As the holiday season approaches, you’ve surely had your nose to the grindstone and have been taking all your endeavors seriously for the past 11 or so months. Do you feel like perhaps you’ve been taking things a little too seriously? If you feel burnout encroaching and your work ethic slipping, you should consider celebrating Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day!
Me loosening up and lightening up on the porch!
Celebrated
annually on November 14, Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day reminds us that we shouldn’t
let the stress of everyday life get us down – in other words, don’t sweat the
small stuff! Stress is a killer, and when you take a second look at many of the
things that cause you aggravation in your day-to-day life, perhaps you can find
some humor and laugh it off. Now that you know about Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day,
I hope you’ll do what you need to take care of yourself for the day and better
prepare yourself to roll with life’s inevitable difficulties. To get you in the
spirit, here are some classic songs about taking it easy!
“Rushing Around,” Roy Acuff
This song should be the official theme song of Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day! While we may think that living life in a hurry is a modern woe, Roy Acuff warned of living life in a hurry in the 1950s. Acuff warns listeners of the hazards of carelessness brought on by being in a hurry and poses the question: “How old will you be at 63, from rushing around today?” It almost seems ironic that a song proclaiming “they didn’t used to rush around back in Grandpa’s day” was written in what is now “back in Grandpa’s day,” but its message of slowing down for your own sake still holds true.
“It’s My Lazy Day,” Bob Wills
Here’s a classic from Bob Wills, the “King of Western Swing,” about the joys of taking it easy. While many would consider going fishing a perfect way to spend a leisurely day, the narrator of this song is taking his day so lightly that he doesn’t even want to make the trip to his favorite fishing spot or do much of anything. Sung by Tommy Duncan, one of Wills’ Texas Playboys, the lilting delivery amplifies the message of the song, and the laid-back performance by this normally red hot band makes you feel like they’re all loosened and lightened up.
“Work Don’t Bother Me,” Kid Smith
Walter “Kid” Smith is a tragically overlooked figure in early country music. Born in Virginia, Smith began working in a cotton mill, but soon became a professional boxer. Upon moving to Spray, North Carolina, he fell in with the clique of musicians who surrounded the legendary Charlie Poole. Perhaps one thing that diminished Smith’s impact on the music was that he did not consistently record under the same name, often using a pseudonym or a band name such as The Carolina Buddies or The Virginia Dandies. Here Smith proclaims just how easy it is to take it easy when you avoid life’s biggest stressor: work!
“Just Can’t Live That Fast Anymore,” Lefty Frizzell
While sometimes we need to loosen up and lighten up because we work too hard, honky tonk hero Lefty Frizzell tells us all about the opposite problem. Reflective of Frizzell’s own rough and rowdy lifestyle, this song warns of what can happen when you loosen up TOO MUCH for TOO LONG. While it’s important to let loose and live a little, don’t let Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day get out of hand!
“I Ain’t Going to Work Tomorrow,” Flatt and Scruggs
Didn’t know about Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day until you read this blog post? Planning on celebrating a day late now that you know about it? Well, here’s a song for you! This classic ballad was originally recorded by The Carter Family, but here’s a rip-roaring bluegrass rendition from the dynamic duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, along with all the Foggy Mountain Boys!
“Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.”
~ Steve Earle
I moved to Bristol, Tennessee, in early
January 2010. Moving might be too glorifying of a word, meaning I had $30, a
guitar, and a bag of clothes. I was re-moving myself from a failed relationship
while finishing a batch of songs, some of which would appear on my debut
release Appalachian
Travels– hence the name of my
radio show on Radio Bristol. (Thanks, Bill Edwards!)
My long-time friend and fellow tunesmith
Allun Cormier and I shared a three-story chalet style house at end of Glen
Road. The two houses there were owned by the original operator of The Hitchin’
Post, a now-defuct Bristol honky tonk, and they had been the stopping-place of
the bands traveling through town in the 1970s and 1980s. One could literally
sense the energy the minute you walked through the door.
One afternoon in February, I recorded a song I had just finished on my phone and sent it to Allun – it was called “The Marrying Song.” He immediately replied: “That sounds like a Townes Van Zandt song.” Now, as a child I remember Wille Nelson and Merle Haggard’s cut of “Pancho & Lefty,” a tune written by Townes and released in 1972. However, this was as deep as my knowledge of Townes went. I had heard the name numerous times, but never went down the rabbit hole to learn more. Boy, but what a rabbit hole to find!
I was heavily getting into Texas
songwriters Guy Clark, Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and the like. In
press interviews, all of these amazing songwriters kept referencing Townes as
one of their biggest influences, Clark more than any of them. Allun brought
home a copy of the 2004 documentary
Be Here to Love Me, giving me
great insight into the tragic life of the late, great Townes Van Zandt. I,
myself, was deep in the bottle and could relate in more ways than one.
