Customer Reviews

Legend of Charlie Poole 3

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Charlie Poole's North Carolina Ramblers were one of the greatest old time music bands ever. They were unique and because they tend to go against some of the current stereotypes about old time music spawned by people more interested in cashing in on the contra dance industry than on enjoying the traditions. With his guitar player Roy Harvey, and his fiddler Rorrer, Poole was the master of a tight knit sound that involved a high degree of musicianship. Some have called it the old time music equivalent of the string quartet. Some of the reproductions even those by the New Lost City Ramblers back in the 60s sound stiff compared with the real deal.
Poole played a very precise banjo roll style of finger picking that kept the rhythm, beneath him Mr. Harvey played guitar runs and finger rolls not that different from what Charlie played, while Rorrer played the melody rocking back and forth above them all. The approach was not like some of the string bands and their modern misinterpreters. It was pecise and tight and well practiced. It was hard to do right, but the NC Ramblers did it right.

We have a very open and strong infusion of Rag Time and traces of Jazz here.
And they had fun. There has been an attempt to cast Charlie as an old time hayseed who drank himself to death, but the facts are that Poole died after a celebration of an offer from Hollywood for him and the Ramblers go to California and appear in the new sound films. What a loss it is that such films were never made.

Charlie sure knows how to pluck a banjo. I wish they had been able to find a better master to make them from though. The static is annoying.