Topic: Mandolin Blues

[zoner]

The Birmingham Jug Band Rocks!!!!!!!!

[Buzz]

Yup, the BJB recorded some great stuff. I like playing it a lot.

Also the King David Jug Band: 'Tear it Down" is killer, both the banjo-mandolin featured, and the lyrics:

"I'm a doodle, I'm a doodle,I'm a doodle,I'm a doodle,
"I'm a doodle, I'm a doodle,I'm a doodle,I'm a doodle,
"I'm a doodle, I'm a doodle,I'm a doodle,I'm a doodle,
"I'm a doodle, I'm a doodle,I'm a doodle,I'm a ...
Catch another mule kickin' in your stall, gonna tear it on down!"

I get to this part and I crack a smile, or I laugh so hard I gotta stop playing...


Buzz

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I've been listening a lot lately to Bobby Leecan & Robert Cooksey, and in one of their ensembles, Bobby Leecan's Need More Band, they had a very strong mandolin player, Alfred Martin.  Martin favors tuning the mandolin in octave courses, as did Howard Armstrong.  It makes for a very penetrating (some might say piercing) sound.  The four cuts played by this group, "Washboard Cut-Out", "Shortnin' Bread", "Midnight Susie" and "Apaloosa Blues" are all excellent, and "Shortnin' Bread", in particular, is of "die happy" quality.  The band, which consisted of Robert Cooksey on harmonica, Bobby Leecan on guitar, Alfred Martin on mandolin, an unknown cellist and Eddie Edinborough on washboard is stellar--sometimes the cello sounds like a tenor sax!  Leecan and Cooksey were kind of miraculously accomplished musicians.  I have never heard a better back-up guitarist in this style of music than Bobby Leecan.  These cuts can all be found on "Bobby Leecan & Robert Cooksey, Volume 2" on Document, DOCD-5280.  I was just able to obtain both this CD and Vol. 1 of Leecan & Cooksey (DOCD-5279) from Roots and Rhythm.
All best,
Johnm

[mr mando]

For those of you on the look-out for Blues Mandolin repertoire, there are some great tunes on "That Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of", on Yazoo, that I don't believe have been previously mentioned on this thread:
   * "Ginseng Blues" by the Kentucky Ramblers
   * "Wild Cat Rag" by Asa Martin & Roy Hobbs
   * "Alabama Blues" by The Three Stripped Gears. 

Just wanted to second Johnm's thumbs up. I did a transcription of "Wild Cat Rag". It's in C with basically two parts (A-part and B-part if you want) that get repeated over and over with very little variation in the melody but quite some variation (even harmonically) in the rhythm guitar part. Anyway, the mandolin melody is very nice and has an old-timey ragtime feel, even though it holds a surprising amount of chromatic tones. If anyone's interested, I could post a tab here or maybe better on the "licks and lessons" forum.

[uncle bud]

I was listening to Speckled Red, Complete Works, DOCD-5205, and realized there's mandolin on a number of tracks played by Willie Hatcher. Red's piano sometimes overwhelms the backup band, recorded in 1938, but the mando is there on 10 tracks or so.

Red is great.

[uncle bud]

Just thought I would add Craig Ventresco to the list of contemporary players. There are four mandolin tracks on his CD with Meredith Axelrod, and while they aren't blues, they are ragtimey, and include St. Louis Tickle.

And mr. mando, if three years later is not too late, I'd been interested in that transcription you did of Wild Cat Rag. Licks and Lessons is probably the best spot for it, as you suggest.

edited to add: the list in Weeniepedia has been updated.

[uncle bud]

Again, while not exactly what you'd call blues, the recordings by Ciro's Club Coon Orchestra found on the Earliest Black String Bands Vol 1 (DOCD-5622) feature what is surely a mandolin-banjo rather prominently on every track. B&GR list the instrument as a "banjoline" and I presume they mean a mandolin-banjo. dj introduced us to this record here, which is pretty fascinating given how rare a glimpse into this repertoire there is on record. It's also on the Juke.

[uncle bud]

Thanks to Bunker Hill's post of the Charlie McCoy article elsewhere on this forum, I've added some entries (Curtis Jones, Mattie Hardy, Monkey Joe) to Charlie's listings, and cleaned things up a bit for him, since they were a mess.

Also added Memphis Minnie's one mandolin track, After While Blues.

Updates are reflected in Weeniepedia.

[Bunker Hill]

Thanks to Bunker Hill's post of the Charlie McCoy article elsewhere on this forum, I've added some entries (Curtis Jones, Mattie Hardy, Monkey Joe) to Charlie's listings, and cleaned things up a bit for him, since they were a mess. Also added Memphis Minnie's one mandolin track, After While Blues.

