Good For What Ails You: Music of the Medicine Shows 1926-1937 (Digipak with 72-page booklet)

Pink Anderson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Old Hat Records / Enterprises
• ASIN: B000B5KRNO
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,964 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Strings > General
  • #18 in Music > World Music > North America > Appalachian
  • #19 in Music > Blues > Harmonica Blues

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The Spasm - Daddy Stovepipe & Mississippi Sarah

2. Tanner's Boarding House - Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett

3. Don't Think I'm Santa Claus - Lil McClintock

4. Hokum Blues - Dallas String Band with Coley Jones

5. Jimbo Jambo Land - Shorty Godwin

6. Gonna Swing On The Golden Gate - Fiddlin' John Carson & His Virginia Reelers

7. Papa's 'Bout To Get Mad - Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley

8. The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was A Married Man - Charlie Parker & Mack Woolbright

9. Bye, Bye, Policeman - Jim Jackson

10. The Bald-Headed End Of A Broom - Walter Smith

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Gonna Tip Out Tonight - Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley

2. Chevrolet Car - Sam McGee

3. It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo' - Gid Tanner & His Skillet-Lickers

4. Bring It With You When You Come - Cannon's Jug Stompers

5. Atlanta Strut - Blind Sammie

6. Go Along Mule - Uncle Dave Macon & His Fruit Jar Drinkers

7. Casey Bill - Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band

8. I Got Mine - Frank Stokes

9. Hannah - Chris Bouchillon

10. Adam & Eve In The Garden - Bogus Ben Covington

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Top 10 Reissue of the Year - MOJO Jan 2006

Rare tracks from the heyday of the snake oil vendors. Weird folk and blackface balladry for Harry Smith Anthology addict.

As academia continues to pry open American show business' minstrel past, Ails is a fascinating illustration of its musical appeal.

Annual Critics' Poll of the year's best records.

Product Description

Wanna hear the real snake oil salesmen? Before motion pictures, before radio, the traveling Medicine Shows brought entertainment to middle America in the form of pitch doctors hawking elixirs, backed by a host of singers, comedians, dancers, banjo pickers, blues shouters and fiddlers. While the Medicine Show died out by the mid-20th century, a number of these wandering minstrels made it onto record, and this profusely illustrated and annotated set brings you 48 of their long-forgotten sides. Includes The Spasm Daddy Stovepipe & Mississippi Sarah; Gonna Tip Out Tonight Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley; Tanner's Boarding House Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett; Adam and Eve in the Garden Bogus Ben Covington; The Gypsy Emmett Miller & His Georgia Crackers; Atlanta Strut Blind Sammie; Go Along Mule Uncle Dave Macon & His Fruit Jar Drinkers, and more from J.E. Mainer & His Mountaineers, Shorty Godwin, Banjo Joe, Beans Hambone & El Morrow, Fiddlin' John Carson and other scalawags!

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Reissue Project...ever, October 6, 2005

By 

Proud Swine Farmer (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good For What Ails You: Music of the Medicine Shows 1926-1937 (Digipak with 72-page booklet) (Audio CD)

Of all the Old Hat projects that I have picked up, this is definately the best. I would even go as far as saying that this is a "high water mark" for reissues of pre-war music. This ranks as high as the Harry Smith Anthology and the Charlie Patton set but better in a few ways. First, the sound quality on this set is unbelievably great. Most of the recordings are warm and deep but also very sharp and clear. I don't know if there is any new technology that improves these old records but this set blows away most other collections in terms of sound. Second, the notes are extensive, articulate & put forth some very complex notions about pre-19th century (and early 20th century) medicine shows, their function in socieity, and how they preserved and changed popular music forms in America. Finally, the actual set itself is a beautiful presentation. The long booklet contains several dozen images & photos, most of which I've never seen before. It seems that this is a work of deep love & respect for the material. I could go on & on about the set but I should just say that if early blues, country and jug bands are your thing, you should have this set.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've been waiting for this for years!, December 4, 2005

By 

Megan Romer (Lafayette, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good For What Ails You: Music of the Medicine Shows 1926-1937 (Digipak with 72-page booklet) (Audio CD)

I've been eagerly awaiting a good compilation album of Medicine Show acts for years, and finally, Old Hat has done it... and boy have they done it! In the tradition of Old Hat compilations, this is packed full of top-quality cuts, some readily available elsewhere, but mostly completely obscure.

The liner notes alone, as with other Old Hat collections, are worth the price of the album. Well-written, highly informative and easy to read... unlike some of the overly scholarly but poorly edited notes in many re-releases, full of great pictures, just wonderful. They make a point of showing the racial issues behind medicine shows, without villainizing or condoning the wonderful musicians but highly misguided racial attitudes of the times.

If you have any folk or jazz connoiseurs in the family, this album will make a wonderful gift, and pick one up for yourself while you're at it.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instant Joy, February 19, 2006

By 

Larry J. Coben "doclarryjoel" (Fort Worth, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good For What Ails You: Music of the Medicine Shows 1926-1937 (Digipak with 72-page booklet) (Audio CD)

I must own 40 collections of old timey music and this is the most consistantly delightful and the best annotated of the lot. 48 numbers and each one brings a smile. Each one teaches you just a bit about what Greil Marcus has called "The Old Weird America".
Sure, there's a time for appreciating the hardships of the early 20th century, but how much fun is it to hear the light side that must have helped keep people sane and hopeful. Hooray for Old Hat!