I started with the import compilation Legend – The Very Best of Townes Van Zandt, which I picked up at our local record store, Sessions 27. I kept it on repeat for a couple of weeks, allowing the material to fully saturate every molecule of my being. Minimal production, poetic lyrics, sparse guitar, all of it hit me in the right way. I immediately understood what all these great songwriters were talking about. Townes was the real deal. I soon picked up a copy of Live at The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas, wanting to hear Townes in his natural environment – a live setting with only him, his songs, and his guitar. Townes performs flawlessly, exploring his catalogue while showcasing his own influences – Merle Travis, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Rev. Gary Davis’s arrangement of “Cocaine Blues.”
From squeaky bar stools to audience
chatter, I could hear The Old Quarter and Townes’s performance breathe – listen
in, and so can you.
Farm and Fun Time got back to its bluegrass roots at October’s show! Thanks to our sponsor Eastman Credit Union, Radio Bristol was able to bring Farm and Fun Time to not only those in the audience or tuned in to WBCM-LP, but to viewers far and wide via Facebook Live. Be sure to like WBCM – Radio Bristol on Facebook to tune in every month!
Host band Bill and the Belles kicked the show off in grand style with their lighthearted take on classic American sounds, humming our troubles away. This month’s “Heirloom Recipe” segment was presented by Johnson City restaurateur Nathan Brand. After the success of his pop-up restaurant The Orchard Mason, Nathan opened Timber! at the location of the old Acoustic Coffee House in Johnson City. Nathan seeks to bring fresh takes on local foods, and for October’s Farm and Fun Time he shared the story of his popular dish, smoked trout dip. Nathan recalled his first experience catching and eating trout in Northern Idaho, and nearly 20 years later, he still remembers this happy memory when creating the trout dip that is now a favorite at Timber! To tell the audience what it was all about, Bill and the Belles proclaimed the love for this fishy spread with a new jingle “Nothing Smokes Like Trout.”
Our first musical guest of the evening was Jeff Scroggins and Colorado. Led by two-time National Banjo Champion Jeff Scroggins and noted singer and guitarist Greg Blake, the band has brought their distinctive style of bluegrass to audiences across the globe. For their first visit to Bristol, they started the show off with a rousing rendition of Don Reno and Bill Harrell’s “Big Train,” underlining that the band is steeped in the traditions of bluegrass’s inventors while not being afraid to take it in their own direction. With impeccable vocals and outstanding instrumental prowess, it’s easy to see why they were able to win over our appreciative Farm and Fun Time audience. We hope to see Jeff Scroggins and Colorado back in Bristol soon!
For this month’s “Radio Bristol Farm Report,” we visited Phillip Ottinger at Buffalo Trail Orchard in Greene County, Tennessee. Ottinger is the fifth generation of the same family to work on the property, and though it was originally a tobacco and cattle farm, Ottinger has turned it into a successful orchard. Here’s a video from our visit:
Our last guest of the evening was Chatham County Line. Hailing from Chatham County, North Carolina, as their name suggests, Chatham County Line has developed quite a following over the past two decades, with seven studio albums under their belt. Based strongly in the sounds of bluegrass, Chatham County Line has developed a performance style all their own that is somehow mellow and high energy all at the same time. Performing mostly original songs with one Beck cover thrown in for good measure, it is easy to see how these guys enthrall audiences everywhere they go. We’re looking forward to their upcoming release on Yep Roc records.
Thanks to everyone who came out and shared in this wonderful evening of music! Tickets are on sale for November’s show, but they’re going fast. We hope to see you there!
“Instrument Interview” posts are a chance to sit down with the instruments of traditional, country, bluegrass, and roots music – from different types of instruments to specific ones related to artists, luthiers, and songwriters – and learn more about them. Ten questions are posed, and the instruments answer! Today we talk with a guitar built for Doc Watson.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi! I am a handcrafted acoustic guitar based on a Martin 000 pattern. I was made by Jayne Henderson, the daughter of prominent luthier Wayne Henderson – in my opinion, she is the coolest Henderson! Being a 000 means that I am a smaller guitar, with thinner sides and a smaller body shape than the typical bluegrass Dreadnought guitar you see all the big country stars playing. My small stature doesn’t stop me in terms of volume and playability though!
I am made from white oak, which I know isn’t the typical material one would think of when it comes to guitars. However, at the time, my builder had just graduated from Vermont Law School with a degree in environmental law and policy, and therefore she wanted to try some local materials as she didn’t want to use any woods that were extinct or too hard to come by.
I was made for the incredible musician Doc Watson upon his request. He passed away about a week before I was finished, but that has not stopped me from spreading my voice loud and proud among other musicians – in fact, it has actually lead to some awesome opportunities where I have been played by all sorts of talented folks!
Wayne and Jayne Henderson visiting with Doc Watson in Wayne’s workshop. Photography courtesy of Jayne Henderson
Why is oak such a strange wood to
make a guitar from?
