Topic: YouTube.com - Interesting Country Blues related video clips

[David Kaatz]

Wow, that's great jug band stuff there. Do you (all) think that performance was real or "lip sync"? Mostly looks very real, but a few places, for example at 2:45 when the singer says ha-ha-ha-ha, you don't see his lips move accordingly.

[harriet]

This is a George Mitchell film of Willie Guy Raniey -perfprmed on piano, guitar including slide guitar.  Don't know if he's been posted before.

[lindy]

Too short, but fun:

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I don't know what made me think of this song, but what a song, and what a performance!



All best,
Johnm

[Stuart]

I don't know what made me think of this song...

Could it be, "Another day older and deeper in debt," ??--It's a universal mantra, and once you hear it, you never forget it.

I agree--Great song, great performance.

[Slack]

... but what a song, and what a performance!

And what a Great introduction for Meryl and song writing in general!! 

We all know he's got it made --- by that big Martin dread he's playing!... ha!

Loved the performance, such modest times... some of it obviously staged but it had charm... nicely captured glimpses of his cockiness... but that song is so powerful, Merle could have done anything on stage.

And you gotta give credit to Tennessee Ernie Ford... his voice baratone brought Merle fame and fortune.

[Stuart]

Yep--Tennessee Ernie Ford -- "The Old Pea Picker." One of my early memories is "Sixteen Tons" on the radio. His TV show was on every week and although my memories are faint and mingled after all these years, I'm sure he sang the song more than a few times on TV as it was a major hit.

I just did a little exploring and saw that the line, "another day older and deeper in debt," came from a letter Merle's brother John had written.

[Johnm]

For folks who have never heard Tennessee Ernie Ford's huge hit version . . . :

[eric]

My intro to Merle Travis was this LP in glorious mono. Apparently the cover art budget was pretty minimal.  What a master he was.

[Stuart]

I still have mine, eric. I picked it up in the early '60s, a year or two after I started playing. It was a must have for all aspiring guitar players. (I'm still aspiring.) It used to simply be referred to as, "The Yellow Record"--or some variation--and everyone knew what you meant. I replaced my original copy some years later. I might have lent it out and never got it back--or wore it out. I can't exactly remember.

As my dad used to say, "You can't argue with talent."

[Johnm]

Hi all,
This is a long ways from Country Blues, and listening to it, you would never guess that T-Bone Walker's first recordings were on solo acoustic guitar. I had heard and admired this title for years but had never heard the song, so here it is, "I'm too Lazy To Work And Too Nervous To Steal":



All best,
Johnm

[blueshome]

What a band!