Topic: Roscoe Holcomb

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have been listening a lot tonight to one of the greatest (some would say the greatest) mountain blues singers, the Kentuckian Roscoe Holcomb.  While much of his music came out of the Old-Time fiddle and banjo tune traditions and the church and folk songs he grew up hearing and singing, almost everything he did had a heavy dose of the Blues.  Had he been a non-playing singer, he would have been remarkable, but he was a stellar player, as well.

Roscoe played a lot in Spanish tuning, or a very close variant of it.  On the two Folkways LPs of his music that I have, "Close to Home" and "The Music of Roscoe Holcomb & Wade Ward" (they play separately, not together), and the Smithsonian Folkways CD release, "The High Lonesome Sound", Roscoe plays the following songs in this tuning:
   * "The Rising Sun", which is his version of "House of The Rising Sun"
   * "Motherless Children"
   * "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues"
   * "Train That Carried My Girl From Town"
   * "Walk Around My Bedside"
   * "Boat's Up The River"
John Cohen, in his notes to "The High Lonesome Sound", has Roscoe's tuning for "The Rising Sun" as GGDGBE.  I can not speak with any certainty as to whether Roscoe's sixth and fifth strings were tuned to unison G notes, but I can say with reasonable certainty that Roscoe's first string was tuned to D, not E, for at various places in the course of the rendition you can hear Roscoe contrasting the sound of the fretted D note at the third fret of the B string with the open D first string.  Roscoe never hits a note with lower pitch than that of the G-tuned fifth string, so it is possible that the sixth string is tuned in unison with it, or that he simply avoids hitting the sixth string.  In any event, his approach to playing in the tuning in both the right and left hands is very influenced by his banjo playing, I would say.  It tends to be a linear rather than chordal approach, and he seldom frets more than one string simultaneously.  Of all the Country Blues players I have heard, it reminds me the most of Robert Pete Williams, both in its constantly-improvised sound, it's more or less incidental harmonic content,  and in the freeness of Roscoe's phrasing.  The way Roscoe used his thumb in the right hand was unique; he tended to drone on the open fifth string on upbeats.  I can not think of another player in the style who kept time by playing with the thumb on upbeats.  Occasionally the droning thumb drops out altogether as Roscoe utilizes it  to play a complicated run.

Roscoe also played blues on the guitar in standard tuning, and on the recordings I have he does the following songs in standard tuning:
   * "Graveyard Blues", in G
   * "Frankie and Johnny", in G
   * "In The Pines", in E (this vocal has to be heard to be believed)
Roscoe's playing in G standard bears a lot of similarity to pre-Clarence White bluegrass lead guitar playing.  He takes what the position gives him and maintains a very driving feel.  His playing on "In The Pines" reminds me of Hobart Smith's blues-playing, particularly Hobart's "Graveyard Blues". 

Roscoe also played a lot of blues banjo with the following performances falling squarely in that category.
   * "Trouble In Mind"
   * "Milk Cow Blues"
   * "Got No Honey Baby Now" (very similar to the song Dock Boggs recorded as "Sugar Baby"
   * "Darling Cory" (Roscoe's version is melodically very similar to Dock Boggs's "Country Blues")
   * "Married Life Blues"

As remarkable and varied as Roscoe's playing was, I think it is fair to say that his most powerful musical expressions were made vocally.  He was a perfectly amazing singer.  The intensity of his tone production, his microtonal control of pitch, and the consuming focus and indentification he brought to whatever he sang makes hearing him sing, even on recordings, an emotionally draining experience.  There does not appear to have been an ounce of compromise in his approach to music-making.  A couple of quotes from John Cohen's excellent liner notes to these recordings go some way toward communicating Roscoe's relationship to his music.

   "He sings each song only once, and has strong misgivings about repeating it.  In this way, each time is a new unfolding and a revelation to him, not a retelling or act of refinement. In this way he can maintain such intensity. 
   He sings at the top of his vocal range with full tension on his voice.  This manner of singing is a locally developed Kentucky tradition. Bill Monroe as well as the Osborne Bros. also from Ky. are know for their high-pitched singing.  In Hazard, I once asked someone what they thought of the Carter Family from Va. and the only reply was "They tuned their guitar too low."
   Roscoe is tired to the point of exhaustion after two or three songs.  In a sense, an LP recording is a deceptive way of hearing him--and the listener should keep this in mind--that it is more natural to be hearing these songs a few at a time, with a rest between."

