Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues - Piedmont Textile Workers On Record: Gaston County, North Carolina, 1927-1931

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 20, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Old Hat Records / Enterprises
• ASIN: B002KWLS9I
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,690 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #35 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > East Coast Blues

Track Listings

1. Gastonia Gallop - David McCarn

2. Get Your Head in Here - Three 'Baccer Tags

3. Gal of Mine Took My Licker from Me - Carolina Twins

4. Cotton Mill Colic - David McCarn

5. Been on the Job Too Long - Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles

6. Southern Jack - Carolina Twins

7. Everyday Dirt - David McCarn

8. Bonnie Bess - Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles

9. Think a Little - George Wade & Francum Braswell

10. Bay Rum Blues - Dave & Howard

11. Walk Right in Belmont - Watts & Wilson

12. Red Rose Rag - Fletcher & Foster

13. Poor Man, Rich Man [Cotton Mill Colic No. 2] - David McCarn

14. She's a Hard Boiled Rose - Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles

15. I Want My Black Baby Back - Carolina Twins

16. Ain't Gonna Do It No More - Three 'Baccer Tags

17. Sleepy Desert - Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles

18. Take Them for a Ride - David McCarn

19. Charlotte Hot Step - Fletcher & Foster

20. Cotton Mill Blues - Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Review

Here are musicians who mastered instruments like the harmonica and banjo and took them to heights of virtuosity. Cotton mill life was no picnic, so many of the songs from this era speak of hard work, unfair treatment and poverty. Having grown up in Gastonia and having many relatives who worked in the mills, I feel a unique connection to the voice and spirit of this music. --Justin Robinson, Carolina Chocolate Drops

This collection is the first CD celebrating the artistry of Gaston's largely forgotten music scene - a hillbilly jazz age that laid the foundation for modern country music. --Joe DePriest, The Charlotte Observer

Old Hat's high standards of presentation are well in evidence, with excellent design and illustration supporting outstandingly authoritative notes. --Ray Templeton, Musical Traditions

Product Description

Gastonia Gallop provides a vivid portrait of the evolving musical traditions heard in the mill villages of Gaston County, North Carolina, during a period of swift social and cultural change. Amid this emerging modern world, with its factory whistles, clattering machines, and low-wage labor, local textile workers created a vibrant working-class music that provided the foundations for today's country music. These Gaston County string band musicians interpreted a wide range of American music, combining the fiddle tunes, minstrel songs, and ragtime numbers of their youth with the more contemporary sounds of blues, vaudeville, and Tin Pan Alley.

Here are 24 tracks by largely unsung musicians who left behind an enduring musical legacy on phonograph records between 1927 and 1931. You'll hear David McCarn's biting and witty critiques of cotton mill life; the virtuoso harmonica-and-guitar duets of Gwin Foster and Dave Fletcher; the upbeat hokum of the Three 'Baccer Tags; the soulful ballads of Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles, and much more. The music of Gastonia Gallop has been expertly remastered for digital clarity, and the disc comes with a 24-page, full-color booklet with rare vintage photographs, complete discography, and a detailed historical essay by Patrick Huber, author of the award-winning book Linthead Stomp, The Creation of Country Music In The Piedmont South.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Priceless historical recordings, February 16, 2010

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues - Piedmont Textile Workers On Record: Gaston County, North Carolina, 1927-1931 (Audio CD)

Various Artists

"Gastonia Gallop: 1927-1931"

(Old Hat Records, 2009)

--------------------------------------------

Another great release from one of the finest independent reissue labels in the U.S. of A. This disc focusses on the Southern folk and blues traditions of the towns and villages in Gaston County, North Carolina, a center for cotton production and textile mills. Topical songs, fiddle tunes, harmonica blues and vaudeville and minstrel show oldies -- all these traditions were alive and well when these Depression-era recordings were made, and in this diverse, boisterous mix, we hear the roots of modern country and rock'n'roll. Although some of these artists were professional or semi-preofessional performers, most of them were mainly mill workers and villagers, and their authenticity and earnestness shines through these ancient, obscure recordings. Great stuff if you like old-timey country and rural blues rarities! A perfect companion to the book-length ethnomusicalogical study, "Linthead Stomp," by Patrick Huber, who also contributes liner notes to this collection. (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue Guide To Country Music)

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gosh, It's the Gastonia Gallop! And it is Great!, November 16, 2009

By 

Jim Linderman "Jack Vernack" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues - Piedmont Textile Workers On Record: Gaston County, North Carolina, 1927-1931 (Audio CD)

I had earlier read (and actually reviewed) Patrick Huber's book "Linthead Stomp" in which we are introduced to the climate and characters in this compliation and so awaited this relase. It is every bit as good as I hoped and meets the same standards previously set by all the other Old Hat CD releases. Pick up another from their catalog when you purchase this, you will be pleased.

Jim Linderman

[...]

5.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff!!, February 6, 2012

By 

Lorenzo Barba "Lorenzo Barba" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues - Piedmont Textile Workers On Record: Gaston County, North Carolina, 1927-1931 (Audio CD)

Great music, especially some superb harmonica playing, very good liner notes. A terrific collection on it own and an essential accompaniment to Patric Huber's excellent book: LINT HEAD STOMP: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South. Both are essentials for those interested in American roots music.

Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South