Well, while not many builders use it for a tone wood these days, it actually isn’t that strange historically. Martin, one of the best guitar manufacturers out there in my opinion, made parlor guitars from oak around the turn of the 20th century and into the 1920s and 1930s.
Jayne, my builder, found the board I am made from at a local lumber yard and chose it primarily because the board was the first one she had ever seen where she knew it was quarter-sawn, a term that refers to the grain of a tree running straight vertically for the length of the board. Boards that are quarter-sawn are the best for guitar material because they are usually the most stable pieces in terms of cracking and moving. Quarter-sawn boards are also best at allowing vibrations from plucked strings to run fastest through the board and then transmitting those vibrations into sound waves. She bought that board and took it to Virginia where her dad helped her cut it into a guitar set. The thinly sliced back and side pieces rang out loud and bright when Jayne and her dad tapped on them so they knew the pieces would make a great guitar.
What is the best part about being
made from a material not typically used for guitars?
The coolest thing about being made from a piece of white oak is that it is a sustainable material that is easily available for building. A lot of historically used materials – such as Brazilian rosewood and Honduran mahogany – are becoming endangered or have even gone extinct so protecting those resources rather than using them is more important than ever. Even though there are currently some regulations monitoring the use, those types of wood won’t be around forever at the rate they are being harvested or destroyed in their countries.
I am also very proud that when you tap on a plank of oak, its tone is similar to that of Brazilian rosewood. What’s great is that oak comes from right here, in our own backyards, and it is prevalent enough that if you cut a few, or better yet, harvest a naturally felled tree, it won’t threaten the entire species or the subsequent species that rely on that tree for survival.
Jayne Henderson and friend holding the finished Doc Watson guitar; the simplicity of the design highlights the beautiful oak wood. Photograph courtesy of Jayne Henderson
You said you were made for Doc
Watson. Who is that?
Doc Watson is a legendary musician known for his picking style and for pioneering new “licks” on old songs – licks that countless musicians following his footsteps strive to emulate, including Wayne Henderson. Doc was blind, which he once told Jayne was why he became a musician in the first place as it provided a means to express himself as well as carry a successful profession without the need to see. Jayne knew Doc Watson for her entire life because he had been friends with her dad through playing music together. Doc also has a few of Wayne’s instruments, one of which he proudly played during his last performance at Merlefest a few years back.
How did he find out about Jayne’s
guitars?
The last years of Doc’s life, when he wasn’t traveling around playing as much, he would visit Wayne’s shop most Sundays. He would sit for hours and tell Jayne stories, like how he met his wife Rosalie or all the pets he has considered friends in his life, while petting her dog Harper who laid her head on his feet, oblivious to his celebrity status. Whenever Jayne finished a new guitar near one of those precious Sundays, Doc would always play it and sing a song or two.
Doc and Harper hanging out in Wayne’s shop. Dogs are music lovers too! Photograph courtesy of Jayne Henderson
And then how did you come about?
As
Jayne began building, she would show Doc her new guitars. He was so kind and
generous with praise for each one, even though he claimed he would be honest
with
his critiques. One day Jayne asked if he would like her to build him one, and
he said he would love that – soon enough I was in the works. I am a simple
guitar, with minimal adornment, the only flashy thing being my brass encircled
fret markers which reminded Jayne of the snaps on Doc’s plaid shirts.
How did Doc feel about oak being used for his guitar?
Jayne told Doc that she wanted to use a sustainable material for his guitar. Because she had just finished her degree from one of the top environmental law programs in the country, she thought it was important to include the principles she learned in her building. She asked if the oak she had found would be OK to use and showed him the boards so he could hear them ring. He told her, “Honey, that wood sounds great. Anything you want to make for me, I am going to love it.”
White oak back and heelcap inlay of the guitar built by Jayne Henderson for Doc Watson. Photograph courtesy of Jayne Henderson
So what happened next?
Well,
as I was getting my top braces shaved down, the shop phone rang. Someone told
Wayne that Doc had passed away. Jayne decided she would never be able to sell
this guitar, one that she had made for her friend, so she set about making the
neck comfortable for her hand instead. Once, a few months before, while testing
a guitar she had just strung up, Doc told her, “You need to keep this guitar
and learn to play it as well as your dad. Learn from him everything you can.”
Sometimes I think I was meant to be Jayne’s guitar all along, that Doc wanted
her to have a guitar. She didn’t have a full-sized one, just the tiny one her
dad made her when she was eight years old, built with such precious materials
she was almost scared to play it. She shaped my neck to fit her own hand and now
practices on me as often as she can.
Do you get to go anywhere else?
Jayne loves to share me with her friends, because she wants everyone to have a great guitar if they need one. When she isn’t practicing her limited skills on me, her dad plays me on the PBS show Song of the Mountains and for Doc tributes at Merlefest. I have also gotten to sit with Zac Brown of The Zac Brown Band as he did an interview for CBS Sunday Morning, and I’ve traveled to Washington, DC for the first leg of Steve Martin’s musical Bright Star.