Another observation from the notes to "Close to Home" is interesting.

   "At a workshop at the same Michigan Festival the black fiddler Howard Armstrong (of Martin, Bogan & Armstrong) commented that Roscoe's music was very pure, and that all other musicians--including Beethoven, Bach, Jazz blues or fiddlers all had tricks or devices which they employed to help communicate their music to an audience, and that was what their style was all about.  But what Roscoe Holcomb was singing was the music without the devices, it was the core of the musical idea and the real spirit of the music which was being heard.
   At this point I can only presume that this quality is what has made Roscoe Holcomb's music appreciated far beyond the confines of his home, and mountain community, and beyond the limits of the folksong tradition."

If you have never heard Roscoe's music, I would say it shares the kind of focus and intensity found in the singing of Son House or Blind Willie Johnson.  It is not the kind of music you have on while you putter around the house, but if you are prepared to give yourself over to it, even for one or two songs at a time, I think you will feel as though you've been touched by someone who is putting every bit of himself into what he is doing.  How rare is that?

All best,
Johnm

[outfidel]

John, I'm a big fan of Roscoe Holcomb, too. The two CDs I have are High Lonesome Sound and An Untamed Sense of Control. Both album titles describe Holcomb's music well. I agree 100% with what you say about his singing -- it is completely unique & captivating.

[banjochris]

I, too, am a huge fan of Roscoe's. His tuning on those Spanish-tuned pieces is definitely GGDGBD, not E, and he does double the sixth string with the fifth. I had puzzled how he avoided hitting the low D from Spanish tuning for a long time until I saw film of him playing "Across the Rocky Mountains" in John Cohen's "High Lonesome Sound" movie. You can see him repeatedly hitting the sixth string (and fretting the fifth fret of the first string for the high G), and as soon as I tried that I could duplicate his sound (instrumental, not vocal). I've done it lots of times and never broken a sixth string, although I don't think I'd leave my guitar in that tuning all the time.

Chris

[Lwoodblues]

There is a video of Roscoe available. I have a copy and it is wonderful

  lwood

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Thanks for the clarification on Roscoe's modified Spanish Tuning, Chris.  With the unison fifth and sixth string Gs, I reckon he could hit either string (though it sounds from your description that he was living on the sixth string in the footage you saw) or he could brush both if he wanted a big buzzy unison sound in the bass. 
You're right, Steve, there is some great Roscoe on video.  I have him doing "Wayfaring Stranger" on a Vestapol video, "Legends of Traditional Fingerstyle Guitar", and I think he has several tunes, including some with the great fiddler Marion Summers (sp?) on "Legends of Old-Time Music".
All best,
Johnm

[uncle bud]

I just noticed a new DVD while browsing at Elderly that features a new Roscoe Holcomb documentary from John Cohen, as well as the earlier 1962 film.

http://elderly.com/videos/items/SHAN-DVD621.htm

[Cleoma]

I believe that this new documentary is a re-cut of the earlier film, with additional footage.  I look forward to seeing this!

[Mr.OMuck]

Just wanted to chime in with my admiration for Roscoe Holcomb. the comparison with Son House & BWJ is apt.
In fact in my opinion he's the only "Old Timey" player who inhabits the same universe of spiritual (for lack of a better word) intensity as the great African American players we all admire. Original, intense, chilling & riviting. Wicked guitar player too.

