Topic: Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues

[uncle bud]

Old Hat Records is set to release a new CD in the next few days, Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues. This from their website:

Gastonia Gallop provides a vivid portrait of the evolving music traditions heard in the mill villages of Gaston County, North Carolina, during a period of swift social and cultural change. Amid this emerging modern world, with its factory whistles, clattering machines, and low-wage labor, local textile workers created a vibrant working-class music that provided the foundations for today?s country music. Here are 24 tracks celebrating these largely unsung musicians and the enduring musical artistry they inscribed in wax for phonograph companies between 1927 and 1931. You?ll hear David McCarn?s biting satires of cotton mill life, the virtuoso harmonica-and-guitar duets of Gwin Foster and Dave Fletcher; the upbeat novelties of the Three ?Baccer Tags, the heartfelt ballads of Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles, and more. Gastonia Gallop has been carefully crafted by Old Hat?s team of experts, and all tracks are digitally remastered from original 78 rpm records. The handsomely designed CD package includes a 24-page, full-color booklet with rare vintage photographs, complete discography, and a detailed historical essay by Patrick Huber, author of Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South.

Here's the tracklist:

1. GASTONIA GALLOP David McCarn     
2. GET YOUR HEAD IN HERE Three 'Baccer Tags    
3. GAL OF MINE TOOK MY LICKER FROM ME Carolina Twins    
4. COTTON MILL COLIC David McCarn  
5. BEEN ON THE JOB TOO LONG Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles  
6. SOUTHERN JACK Carolina Twins    
7. EVERYDAY DIRT David McCarn    
8. BONNIE BESS Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles    
9. THINK A LITTLE George Wade & Francum Braswell    
10. BAY RUM BLUES Dave & Howard    
11. WALK RIGHT IN BELMONT Watts & Wilson
12. RED ROSE RAG Fletcher & Foster    
13. POOR MAN, RICH MAN (Cotton Mill Colic No. 2) David McCarn    
14. SHE'S A HARD BOILED ROSE Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles    
15. I WANT MY BLACK BABY BACK Carolina Twins    
16. AIN'T GONNA DO IT NO MORE Three 'Baccer Tags
17. SLEEPY DESERT Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles    
18. TAKE THEM FOR A RIDE David McCarn    
19. CHARLOTTE HOT STEP Fletcher & Foster    
20. COTTON MILL BLUES Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles    
21. WHEN YOU GO A COURTIN' George Wade & Francum Brasswell    
22. A CHANGE IN BUSINESS ALL AROUND Carolina Twins
23. WORKING FOR MY SALLY Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles    
24. SERVES 'EM FINE Dave & Howard

There are sound samples at the website, http://www.oldhatrecords.com/cd1007.html. When I was viewing the page there seemed to be a coding error, as extra samples from Good for What Ails You were mixed in - I just had to find the right sample.

Every Old Hat release has been great, can't see why this would be any different.

[Johnm]

Thanks for the newsflash, uncle bud.  I'm very excited about this release, and in particular, the large number of David McCarn songs included.  McCarn was one of the great lyricists in Old-Time/Blues/Country/R&B music, along with Oscar Ford, Chuck Berry and Roger Miller.  It will be great to have so many of McCarn's songs in one place.
All best,
Johnm 

[uncle bud]

And I'm looking forward to a couple more songs from the Three 'Baccer Tags. What I've heard is comic hillbilly blues songs with nice mandolin parts. Their Reno Blues that can be found on Good For What Ails You is a favorite. A couple others are on JSP's Mountain Blues in much inferior sound.

[Stuart]

Thanks for the heads up, Andrew. I'm on it! There is a substantial chapter, "Cain't Make A Living At A Cotton Mill - Dave McCarn" (pp.162-215), in Linthead Stomp (unfortunately I haven't gotten that far yet.)

In his "Acknowledgements", Patrick Huber writes that Archie Green first suggested the topic in 1992, so the research and thought that went into the book were not done overnight. It's quite good, IMHO. As Patrick Huber wrote the notes to the CD set, I'm sure some of his research and thought carries over.

[uncle bud]

An article about Old Hat's Marsall Wyatt in the Raleigh News & Observer that mentions the new release, though focuses more on Wyatt reissuing old music in general.

http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/music/story/146613.html

(minor OT digression: In the sidebar, Wyatt is linked to Gretchen Sedaris, a sister to the somewhat infamous David and Amy.)

[Stuart]

I received it today. It's everything that the announcement said it would be. Another excellent release from Old Hat.

[Stuart]

I was doing some reading and listening last evening and thought that I'd add the following:

While the Old Hat CD, "Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues," can certainly be viewed as a complement to Linthead Stomp, it does not contain the song, "Lint Head Stomp," by Phebel Wright that Patrick Huber borrowed for the title of his book. The song is available as a download as well as on the Document CD, "Rags, Breakdowns, Stomps & Blues: Vintage Mandolin Music (1927-1946)," (DOCD 32-20-3).

http://www.document-records.com/fulldetails.asp?ProdID=DOCD-32-20-03

[uncle bud]

I finally got around to picking this CD up, and though I have only listened to it once just this morning, I have to say it is a fabulous collection. You weren't kidding about David McCarn, John. He's tremendous and I'm really surprised I haven't heard more of him before. The others who make up the rest of the CD like the Carolina Twins, the Three Tobacco Tags, and Wilmer Watts I was a bit more familiar with.

[uncle bud]

I continue to thoroughly enjoy this record, especially the work of David McCarn. There are 5 McCarn solo recordings on this collection: "Gastonia Gallop," "Cotton Mill Colic," "Everyday Dirt," "Poor Man Rich Man (Cotton Mill Colic #2)," and "Take Them for a Ride." Then there are two tracks by Dave and Howard (McCarn and Howard Long): Bay Rum Blues and Serves 'Em Fine. All of them are great.

McCarn did not record a whole lot more than that, as far as I can tell, but there is some more. Does anyone have a complete discography? A few missing tunes include "Fancy Nancy", "My Bone's Gonna Rise Again", and "The Bashful Bachelor". Does anyone know where those songs might be found?

[Stuart]

Hi Andrew:

There's nothing specific in Linthead Stomp that I could find. Patrick Huber writes that David McCarn recorded a dozen sides, but I can't find a Dave McCarn discography per se in the book.

Google Books sent me to:

http://books.google.com/books?id=2usUpwMgx3gC&pg=PA527&dq=David+McCarn&cd=1#v=onepage&q=David%20McCarn&f=false

which is page 527 of Country music records: a discography, 1921-1942.

Also ran across this:

http://www.folkarchive.de/mccarn.html

You might contact Tom "Norm" Morrison at Juneberry78s as a few of the titles came up at his site.

BTW, he has a nice 12 for sale:

http://juneberry78sblog.blogspot.com/

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280474754320&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

[poymando]

...Good stuff on the CD but I wished that they had included some of the Dixon Brothers recordings...

May 28...Just found out that Bear Family will be doing a Dixon Bros reissue with notes by Patrick Huber

[uncle bud]

Thanks for the information, Stuart.