It was sad music. But it waved that sadness like a battle-flag. It said the universe had done all it could, but you were still alive - Terry Pratchett, Soul Music
I'd like to second Uncle Bud's recommendation of Al Miller. One of my favorites of his is the instrumental Saturday Night Hymn. I'm also partial to his versions of the pop songs I Found A Four Leaf Clover and Someday Sweetheart - they're rare examples of a part of most "blues" singers' repertoires that was woefully underrecorded.
Regarding Al Miller; Did the complete Al Miller include the King Mutt sides? He was the mandolin player on those sides. I think the two sides of that session that feature his playing the best are "Nut House Stomp" and "Original Stomps".
Also regarding Charlie McCoy; be sure and check out the Harlem Hamfats sides. I think some of his best mandolin work is on these sides, although in smaller doses. "Growling Dog Blues" comes to mind and I'm pretty sure that there are a at least a few other great sides from those sessions that his mandolin is featured on.
I've been listening to Mike Compton and David Long's CD STOMP, quite a bit lately. Mike is best known as a Monroe purist. This new CD is intersting because it is one of the only mandolin duo albums, I've ever heard of. They have also dug further back to old time string band music for this album.
Of specific interest to Weenie's, they do the following tunes:
The Charlie McCoy classic - Vicksburg Stomp Broonzy's - How Do You Want It Done? The Old Ark's A Movin Evening Prayer Blues
It's a great recording that is well worth adding to the Mandolin Blues library.
I think Al Miller also does all the vocals on those sides. I have put one of sides up on the Weenie Juke, "Good Time Mama". Amazingly (through persistance and blind luck) I have collected all 7 sides of the Mutt session on original issue, and if I can ever get my record player and CD burner repaired and back together at one time I'll try to Burn them on to a CD so they can be put on the Juke; if they want them? I'm supposed to be able to pick up my system from the repair shop this week. Who knows? Maybe it will all work this time. I'm not holding my breath though!
Hi all, I have not heard the Mike Compton/David Long disc that Jon cites, but I'd rate Mike very highly as a player, based what I've heard him do in the past. He's from Mississippi, and has an especially good feeling for the Blues, whether in Bluegrass or earlier music. He's the real deal. All best, Johnm
Does anyone know who the mandolin player is on Tommy Bradley's "Please Don't Act That Way"? I just caught this on the Juke and don't think I've heard it before.
Does anyone know who the mandolin player is on Tommy Bradley's "Please Don't Act That Way"? I just caught this on the Juke and don't think I've heard it before.
The last three editions of B&GR have given it as Eddie Dimmitt. Such consistency of information would suggest to me that the info came from record company files, or similar. Anybody any the wiser for this information? I sure as hell ain't
As a footnote to the above, Paul Oliver ends his sleevenotes to Tommie Bradley-James Cole Groups 1930-32 (Matchbox MSE211, 1983) with the proposition "Perhaps this album will prompt somebody to do some research on this unjustly neglected cluster of musicians - they could do worse than start in Cincinatti." Does anybody have Document DOCD-5189? Perhaps note writer Dick Spottswood took him up on the suggestion...
The thing I hate about the web is that it tempts me to rush "in to print" before thinking things through. "Please Don't Act That Way" was first reissued on a 1973 Mamlish compilation, Mississippi Bottom Blues, note writers Kent & Stewart say:
"The real point of origin of Tommie Bradley and his mandolin accompanist is problematical. Virtually nothing is known of these musicians, and this song is yet another perfect example of why this is true: there is no constant feature of their music which gives them away. A rumor has placed them somewhere in the Jackson, Miss., area; their general string band sides are not unlike those of the Mississippi Sheiks, so it is a possibility. Bradley plays this piece in the key of C in a style which uses some of the Arkansas runs of Big Bill and Hambone Willie Newbern, but which has an up-tempo rolling effect to it which is quite unfamiliar. As well as displaying an unusual and clean style of picking, Bradley does some left-hand work which is beyond the call of duty, including the use of the C-shape on the uppcr reaches of the neck. Although the ambience of Please Don't Act That Way seems Mississpian, Bradley and friend, in all honesty, could have as easily come from Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas or Cincinatti."
Does anybody have Document DOCD-5189? Perhaps note writer Dick Spottswood took him up on the suggestion...
I have the CD, but the notes don't really shed any further light on who Tommie Bradley or James Cole really were:
Quote
Is the James Cole who primitively fiddles his way through "Bill Cheatum" (normally "Cheatham") and "I Got A Gal" in 1928 the same man who plays on the 1930-32 recordings? I think there are stylistic links, though the later sides show a less exotic technique. Who is "Tommie Bradley"? The voice on the 1930 "Pack Up Her Trunk Blues" is not the same as that on the 1931-32 offerings, which are by a singer whose delivery resembles that of Georgia Tom Dorsey. For that matter, the voice on "Window Pane Blues" resembles the one credited to Buster Johnson on "Undertaker Blues".
And where were they from? Previous scholarship has suggested a number of possible origins, but the Cole/Bradley records show so little stylistic unity that no one can say for sure. I feel there is some reason to suggest that they may have been from central/western Kentucky, where, even by the 1920's, black and white string band styles and repertoire were still quite close.
The fiddler on the later sides definitely sounds like a different person to me - more like Lonnie Johnson's fiddling. In fact, the whole group on "Undertaker Blues" sounds a bit like the Blue Boys with the addition of a washboard player (and a different singer, of course). The sound on the earlier sides is rawer.
More mandolin content that doesn't seem to have appeared in this thread so far.
The Birmingham Jug Band recorded 9 tunes in 1930, 8 of which are available on Document's DOCD 5140 Jaybird Coleman and the Birmingham Jug Band (1 remains unfound, I presume?). Discographical information on the CD is not definite on these guys: personnel are listed as both "unknown" and, with information coming from Big Joe Williams, possibly Jaybird Coleman (hca), Joe Williams, One-Armed Dave Miles, Dr. Scott, and Bogus Ben Covington gtr/mand., Honeycup (jug), New Orleans Slide (washboard).
Whether it is Covington/Curry or not, the mandolin playing is excellent and the material is really great. German Blues is a hugely fun mando tune. Port Townsend Weenies will also recall the Hohoppas Jug Band playing this band's wonderful Bill Wilson, a John Henry-soundalike tune. The tracks on this disc are:
16. German Blues 17. Cane Brake Blues 18. Wild Cat Squall 19. Bill Wilson 20. Birmingham Blues 21. Gettin' Ready for Trial 22. Giving It Away 23. Kickin' Mule Blues
(The other tracks are devoted to Coleman, a whole 'nuther story and fabulous singer/harp player who has his own thread somewhere here on Weenie).
The Birmingham Jug Band are one of the most appealing jug bands I've heard, and while these sides are fairly rough (and a little repetitive between tracks 20-22), I'd consider them essential for jug band, harmonica and mandolin nuts.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2006, 08:10:45 AM by uncle bud »
The Birmingham Jug Band are one of the most appealing jug bands I've heard, and while these sides are fairly rough (and a little repetitive between tracks 20-22), I'd consider them essential for jug band, harmonica and mandolin nuts.
You got that right, UB.
All for now. John C.
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