Topic: Mississippi Sheiks Tribute album

[uncle bud]

http://www.straight.com/article-145600/legendary-sheiks-get-their-due

Legendary Mississippi Sheiks to get their due
By Tony Montague
Publish Date: May 15, 2008
On a recent holiday, Steve Dawson?guitar maestro and founder of local label Black Hen Music?had the bright idea of putting together a tribute album to one of his favourite bands, the Mississippi Sheiks.

Other than the blues classic ?Sitting on Top of the World?, the Sheiks? songs are largely unknown to today?s music fans, despite having been revered by Americana-influenced musicians since the ?30s. In those days, the trio was one of the hottest?and sauciest?acts around, and it influenced such legends as Memphis Minnie, Robert Johnson, and Big Bill Broonzy.

?Much of their stuff remains obscure,? Dawson told the Straight. ?They disbanded in 1935, but were one of the first bands to generate crossover interest from both black and white communities. What?s going to make this different from the regular tribute album is that, for the most part, there?s going to be a house band and the musicians are coming here to record over a three-day period.? The artists appearing on the album?which is scheduled to be out in March 2009?include Madeleine Peyroux, Bill Frisell, Bruce Cockburn, John Hammond, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Bob Brozman, Kelly Joe Phelps, Geoff Muldaur, Van Dyke Parks, and Dawson?s recording buddies Jim Byrnes and the Sojourners.

?Ry Cooder has also agreed to do it, much to the chagrin of his lawyer. We don?t know how it?s going to shake down, but he would be recording in L.A.,? Dawson said.

[Parlor Picker]

What a bunch of heavyweight players!  I'll bet it was quite a feat getting that lot together.

[Mr.OMuck]

Madeleine Peyroux, Bill Frisell, Bruce Cockburn ?!?@#$#@!? WHY?

[uncle bud]

Peyroux: hasn't she done string band music? Cockburn: he's Canadian content (also highly regarded guitarist. I find it hard to imagine him playing the Sheiks - He was on the John Hurt tribute album though). Frisell: he's done old weird Americana before. He'd be the one I'd be interested in hearing actually, of the three. More than a couple others on that list too.

I doubt albums like these are made for fans of the music. They're made for crossover audiences from contemporary folk or alt-country scenes or the like. The Americana genre. (Which is fine, not meaning to slam the genre.)

Also, such names means there's a chance the record may actually get bought by more than a dozen people. 

Wonder if they tried to get Dylan, who's done at least a few Sheiks tunes on his records, unlike pretty much everyone else in the world.

edited to add: just listened to Bruce Cockburn doing Avalon on the Hurt tribute album. It's a real nice version/interpretation, done on a 12-string. Some unnecessary ambient sounds dubbed in but otherwise most enjoyable.

[dj]

O'Muck,

In my alternate life as a person who listens to music other than the blues, I'm a Bruce Cockburn fan.  Have been since I saw him at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in 1972 or so.  He's not especially bluesy, but he's a thoughtful and adventurous musician who I really respect (well, except when he's doing yet another of those "reciting blank verse over a folk/pop/jazz music background" things).

My favorite Cockburn story:  In the early 1990s, meeting a Vassar College professor who had gone on a Nepalese trek at the end of a Peace Corps stint back around 1984/85 or so.  The professor: "There was this guy on the trek who brought a guitar with him.  The first day we all walked in dread of hearing him sing bad versions of Bob Dylan and Jackson Browne songs around the campfire all night every night.  But you know what, he was actually really good, one of the best I've ever heard.  He's apparently made a record or two, though you'd never have heard of him.  His name was Bruce Cockburn."  Me and all my friends, in unison: "Bruce Cockburn!  I have all his records!"   

Speaking of Cockburn, what ever happened to Eugene Martynec?

[uncle bud]

One of the things I wonder about is where are the fiddle players? Aside from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, no visible fiddles yet. Hopefully some other fiddlers are present.

[Mr.OMuck]

I've actually heard very little of Cockburn's stuff, I was always a bit put off by what i perceived as conspicuous earnestness, but I'm probably wrong and I apologize to all his fans and to him personally and to all Canadians everywhere.

[uncle bud]

I've actually heard very little of Cockburn's stuff, I was always a bit put off by what i perceived as conspicuous earnestness, but I'm probably wrong and I apologize to all his fans and to him personally and to all Canadians everywhere.

 

That's right, OMuck, don't get us angry.

I quite enjoy some of our Bruce, though do agree about the excess earnestness. That's with his own material though. He is an ace guitar picker.

Maybe he'll do an earnest version of She's a Bad Girl ("There is a girl, her name is Nell/When she walks down the street, she don't smell so well...")

[dj]

Bruce did sing a Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon song on his Christmas record.  That ought to be worth a few points off on the earnestness meter.  Unfortunately, Cockburn doesn't get full credit as he didn't do the performance in drag.   

[Bill Roggensack]

Maybe Bruce will choose "I've Got Blood In My Eyes for You?"   

As for the rest of the artists, I think it sounds like an album that could go a long way toward daylighting the Shieks and giving them their due. Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame?

Andrew - I agree about Frisell. I have quite a few of his albums, and some of the recent ones are very intersting. Also, I have seen him live a couple of times, and that man can sure play in the moment.

Madeline Peroux has an amazing voice. Billie Holliday one minute, Patsy Cline the next.

And Steve Dawson is a brilliant player, picking, playing slide, or dobro.

Thanks for posting the alert - it's one I'll watch for next year sometime.

[Cleoma]

Last month Geoff Muldaur did a Mississippi Sheiks recording session in Austin, TX -- I'm assuming that at least one track is destined for this tribute album.  I was extremely honored to be invited to play fiddle in the band which consisted of Geoff on guitar and vocals, with amazing Austin musicians Steve Bruton, Cindy Cashdollar, Johnny Nicholas and Bruce Hughes.  It was the most fun, relaxed, easy-grooving recording session I've ever participated in.  I finally got to hear a rough mix of one of the songs last week --  and it sounds fantastic!!  I really hope this will make it onto the Sheiks tribute CD but if not I hope it will turn up on a Geoff Muldaur CD eventually.  I was delighted to get the chance to channel the fiddlers Lonnie Chatmon and Bo Carter in my middle-aged Jewish hippie woman body.

[rjtwangs]

 From Geoff's website...

 I headed for Texas? first to play a gig with my buddy, Stephen Bruton, in Ft. Worth, and then down to Austin for recording sessions. The first two days of recording were with The Texas Sheiks. We?ve been scheming this group for years and we finally put it together. The group consists of Stephen Bruton (guitar, mandolin, banjo), Cindy Cashdollar (dobro and National Resophonic Tricone), Suzy Thompson (fiddle), Johnny Nicholas (vocal, guitar, bass drum, banjo, etc.), Bruce Hughes (bass) and myself (vocals, guitar, banjo). (Google this bunch) We recorded acoustic music of the funky string band variety for two days.

 I for one will look forward to these recordings!!

  RJ

[Cooljack]

I'd be quite interested to hear what they come up with, it cant possibly be any worse than the Jack White cover of Sitting on top of the world.