Topic: "Big Road" Webster Taylor

[ryan]

Hey Y'all~
Finally getting a chance to go through my mighty stack of cds I bought in Port Townshend (yes I left my pocketbook in Port Townshend....hey that would be a good blues tune....)  Anyways, If any of you like meandering falsetto voices (I'm a fan) I'd recommend Big Road Webster Taylor.  I love this guys voice.    His song "world in a Jug" was one of my favorite highlights from a cd I bought called "mississippi blues 1928-1935" on wolf records cat# wse111.  Anyone know his story?  I had never heard of him before.  i also liked what I heard of Mississippi bracy especially his "I'll overcome someday" based on the M. Sheiks sittin' on top of the world it would appear.
~ryan

[MTJ3]

Based on evidence of composer credit, the real name of "Big Road" Webster Taylor (The Mississippi Mule Skinner) was Ben Webster.  He did unissued trial recordings of "World in a Jug Blues" and "Sunny Southern Blues" for Vocalion in Chicago on March 29, 1929, and they evidently liked him enough to bring him back into the studio in April of that year and to issue those sides.  They were originally intended for Vocalion's hillbilly series.  So saith B&GR.

[uncle bud]

Hi Ryan - those two Webster Taylor tracks are nice, you're right he has a fine voice - I hadn't heard those tunes in ages, thanks for the reminder. "Big Road" is yodelling on World in a Jug, and sounds like he's been sampling a lot from said jug...

[ryan]

Thanks for the replies.  Any recommendations for similar artists who have that falsetto style of a voice?
Take care,
Ryan

[uncle bud]

Well, if you don't have Tommy Johnson, he'd be the obvious one. The JSP Legends of Country Blues set gets you him plus Skip James (another obvious falsetto singer), plus Ishmon Bracey, Son House and Bukka White. Postwar recordings Skip James are another possibility if you don't have those. They're great, contrary to what some people say.

For more obscure stuff, I'll have to dredge the old noodle more. It's not front and centre, but there's one or two Lottie Kimbrough tunes where Winston Holmes sings falsetto-yodels as a second singer. Lost Lover Blues is one, also includes bird whistles. What a great song. Wayward Girl is another. These are much more yodel-y than Big Road Taylor though. Lottie Kimbrough is one of the great unsung blues singers IMO. I love her voice. She should be on the Juke.

Frankie Half-Pint Jaxon? Nahhh.....

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I would rate King Solomon Hill very highly for falsetto singing, Ryan.  Everything he did was excellent and the integration of his voice and guitar was really stellar.
All best,
Johnm

[ryan]

Hey Uncle Bud I have all those already, but thanks for the info.  I agree with you about skip James post war stuff as I like them too.  I am a completist dork so I have everything of skip's I was able to get my hands on when I managed a cd store.  thanks John M.for the referral of King Solomon as it made me go back through my paramount masters set and focus on King Solomon's songs.  What a VOICE!!

[Stuart]

Ryan:

You should read what Gayle Dean Wardlow has written about King Solomon Hill in his book "Chasin' That Devil Music: Searching for the Blues."

Stu

[uncle bud]

Ryan -

Lane Hardin is another one who has a falsetto style.