[Johnm]

I can think of other Old-Time singers and players who I think have an intensity akin to that of Roscoe's, Phil.  Certainly Hazel Dickens would qualify with regard to her singing, as would Dillard Chandler.  I think Dock Boggs and Hobart Smith would fit the bill as would Fred Cockerham.  There must be more, too.  There have been an awful lot of intense musicians from that part of the world.
All best,
Johnm

[Lyle Lofgren]

Yes, there were / are quite a few singers who do the High Lonesome Sound (which I believe is a term devised by John Cohen to describe the performances of a lot of mountain singers. If it had been only Holcomb, he would have called it the Holcomb Sound). Holcomb was special, though. A number of the singers mentioned can send chills down your back -- Dickens can make you feel like you've led a tough life, even if you haven't. Boggs could make the haunted graveyard real for you, even if you don't believe in ghosts. Chandler could seem to channel voices from hundreds of years ago.

But there was still something unusual about Holcomb -- all those effects, but with even more intensity. And the little nuances in the voice signaled the presence of a unique artist completely in command of his powers, and using those powers to achieve a higher spiritual level. If I could think of any words to further describe what that special artistry was, I'd use them.

But listen to what he does with "Man of Constant Sorrow." That was derivative, in the sense that he learned it from the singing of Ralph Stanley (the original version, not the hokey one that was imitated in "Oh Brother ... "), but he took Ralph's high intensity and added a whole other dimension to it. Some of it was due to adding by subtracting (instruments get in the way of the intensity), but if I want a religious experience, I'll listen to Roscoe rather than Ralph. On the other hand, I'm not sure Holcomb would have arrived at that mystical place if all he'd heard was Emry Arthur's 1929 recording, which does not have much of that intensity.

I've heard Holcomb, Boggs and Dickens in person, and all three were even more intense and memorable in person than on record. Roscoe's singing was even more incredible when you could hear it live from a couple of feet away.

Lyle

[uncle bud]

Just to top up the list of Roscoe footage mentioned earlier in this thread, I was watching the Shady Grove dvd from Vestapol again the other day, the one with the Dock Boggs footage. Three tunes from Roscoe close out the dvd. It's more of the University of Washington film archives, which is usually filmed in a setting and context that I find often makes the subject look rather uncomfortable (cf. Robert Pete Williams or John Jackson). Roscoe is there in suit and tie and hat, sitting on a Persian rug, and when he plays Old Smokey, you half expect the film to catch on fire. It's really rather astonishing and I had completely forgotten it.

[frankie]

Just wanted to chime in with my admiration for Roscoe Holcomb. the comparison with Son House & BWJ is apt.
In fact in my opinion he's the only "Old Timey" player who inhabits the same universe of spiritual (for lack of a better word) intensity as the great African American players we all admire. Original, intense, chilling & riviting. Wicked guitar player too.

heard this, Mr. O'muck?  worthy of consideration:

http://www.amazon.com/Altamont-Black-Stringband-Library-Congress/dp/B0000002I3/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_15

and this:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Costas-Waltz-Southern-Broadcasters/dp/B000005ZGH/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpt_1

and this:

http://www.amazon.com/Greenback-Dollar-Clarence-Tom-Ashley/dp/B000058TA8/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpp_1

Dock Boggs is a natural starting place for old-time music if your reference point is country blues...  here's another:

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Mule-Uncle-Dave-Macon/dp/B0000012F6/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpt_1
http://www.amazon.com/Traveling-Down-Road-Uncle-Macon/dp/B0000012E1/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpt_1

In fact, there's SO much great music from Uncle Dave Macon, that this set is also worthy of consideration (and the price is somewhat scary):

http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Skillet-Good-Greasy-Recordings/dp/B00027X418/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpt_1

Shady Grove dvd from Vestapol...

Roscoe is there in suit and tie and hat, sitting on a Persian rug, and when he plays Old Smokey, you half expect the film to catch on fire. It's really rather astonishing and I had completely forgotten it.

Love that!

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I've been re-thinking my last post after reading Lyle's, and I do think, after all, that Roscoe's intensity was of a different order of magnitude, even in a place where people generally made music intensely.  I saw him in person once or twice and he really did pin your ears back.  It was humbling to be in the presence of someone so consumed by the music he made.
All best,
Johnm

[frankie]

Roscoe's intensity was of a different order of magnitude, even in a place where people generally made music intensely.

Agreed.  Some things are just by themselves.

[lindy]