Topic: Mississippi Sheiks et al

[uncle bud]

As I mentioned when bringing up the last Alvin Hart CD, he sent me listening to the Sheiks again. The two CDs I have are the Yazoo and the Catfish compilations but I'm gonna have to spring for the Documents I think. I have too much fun listening to them.

Any other ensemble type recordings that fall into this category? Listening to the Charlie McCoy CD on Document today (which is just great) I thought that's one for sure. Great variety, great tunes. He even does Too Long, as did the Sheiks, and another one sounded familiar but I will have to track it down. Anyway, without venturing into full-blown string band territory, I'm curious if there's other duets, trios etc that compare. Perhaps other Chatmon related stuff.

Also, in the notes to the Catfish CD it says that Walter Vinson revived the Sheiks before his death in 1975 and recorded an album for Rounder, without Lonnie Chatmon who had died in 1943. Anyone heard this record?

uncle bud

[frankie]

There's some great stuff by Eddie Anthony in various combinations with other musicians:

Henry Williams and Eddie Anthony
Macon Ed and Tampa Joe

I have those tracks on a Story of Blues CD - Georgia String Bands (1928-1930).

Do you have "Violin, Sing the Blues For Me"? - lots of ensemble recordings on there, including the transcendent K.C. Railroad Blues by Andrew and Jim Baxter.

There's quite a bit to hear on the complete MS Sheiks on Document, though.  If you go at it from a strictly guitar-centric point of view, you may be a little disappointed, but there's some really great fiddling & singing going on.  The overall band sound is great, too.

[waxwing]

Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers are terrific, I think. Noah Lewis' harp is among the best. And Gus' tone on the jug (played on a rack while strumming banjo) inspired me to pick up a couple lamp oil cans on ebay. Great vocals and some great tunes of various genre.
I have 'The Best of...' from Yazoo (2060)(couple of good pics), but am thinking of springing for the Documents. Or hoping JSP will do a 5 CD set of major jug bands.
All for now.
John C.

[uncle bud]

There's some great stuff by Eddie Anthony in various combinations with other musicians:

Henry Williams and Eddie Anthony
Macon Ed and Tampa Joe

I have those tracks on a Story of Blues CD - Georgia String Bands (1928-1930).

Do you have "Violin, Sing the Blues For Me"? - lots of ensemble recordings on there, including the transcendent K.C. Railroad Blues by Andrew and Jim Baxter.

No I don't have the "Violin, Sing the Blues For Me" compilation, which is supposedly fantastic and I will now have to buy immediately. Thanks for the reminder. Will also check out Eddie Anthony.

There's quite a bit to hear on the complete MS Sheiks on Document, though.  If you go at it from a strictly guitar-centric point of view, you may be a little disappointed, but there's some really great fiddling & singing going on.  The overall band sound is great, too.

I'm not in it for the guitar per se, although even in accompaniment Walter Vinson is fun to listen to IMO. More the great tunes, the sound and singing.  There is some tremendous singing in the Sheiks material.

Also waxwing, thanks for the reminder about Cannon's Jug Stompers. I have the old Yazoo CD version. Also the Yazoo jub band compilations, Ruckus Juice and Chitlins, although this material strays a bit further from the smaller ensemble sound of the Sheiks.

[frankie]

No I don't have the "Violin, Sing the Blues For Me" compilation, which is supposedly fantastic and I will now have to buy immediately. Thanks for the reminder. Will also check out Eddie Anthony.

There's a volume 2 called Folks He Sure Do Pull Some Bow.? I don't have it yet, but understand that it's great.? Some of the stuff on Violin Sing the Blues For Me strays from the small group sound, but it is all great!

[waxwing]

UB, thanks for pointing out that 'Ruckus Juice...' is on Yazoo. I heard a cut from it yesterday on Live 365 by King David's Jug Band that made me check the playlist. I couldn't find it at Document.
BTW I recently did a search at Document with 'Various' in the artist window. I would advise anyone who does this to wear a bib and put a lock on your credit card!
Thanks all for the numerous fiddle references. I lost my harp player (to a business proposition in LA) and have a friend who plays fiddle that I've been thinking of approaching. Good to do my homework beforehand, so I can show him what I'm thinking about.
All for now.
John C.