Vince Gill testing out Doc’s guitar. Photograph courtesy of Jayne Henderson
Is there anything you’d like to add
about yourself?
I
want to be sure everyone knows that just because you may come from sustainable,
even humble, beginnings doesn’t mean you will shine any less than that flashy
Brazilian rosewood adorning the backs of your counterparts!
This question was asked by Columbia Records in an advertisement in the Johnson City Chronicle on Wednesday October 3, 1928. That advertisement, seeking musicians specializing in regional old-time music, ran in various papers in Johnson City in anticipation of recording sessions spearheaded by visionary producer Frank Walker and now known as the Johnson City Sessions of 1928–29. Though more obscure than the famed Bristol Sessions that took place a year prior, the Johnson City Sessions, only 25 miles down the road, illustrate a more diverse and possibly equally important catalog of music that continues to have a significant impact on folk and roots musicians to this day.
Original Columbia Records advertisement published in the Johnson City Chronicle on October 3, 1928. Image from Ted Olson and Tony Russell’s The Johnson City Sessions 1928-1929, Bear Family Records: 2013
Ted Olson, writer and researcher of the Johnson City Sessions Bear Family 4 CD boxset, notes:
“The Johnson City Sessions were one of several significant location recording sessions conducted by commercial recording companies in Appalachia during the 1920s and 1930s. But the Johnson City recordings were unique. More than those from the other rival sessions of that era, they documented the broad sweep of the Appalachian song and tune repertoire, from the traditional to the contemporary, from the familiar to the obscure, and from the serious to the silly. While some of the recordings made in Johnson City during 1928 and 1929 were in the country music mainstream, other recordings stood out as truly unusual, even avant grade, anticipating future directions for as-yet-unborn music genres such as bluegrass, revivalistic folk, rock ‘n’ roll, and Americana. And looking back at those sessions 90 years later, one can’t help but wonder if country music might have taken a different course had the Great Depression not obliterated the distribution and potential influence of those exuberant, truth-telling Johnson City recordings. People in the 1930s depended upon art – and particularly music – to guide them out of the Depression, and the Johnson City recordings could have helped set a higher standard for relevancy in country music moving forward.”
Some of the songs recorded during these sessions have become standards in old-time repertoire including “Tell It to Me,” a riotous tune from the Grant Brothers who a year prior recorded in Bristol as the Tenneva Ramblers, or “The Coo Coo Bird” from the great Clarence Ashley, an artist whose music career was rejuvenated during the folk revival. “Old Lady and the Devil,” by Bill and Belle Reed, later found a home on Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, a collection that would influence countless folk musicians including a young Bob Dylan.
This impact is being celebrated in downtown Johnson City on Saturday, October 19, during an all-day event to mark the 90th anniversary of these sessions. The event will feature leading folk and roots artists, including Dom Flemons, Willie Watson, Amythyst Kiah, Bill and the Belles, Nora Brown, The Brother Boys, and many more. Roy Andrade, Associate Professor and head of the Old-Time Program at East Tennessee State University, notes that “the 90th anniversary of the Johnson City Sessions is exciting for those of us involved in old-time music in this town – the music is still very much alive here and the celebration will help us remember that the story is still being written.” And featured artist Amythyst Kiah says that the celebration is timely in that “the Johnson City Sessions is a celebration of the roots of American music and the preservation of a musical legacy that has captured the imagination of people all over the world.”
Our Radio Bristol DJs are a diverse bunch – and they like a huge variety of musical genres and artists. In our “Off the Record” posts, we ask one of them to tell us all about a song, record or artist they love.
One of the things that I love most about music is how we form bonds with sound internally, that moment when a song or an album can become “part of us.” It’s not always about how great the production is, or how perfectly everything is written; it’s about something we can’t grasp consciously, something that “strikes a chord” within us. I also find it interesting that periods of my life have been defined by what music I was listening to at that time. I’ve been inspired to think differently by a song, to pick up a new point of view and run wild with it after hearing a line in a verse.
When I first started writing songs I was listening intently to two artists, for no apparent reason, other than they were resonating with me, and therefore defining that space in time. Those artists were the “King of Country” Hank Williams Sr. and the lesser known, though still reverently followed, Greenwich Village folkie Michael Hurley. His album was passed along to me on a scratched, Sharpie-scribbled burnt CD. When I pushed it into my old van’s disc player and listened, it turned my world upside down, or right side up…or whichever direction my head might have been headed in – expanding what I thought about songwriting, and what experiencing music could be for me.
Recorded in 1963 by Smithsonian Folkways on the same reel-to-reel machine that taped Lead Belly’s Last Sessions,First Songs is a collection of early work, put down when Michael Hurley was just 22 years old. The album was created with absolute simplicity, featuring only Hurley’s raw and expressive singing and a thumping acoustic guitar. The immediacy of his voice is lulling and warm, and his effortless crack into a yodel-esque vocal break lets us know that we are listening to a very special singer. The album sounds somewhere between a lethargic summertime country blues romp and a roughhousing porch jam. You can hear a foot tapping naturally throughout the recording, and every note is at once unapologetically quirky and endearingly human.