I have the Mattie Hardy's, the designation  is "prob. Charlie McCoy" but it sure sounds like him to my uneducated ear. I'd gladly supply an mp3 of one of the two songs. Just send me a PM.

[Bunker Hill]

Herb Quinn, whom David Evans recorded in 1966 plays a "mean mandolin".

Also I have a 10 inch Leadbelly LP where he's accompanied on at least one song by Woody Guthrie playing the instrument. I'll have to unearth it and see if my memory is serving me well.

[uncle bud]

Herb Quinn, whom David Evans recorded in 1966 plays a "mean mandolin".

Also I have a 10 inch Leadbelly LP where he's accompanied on at least one song by Woody Guthrie playing the instrument. I'll have to unearth it and see if my memory is serving me well.

I hadn't heard of Herb Quinn and found the following on Jeff Harris's site in an article he did about mandolin blues awhile ago:

Two mandolin players, Luther Huff and Herb Quinn, had roots in the pre-war era but made their records in the post-war era. Luther and brother Percy were born in Fannin, MS. Both men spent time in Jackson where they were influenced by the music of Slim Duckett, Tommy Johnson, Ishmon Bracey and Charlie McCoy. Under Luther Huff?s name the duo cut four sides for Trumpet in 1951. Herb Quinn was born in 1896 and dominated the music of Tylertown, MS where Tommy Johnson spent a good deal of time. He was proficient on mandolin, violin, string bass and piano. He had a string band that played in the region six nights a week for both black and white dances and taught many younger musicians in the area. Quinn recorded three sides under his own name in 1966 as well as backing Roosevelt Holts, Babe Stovall and Isaac Youngblood.

Luther Huff discographical reference from SundayBlues.org:
Luther & Percy Huff - Delta Blues - 1951 (Alligator)

I was able to gather this information on Herb Quinn from Stefan Wirz's Babe Stovall discography:

Herb Quinn
South Mississippi Blues (LP compilation Rounder 2009), Babe Stovall & Herb Quinn, "See See Rider"; Herb Quinn, "Casey"
Goin' Up the Country (LP compilation Rounder 2012) Herb Quinn - "Casey, You Can't Ride This Train"
The Legacy Of Tommy Johnson -(LP compilation, saydisc Matchbox SDM 224) Isaac Youngblood & Herb Quinn "Big Road Blues"
Box Of The Blues (CD compilation, Rounder CDROUN2171) Babe Stovall, Herb Quinn - "See See Rider"

I haven't tracked down any of the other Herb Quinn material, so any additional information is most welcome.

Re. Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie. The Document disc Leadbelly Complete Works 1939-47 Vol 5 (DOCD-5311) includes 8 tracks from a circa Oct. 1946 session in New York with Leadbelly, Guthrie and Cisco Houston. There is mandolin on several tracks: Alabama Bound, Stewball, Midnight Special, Green Corn, Fiddler's Dram. Unfortunately the Document disc lists no mandolin player and has both Woody and Cisco playing guitar. The discography in The Life and Legend of Leadbelly does the same. It doesn't sound at all like three guitars are present to me. Without evidence of other musicians taking part in the session, I would say that the discography should read "prob. Woody Guthrie, mandolin" on the above titles. Woody is providing backup vocals, but from what I can tell, while he is singing the mandolin is either dropped, very faint, or chord strums. Perhaps Bunker Hill's Leadbelly EP has more information?

[Lyndvs]

Tom Stovall plays mandolin on Jewel"babe"Stovall`s "careless love" on his Flyright lp-not very well recorded but it`s a really pretty version.
take care lyndvs.

[uncle bud]

I've been listening to the Skillet Lickers lately, Volume 6 1934 DOCD-8061 to be precise, and while it isn't country blues, it is great old music, and much (all? haven't confirmed, still new to the disc) of the music includes tremendous mandolin playing from Ted Hawkins. This CD is part of Document's current sale, so one can get it cheap if innerested. Full disclosure - mine came as one of those new Document CD-Rs.

[frankie]

Another group that's not quite country blues, but plenty of rags - the Scottdale Stringband.  Rags, waltzes, breakdowns, some blues...  a little bit of everything.  Mandolin with guitar accompaniment.  Chinese Breakdown smokes.

Not sure if much is available on CD, but it's definitely available through Juneberry.

[uncle bud]

Funny, when I look up Scottdale String Band on emusic, their "Dig deeper on the Net" feature has two YouTube videos, both of weenie member samjessin.

Similar thing happened in Winamp the other day. I loaded a Wade Ward song and the video links at the bottom of the Winamp frame took me to one of frankie's videos.

It's like a global conspiracy...