'll Remember You, Love in My Prayers
12 - I'm Not Angry with You Darling
13 - Don't Put a Tax on Beautiful Girls
14 - I'll Keep on Loving You
15 - Four or Five Times
16 - All My Natural Life
17 - You Are My Sunshine
18 - Farther Along
19 - Homecoming Time in Happy Valley
20 - I'll Never Leave Old Dixieland Again
21 - Little Blue Eyed Blonde, Goodbye
22 - It's So Hard to Be Just a Pal to You
23 - Fourteen Days in Georgia
24 - Chesapeake Bay
25 - I Want My Black Baby Back
Disc 4:
1 - Slim Girl
2 - Maggie
3 - Soap Box Blues
4 - Rabbit Blues
5 - Big Fat Gal
6 - Knocking On the Hen House Door
7 - Minor Blues
8 - Married Life Blues
9 - Back in My Home Town
10 - Home with Mother and Dad in the West
11 - How Many Biscutis Can I Eat?
12 - Side-Line Blues
13 - With My Banjo on My Knee
14 - Package of Love Letters
15 - Export Gal
16 - Sinful to Flirt
17 - Go 'Long Mule
18 - If You See My Saviour
19 - Tribulation Days
20 - Down in Baltimore
21 - Wind the Little Ball of Yarn
22 - Sweet Locust Blossoms
23 - I'll Remember You, Love, in My Prayer
24 - My Family Circle (Will the Circle Be Unbroken)
25 - Orange Blossom Special