The album starts with the dreamy and nostalgic tune “Blue Mountain” – perfect for a sluggish sun-drenched afternoon during the “dog days” of summer. The track rounds out at over six minutes long, shrugging off any constraints of time, or care for the workaday world. This song has sent me past worry, feeling like a relaxed remembrance of a beautiful place, perhaps inspired by the singer’s childhood home in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Another track that lingers well past commercial playability is “The Tea Song,” which is over seven minutes long. Possibly made to be listened to as you wait for water to boil, the song highlights Hurley’s unique qualities as a songwriter, showcasing his ability to pair everyday experience with philosophical outlooks. I enjoy how his voice seems to be at once masterfully crooning/mournfully hollering about a lost love and “his thoughts and dreams that are distilled in the tea.”
The track “Just a Bum” feels like a nod to Woody Guthrie as it romanticizes the idea of a fireside poet who accidentally stumbles onto love while “traveling over land like a natural-born man.” To me this song speaks of the American folk music tradition, giving us a glimpse at the inner world of a roving performer, train hopper, and truth-teller. It’s jangling strum and unbridled singing make it feel up to snuff with anything else that’s part of the folk music cannon.
After recording First Songs, Hurley went on to become a fixture of the Greenwich Village folk music scene of the 1960s, recording with bands such as The Holy Modal Rounders and Jeffrey Frederick & the Clamtones. He has also been held in high regard by artists such as Lucinda Williams, Vic Chesnutt, Woods, Calexico, Cat Power, Robin Holcomb, and Julian Lynch. Throughout his career of 31 releases, he has continuously blurred the edges between traditional folk, country, blues, and outsider music. Hurley has recently gained a dedicated following after Locust Music reissued First Songs under the new title of Blueberry Wine in 2001. Since then, he has been touring and has released more than 12 albums.
Michael Hurley pictured looking contemplative with arch top guitar. Image from www.last.fm
I hope that this album is as special to some of you as it has been for me. And I want to encourage folks to follow their own “folk process,” finding music that for some reason feels meaningful and becomes part of your own story!
Today is the National Day of the Cowboy, marked in several states on the fourth Saturday of July every year. Country music, in the past and the present, is filled with the images of cowboys and cowgirls, and so we thought we’d mark today with our own celebration of cowboys with a music twist!C
Cowboy songs are said to have originated as a way to soothe nervous and apt-to-stampede cows on cattle drives out west. The yodels and soft crooning sounds in the songs would help to obscure the noises of the night that tended to spook the herd and also act as a kind of lullaby. The songs themselves often reflected a wide range of music, including old ballads, popular Tin Pan Alley tunes, Mexican songs, and blues forms. John A. Lomax published Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads in 1911, detailing 112 songs that he gathered through requests in newspapers and academic venues and by visiting known cowboy haunts. The first edition had a handwritten foreword by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Google cowboy songs today, and you can find numerous “best cowboy songs” lists, each with the individual author’s subjective preferences – from the well-known, and copyright challenged,“Home on the Range” to The Highwaymen’s “The Last Cowboy Song” to “Good Ride Cowboy,” Garth Brooks’ tribute to rodeo rider and sing Chris LeDoux. My personal favorite has always been “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” a love that began with the Alvin and The Chipmunks version of 1981 when I was a kid and thankfully later evolved to the much-better version by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings!
In line with cowboy music, there have been numerous musical cowboys on radio, records, and screen throughout the years. Gene Autry, “The Singing Cowboy,” did it all: singing, writing songs, acting, rodeo riding. He even owned a Major League baseball team in California for over 30 years. Autry has five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, recorded over 600 songs – many of which were also written or co-written by him, starred in 93 films, and hosted his own television show. He is most well-known for “Back in the Saddle Again,” but his biggest hit wasn’t about the American West or cowboys at all – instead it was the Christmas classic, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Gene Autry’s grave notes him as “America’s favorite cowboy” and “A believer in our western heritage.” Photograph by Arthur Dark from Wikimedia Commons
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans epitomize the musical cowboy and cowgirl. As a husband-and-wife team, they recorded songs and acted together; Evans was also a prolific songwriter. The song that is most associated with them is “Happy Trails.” Rogers, known as “The King of the Cowboys,” also brought his palomino Trigger and dog Bullet into many of his films and television shows. An exhibit on Evans at the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas, shares this quote from her, the perfect tribute to the cowgirl’s strength and independence:
“‘Cowgirl’ is an attitude really. A pioneer spirit, a special American brand of courage. The cowgirl faces life head-on, lives by her own lights, and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands; they speak up. They defend things they hold dear.”