[Bill Roggensack]

Re: "Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow" - I've got that one, and it's just as good as the "Violin, Sing the Blues For Me". Strong BUY is recommended on both these recordings. And just when you think you're finished exercising your credit card at Old Hat Records, don't forget to pick up the Joe Bussard and norht Carolina collections too! Then you need to take a trip to the County website (www.countysales.com) and take a look at their various string band compilations. I've got the Mississippi, Texas and Tennessee collections, and if you like string band music, this is all pretty interesting material. The Kentucky Mountain Music set is on my 'someday' list.

[uncle bud]

Wandered into my local indie shop yesterday and was pleased to see they had more Document CDs in stock than usual. Was able to pick up the Sheiks Vol 1, and the Walter Vinscon disc. They also had Violin, Sing the Blues for Me which was added to my stack. On top of this they had a bunch of good used stuff, including Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe vol 3 on Document. Also got a Robert Belfour disc.

I held off buying Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow, feeling I was spending enough already and would leave it for a future purchase.

All in all, a good day...

[HardLuckChild]

I love "Lazy, Lazy River," "She Ain't No Good," and "Jailbird Love Song." Sam Chatmon's "I Have to Paint My Face" and "I Stand and Wonder" are great too, though the cd they are on, "I Have to Paint My Face," is very uneven in terms of song quality.

[MuddyBuddy]

Uncle Bud

Does the Charlie McCoy record have mandolin playing on it? he was recommended to me as a good example for blues mandolin playing, which I am getting into now. Not too much around. Any suggestions appreciated.

Bert in Sweden

[uncle bud]

Hi Bert,

Yes, the Charlie McCoy CD has mandolin, quite a bit of it in fact. Charlie is great. Very different from Yank Rachell's style, more string band playing etc. For more ideas, including a list of recordings to listen to for mandolin, check out this thread on blues mandolin from a while back. Feel free to add to it as well if there are things missing from the master list that you notice. I've been meaning to add a couple more recordings myself. You should definitely get the McCoy CD. I'd get the Vintage Mandolin Music compilation from Document as well (although Montgomery is not thrilled with the sound of that one, I can live with it as it's a great selection), if you don't have it.

Edited to add: and welcome to WeenieCampell, Bert!

[GhostRider]

Hey Bert:

Uncie Bud had a thread in the Weenie Campbell Main Forum called Mandolin Blues which I'm sure would interest you.

Enjoy,
Alex

editted to add: UB beat me to it.

[Buzz]

 Hi, Bert! Hi, alex and Andrew!

Played this evening some of the tunes Rich del Grosso taught us this past camp, including the Sheiks "Honey, Let the Deal Go Down" He played the original from a CD, which I would sorely like to own. It was totally cool.

I'd recommend you contact Rich, or look at bluesmandolin.com, or whatever his site is called. I don't remember right now.Anyway, the mando sounds so great on these old tunes. I love it.
Miller

[uncle bud]

Hi Miller - Good to hear from you.

Document has let all but one volume of the Sheiks discs go out of stock, and I presume that's not long for this world either, but it is the volume that has Honey Babe Let the Deal Go Down. It is a shame how slowly they're going about "remastering"/repackaging this stuff. If desperate for the tune, you can get it on the CD Honey Babe Let the Deal Go Down on Sony Legacy, a recent Best of the Sheiks, cheap as dirt, haven't heard it so can't comment although the Roots 'n' Blues series did some weird things with sound on their older releases. A lot of Sheiks recordings were pretty clean though, so it should be fine.

[MuddyBuddy]

From a supreme newbie on this forum, thanks for the tip about McCoy and the blues mando thread! I will be ordering some cds in the next few days. Miller has been telling me about the PT class with Rich Del Grosso. It is a long haul for me, but sounds PRETTY fantastic! I would also love to hear John Cephas and Honeyboy Edwards.

cheers
Bert