Listen Primitive American Guitar and Blues

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Sex Chicken

Exotic Dancer
Sep 8, 2015
25,819
59,498
Great thread. Anyone into this music or this period of American history should check out this book.



I haven’t read it in about 18 years but it’s awesome. When I was a young man I house sat one summer for an older guy I used to work with and his wife. He was a blues guy. He turned me on to this book and had boxes of old blues recordings. I spent a couple weeks drunk on his back porch reading this book and popping in tapes of the players as I read about them. It was an amazing time.

It’s by Alan Lomax he is a music ethnologist. He and his dad used to drive around the south recording black music traditions and blues. Songs song in the cotton fields and chain gangs. They would literally pull up in their truck with their recording gear in the back of their flat bed truck, and record people on their porches in order to document and trace the history of the music.
He has some expensive box sets called “Field Recordings”. Moby samples from his recordings for a lot of his hits off that “Play” album.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VylUfU5ItkA


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r9SENzRLk_M
 

Rambo John J

Eats things that would make a Billy Goat Puke
First 100
Jan 17, 2015
71,541
71,465
Great thread. Anyone into this music or this period of American history should check out this book.



I haven’t read it in about 18 years but it’s awesome. When I was a young man I house sat one summer for an older guy I used to work with and his wife. He was a blues guy. He turned me on to this book and had boxes of old blues recordings. I spent a couple weeks drunk on his back porch reading this book and popping in tapes of the players as I read about them. It was an amazing time.

It’s by Alan Lomax he is a music ethnologist. He and his dad used to drive around the south recording black music traditions and blues. Songs song in the cotton fields and chain gangs. They would literally pull up in their truck with their recording gear in the back of their flat bed truck, and record people on their porches in order to document and trace the history of the music.
He has some expensive box sets called “Field Recordings”. Moby samples from his recordings for a lot of his hits off that “Play” album.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VylUfU5ItkA


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r9SENzRLk_M
Badass man
that is great
 

Grateful Dude

TMMAC Addict
May 30, 2016
8,925
14,261
Great thread. Anyone into this music or this period of American history should check out this book.



I haven’t read it in about 18 years but it’s awesome. When I was a young man I house sat one summer for an older guy I used to work with and his wife. He was a blues guy. He turned me on to this book and had boxes of old blues recordings. I spent a couple weeks drunk on his back porch reading this book and popping in tapes of the players as I read about them. It was an amazing time.

It’s by Alan Lomax he is a music ethnologist. He and his dad used to drive around the south recording black music traditions and blues. Songs song in the cotton fields and chain gangs. They would literally pull up in their truck with their recording gear in the back of their flat bed truck, and record people on their porches in order to document and trace the history of the music.
He has some expensive box sets called “Field Recordings”. Moby samples from his recordings for a lot of his hits off that “Play” album.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VylUfU5ItkA


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r9SENzRLk_M
I haven't read that book, but I am familiar with Alan Lomax and his field recordings. Twenty some years ago my brother gave me a box set that was a collection of his recordings. It came with a book that told the story of him traveling around with the recording gear. I was immediately and totally enamored with the music and the story. Good stuff man!
 

Sex Chicken

Exotic Dancer
Sep 8, 2015
25,819
59,498
I haven't read that book, but I am familiar with Alan Lomax and his field recordings. Twenty some years ago my brother gave me a box set that was a collection of his recordings. It came with a book that told the story of him traveling around with the recording gear. I was immediately and totally enamored with the music and the story. Good stuff man!
Similar story to mine. You owe it to yourself to read this book.
It’s funny how important these older gatekeepers are to shaping our tastes. Introducing us to things we might never have bumped into on our own.
I know your a Deadhead. They have a similar organic folk-lorey authenticity to this music. I can see the connection.
 

Grateful Dude

TMMAC Addict
May 30, 2016
8,925
14,261
Similar story to mine. You owe it to yourself to read this book.
It’s funny how important these older gatekeepers are to shaping our tastes. Introducing us to things we might never have bumped into on our own.
I know your a Deadhead. They have a similar organic folk-lorey authenticity to this music. I can see the connection.
I’ll add that book to my list! I’m sure I would enjoy it.

Agree about the Dead and the folklore authenticity, there is definitely a connection. Now that I think about it, one of my first exposures to this music was when I listened to a Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band concert (folk/bluegrass stuff) and Jerry started the show by saying “I’d like to dedicate this show to the memory of Elizabeth Cotten”. I had no idea who that was, but went out and bought a record because of that. Jerry came from a bluegrass and ragtime music background, so those connections to older music are definitely there.

Did you ever get into any of the Arhoolie Records music? They have some great stuff, I used to have a boxset called Smithsonian Folkways recordings (or something close to that). I’m sure some of that will be popping up in here, there is a ton of great stuff. Here is a link if you care to look up Arhoolie, tons of great music with them too.

Arhoolie Records - Wikipedia
 
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Sex Chicken

Exotic Dancer
Sep 8, 2015
25,819
59,498
I’ll add that book to my list! I’m sure I would enjoy it.

Agree about the Dead and the folklore authenticity, there is definitely a connection. Now that I think about it, one of my first exposures to this music was when I listened to a Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band concert (folk/bluegrass stuff) and Jerry started the show by saying “I’d like to dedicate this show to the memory of Elizabeth Cotten”. I had no idea who that was, but went out and bought a record because of that. Jerry came from a bluegrass and ragtime music background, so those connections to older music are definitely there.

Did you ever get into any of the Arhoolie Records music? They have some great stuff, I used to have a boxset called Smithsonian Folkways recordings (or something close to that). I’m sure some of that will be popping up in here, there is a ton of great stuff. Here is a link if you care to look up Arhoolie, tons of great music with them too.

Arhoolie Records - Wikipedia
Yeah. I have this one. Some really great stuff.

 

Grateful Dude

TMMAC Addict
May 30, 2016
8,925
14,261