Left: Dale Evans was featured in her own comic book series in the 1940s and 1950s. Center: Roy Rogers’ and Trigger’s “signatures” at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Photograph by NativeForeigner on Wikimedia Commons Right: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans at the 61st Academy Awards. Photograph by Alan Light on Wikimedia Commons
Patsy Montana, born Ruby Rose Blevins, was another singing cowgirl. While visiting the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1933, Montana auditioned for a crooner role but ended up working with the Prairie Ramblers on WLS’s National Barn Dance, where she performed for around 20 years. She was the first female country music performer to have a million-selling record with “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” which was released in 1935. Her influence can be seen in later singers such as Patsy Cline and Devon Dawson, who provided the singing voice of Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl from Toy Story.
Dom Flemons Smithsonian Folkways album Black Cowboys, released in 2018, explores the history, music, and culture of the American Wild West from the perspective of the thousands of African American cowboys who also rode the ranges and pioneered the trails out west. Flemons’ album, and the research he did into the subject, underlines that cowboys weren’t exclusively white, despite popular imagery. One interesting character noted by Flemons is Bass Reeves, who became the first black deputy U.S. Marshall out west but also may have been the inspiration for the character of the Lone Ranger! Songs on the album include the familiar “Home on the Range,” “Goodbye Old Paint,” which was credited to a former slave and later cowboy, and an original song by Flemons that honors black movie cowboy Bill Hickett.
Dom Flemons’ Black Cowboys album cover. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
This is just a small selection of music-related stories about cowboys and cowgirls, but hopefully it gives you a taste to listen and learn more – and to start celebrating every year on National Day of the Cowboy!
Yodeling? Maybe for Jimmie Rodgers, but not for the little-known
W. E. Myer.
William Evert Myer (1884—1964) was an entrepreneur from Richlands, Virginia, who tried his hand at producing a successful record label called Lonesome Ace. Sadly he felt the crushing blows dealt by the Great Depression instead. A man of many interests and talents, Myer taught school, studied law, and worked on the accounts of a coal company before following his musical dream. He sold phonographs and records in his store and also wrote several songs – or “ballets” as he called them – preserving them in a set of manuscripts that were recently donated to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s collections.
William Evert Myer. Gift of Dwight Dailey and Robyn Raines, in memory of their great-grandfather W. E. Myer
Unlike much of the rest of the listening public at this time, Myer didn’t like Jimmie Rodgers’ popular yodeling sound. Indeed, he immortalized his thoughts on this subject with his Lonesome Ace record label. Each record was blazoned with Charles Lindbergh’s plane The Spirit of St. Louis and bore the motto “WITHOUT A YODEL”! Lonesome Ace’s promotional material also declared: “Every song has a moral,…and all subjects are covered without the use of any ‘near decent’ language which is so prevalent among many of the modern records.” Myer’s quirky label and his work to release records were the culmination of all of his hopes: a removal of yodeling from the lexicon of American popular music and a desire to shares his musical loves.
Myer’s strong opinions led him to seek out more well-known musicians as a way to market his own songs. Most of all, he wanted his songs to be performed by musicians he liked, and one of his grandest notions was to have the famed country-blues musician Mississippi John Hurt set lyrics that Myer wrote to music. He sent Hurt several of his compositions, and Hurt set three of them to music he chose: “Waiting for You” and “Richlands Woman” set to his own melodies and “Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me,” ironically set to Jimmie Rodgers’ “Waiting for a Train.” This last song was a wild mixture of country, blues, and legendary sea creatures that was later recorded by musician Tom Hoskins in 1963.
“Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me” tells the sad tale of a man who is unhappy in his home life and missing a sweetheart so he looks to burial at sea as sweet respite amongst the mermaids. Gift of Dwight Dailey and Robyn Raines, in memory of their great-grandfather W. E. Myer
Myer also approached traditional musician Dock Boggs, a banjo-frailing, hard-drinking coal miner from a musically inclined family in West Norton, Virginia. Boggs had recorded with The Magic City Trio, led by Fiddlin’ John Dykes, with New York’s Brunswick Records in March 1927, the same year as the Bristol Sessions. During the succeeding years, he did well playing in his local community for various dances and events, much to the chagrin of his wife. And In 1929 Boggs recorded with the Lonesome Ace label, producing four sides of Myer’s “ballets” with his own choice of tune, but following Myer’s advice with “False Hearted Lover’s Blues” by setting it to Myer’s suggestion of Boggs’ “Country Blues.” Even with Boggs’ skill and Myer’s entrepreneurship, the Great Depression led to the decline of the record label and Dock’s career as a musician. Myer declared bankruptcy in 1930 after releasing only three records, and Dock pawned off his banjo to make ends meet.
The Lonesome Ace record label for Dock Boggs’ recording of Myer’s “Old Rub Alcohol Blues.” From discogs.com
However, this was not the end of Dock Boggs or of W. E. Myer’s
music. During the folk revival of the 1960s, Boggs was rediscovered by folk
musician and folklorist Mike Seeger, who traveled to Virginia and located Boggs
at his home near Needmore. Boggs had recently purchased another banjo, and
after Seeger heard him play it, he convinced Boggs to perform at various folk
festivals and clubs. This rediscovery brought a renewed love by the American
public for the music of Dock Boggs, which continues through today.
Myer, though not revitalized by the folk revival, continues to be known because of his association with Boggs and other important musicians. The stories told to us by his family underline what a remarkable character Myer was, and his manuscripts, which are now part of the museum’s collection, highlight this even further. With song titles like “Old Rub Alcohol Blues” and “Milkin’ the Devil’s Billy Goat” – and one of my personal favorites “The New Deal Won’t Go Down,” which supported President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program – it is clear that Myer’s songs reflected a wide range of interests and stories! And while Myer’s Lonesome Ace may not be well-known or prolific, it certainly played a noteworthy role in the folk music of Southern Appalachia – even “without the yodel”!
The lyrics of “Milkin’ the Devil’s Billy Goat” chastises and judges “tattlers.” Gift of Dwight Dailey and Robyn Raines, in memory of their great-grandfather W. E. Myer
Along with the William E. Myer manuscripts, the donors generously gave the museum several other items related to their great-grandfather, including the collector’s edition of The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records Vol. 2 (1928-32), which contains the duets by Emry Arthur and Della Hatfield of the two Myer’s songs they recorded.
There is a book on the shelves in the museum’s Blue Stocking Club Learning Center that I come back to time and time again – Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia by Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr. This wonderful book chronicles the history of the ballad from its origins to its place in our very own Appalachian Mountains. Beautifully written, with equally beautiful artwork and photographs, it tells the story in a meandering manner, taking the reader down old and new roads, mimicking the ballad journey itself.
The cover of Wayfaring Strangersfeatures the rolling peaks and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains and a traveling Scottish fiddler.
The story of ballads is greater than what can be covered in a blog post, but I want to share what I have learned from Wayfaring Strangers, giving readers a small glimpse into that history in a fairly simplistic and straightforward manner. However, I encourage you to also read this book to learn more; it captured my heart – and it is sure to capture your heart too!
Ballads go further back in pre-recorded history than initially thought, to the seafaring civilizations sharing cultures via storytelling and music. There is no one single point of ballad origin; rather points as disperse as Scandinavia, Germany, Western Europe, Scotland, Ireland, England, and the Mediterranean all had a role to play. For example, there is an old-style epic narrative performed in Connemara, Ireland that is nearly identical to a Bedouin style.
Scottish poet, folklorist, and songwriter Hamish Henderson called the ballad journey the “carrying stream,” a perfect analogy for its meandering ways through ages, cultures, and configurations. Ballads were an oral tradition for disparate, often illiterate populations wherein stories, news, commerce, commentary, protest, and dance could be part of the delivery. As they traveled, ballads were subject to many influences and variations, both to their words and music, and often the same ballad may have different tunes or one tune may be associated with several different ballads. Over time and space, it was the best lyrics and tunes that continued along the carrying stream.
This edition of David Herd’s Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, &c is from 1973, but the original book was published in 1776. It was on loan from Jack Beck and Wendy Welch during The Appalachian Photographs of Cecil Sharp, 1916 to 1918 special exhibit in 2018.
As to the Scots-Irish ballad tradition that is quite familiar in the Appalachians, it begins with a Nordic-Baltic influence arriving early on the Scottish shores. Northeast Aberdeenshire is considered the cradle of Scottish balladry with distinct language, customs, and folklore created out of isolation and seafaring influences. Western Scots and Irish people shared their traditions as well via the short sea route between them, and the Scottish and English border counties added further influences, all contributing to the oral-to-written evolution.
The ramifications of politics and palace intrigue over the course of the ballad history were many and varied, and the resulting diaspora impacted the story. One such dispersing was the Scots to Ulster Ireland and then on to the American colonies. It is this carrying steam that brought the ballad tradition to our mountains. The majority of these immigrants arrived at various ports northward and traveled down the Wilderness Road to the Appalachian Mountains. The pioneers settled in valleys and coves throughout the mountains, bringing their musical heritage with them – a heritage that merged with other traditions, styles, and songs found in the Appalachians including those of Native Americans, enslaved peoples from Africa, and other ethnic groups. It is this mixing that eventually evolved to be recognized as old-time country music.
As Wayfaring Strangersnotes: “Music provided the social fabric, creating a sense of community amid isolation and reinforcing identity. That said, while the Scots-Irish origin is clearly the dominant one, it is the braiding and weaving of European, African and indigenous American influences that creates the unique tapestry of Appalachian music.”
The long tradition and the evolution of ballads is further underlined by Bascom Lamar Lunsford, western North Carolina Minstrel of the Mountains, when he tells us “… that though the words changed from country to country, and generation to generation, even from valley to valley in the same range of hills, the essence of the music changed not at all. It formed a link, unbroken, back through time, tying to the past.”
Music was – and still is – reward at the end of a long day’s work, something to share in front of a winter fire or on a summer porch, and an act of community as voices are raised together at barn raisings, harvests, market days, and other events and occasions. And, of course, this included the teaching of these traditions to succeeding generations of children and grandchildren.
This ballad heritage was found at the Bristol Sessions in some of the songs, which were then shared through the recordings on a much wider scale. This music was a continuation of the carrying stream, and that musical migration continues through today’s carriers and tradition bearers – they too are immersed in the carrying steam. And old-time country music and the storytelling it is a part of, along with music festivals the world over and our museum visitors from every state and over 44 countries, all testify to that continuing journey.
For our “Pick 5” blog series, we ask members of the Radio Bristol team to pick five songs within a given theme – from heartsongs to murder ballads and everything in between! Once they pick their “5,” they get the chance to tell us more about why they chose those songs. With a diverse staff of knowledgeable DJs, we’re sure to get some interesting song choices, which might introduce you to some new music, all easily accessible by tuning into Radio Bristol! This month’s “Pick 5” is from Toni Doman, host of Radio Bristol’s Mountain Song & Story airing Thursdays at 4pm!
Isn’t it ironic that I’m stuck inside writing about how badly I want to leave the office and enjoy the great outdoors? I’m so ready to enjoy the month of June and kickstart National Great Outdoors month! What could be better than taking in the fresh mountain air and soaking up sunshine (with proper sunscreen, of course) while in sight of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains?
This summer, I’ll be doing my best to take advantage of all that the Tri-Cities area has to offer: hiking, biking, paddling, you name it! There truly is something out there for everyone to enjoy, and you don’t have to be an expert in outdoor recreation to have a great time. Some of my favorite outdoor activities in and around the Tri-Cities include hiking to visit the wild ponies at Grayson Highlands State Park and taking it easy in the shade near South Holston Lake. Other great spots stand out such as the Virginia Creeper Trail, which extends from Abingdon to Whitetop, or you can even explore the local entry points to the Appalachian Trail, which covers 14 states spanning over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine! Nothing quite compares to the unique scenery of the Appalachian mountain landscape, and Roan Mountain State Park also has some stunning views. These are just a few of the great places where you can embrace Mother Nature and all she has to offer in the local area – check out Visit Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association to learn more!
Left: Wild ponies roaming the mountain at Grayson Highlands State Park in Grayson County, Virginia. It’s a beautiful view from the top and well worth the hike to get there! Right: Enjoying a little slice of life at South Holston Lake! Photographs courtesy of Toni Doman
Now that you’re as excited as me about our nearby natural beauties,
here are a few tunes that are sure to get you ready for camping (it’s in-tents…)
and all things outdoors this June!
“Where the River Meets the Road,”
Tim O’Brien
Grammy winner, singer-songwriter, and West Virginia native Tim O’Brien released the album Where the River Meets the Road in 2017 with Howdy Skies Records. The full album pays homage to his West Virginia roots and features songs that have a connection to his home state. With influential artists like Hazel Dickens and Bill Withers, it is also a tribute to prominent artists that are associated with West Virginia. As a native of the mountain state myself, this classic album generates nostalgia for Appalachian culture and is sure to get the listener in touch with their mountain roots.
“Sunshine on My Shoulders,” John
Denver
After a long and seemingly endless winter, I’ve been in serious and dire need of sunshine on my shoulders. Influential and notable singer-songwriter John Denver’s melancholy folk song makes me feel like I’m floating down a lazy river with not a care in the world. The song made its first appearance on Denver’s album Poems, Prayers & Promises released in 1971, and according to songfacts.com, Denver’s inspiration and reason for writing the song was that he wanted to spend more time outside enjoying the sunshine. I think we can all relate!
“My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge
Mountains,” The Carter Family
The slow-moving melody and repetitive lyrics of this classic Carter Family song invoke a feeling and longing for the journey home. Originally released by Decca records with lyrics written by A. P. Carter, this version of the song was recorded on June 18, 1937 in New York, a time when the career of the Carter Family was in full swing. Anyone who has passed through the Blue Ridge Mountains can likely relate to the feelings of being drawn to these hills and valleys.
“Lewis & Clark,” Tommy
Emmanuel
The outdoors can often be a place for us to practice individual self-reflection, to set out on adventure, and to explore new sights and sounds. Guitarist Tommy Emmanuel takes you on an instrumental journey, inspired by the real adventures of Lewis & Clark. Maybe this tune will inspire you to start your own journey!
“Green Green Rocky Road,” Dave
Van Ronk
American folk and blues legend Dave Van Ronk was an influential and prominent figure in the American folk music revival. “Green Green Rocky Road” was composed by Len Chandler and was one of the most requested songs over the course of his career. The song lyrics were largely pulled from a traditional African American children’s song with the melody added to and rewritten. As with all music, songs can take you on a personal journey, and for me this song evokes a sense of travel and longing to get lost out in nature.
