Masters of Old Time Country Autoharp

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B000ENV3G8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,531 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #93 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Strings > General

Editorial Reviews

The Autoharp, invented in the 1870s, a fad in the 1890s, became a virtuoso instrument among these and a few other players in the early to mid 20th century. Spirited breakdowns, sentimental and gospel songs — some played as instrumentals — and even a bluegrass song are presented here in this re-release of the only documentary of traditional Southern Autoharp players. Includes 14 previously unissued tracks. Recorded, edited and annotated by Mike Seeger. Song notes by Charles Wolfe. 30+ page booklet, 38 incredible tracks! 72 minutes of music!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Old-Time Music, November 18, 2006

By 

Jesper Deleuran "Book and music lover" (Copenhagen, Denmark, Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Masters of Old Time Country Autoharp (Audio CD)

Those of us who love the old-time country music, have heard loads of records with fiddle, banjo and mandolin, all wonderfull instruments. What is more rare is to hear a CD with the wonderfull autoharp as the main, and lead instrument. This CD is a great opportunity to hear how the instrument was treated by the, mostly self-tought, old time musicians. I especially enjoyed listening to Kilby Snow, who has his very own special way to play the harp.
I think anybody who have had the pleasure of playing the harpe, could benefit from listening to these skilled old masters.
It is highly recomendable. I give it 5 stars. Not because it is the best CD ever made, but because it is the best I've heard with the Old-Time Country Autoharp as the main theme.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh Death, August 9, 2009

By 

Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Masters of Old Time Country Autoharp (Audio CD)

Less than 24 hours ago I stumbled onto mention of the death of Mike Seeger. Hoping it was ill-informed internet babble I went searching, only to find it to be true. Sadness set in.

Though he only makes a handful of appearances here on accompanying guitar, Mike recorded these tracks (in 1956, '57 and '61) and brilliantly annotated each in the liner-notes. Some of this had been released on an early '60s Folkways album but many appear here for the first time. To describe this disc as anything less than essential for any autoharp and old-timey fan would be to underestimate it.

Ernest V. Stoneman (known to most of us as "Pops" now), Neriah and Kenneth Benfield and Kilby Snow play us a history of the instrument here. A history of which they were some of the primary architects, considering how brief a history it is. From songs with 18th century roots all the way up to tunes and styles that begin to show signs of then-newer blues and bluegrass, this disc is a treasure.

The Benfield's Lights in the Valley is a beauty, and being an instrumental version you'll be hard-pressed to keep yourself from supplying the vocals along side it! Kilby Snow is a magician. If I can make a parallel, he'd seem to be to autoharp what Wade Ward was to the banjo. Here we also find the only Kilby vocal I own, that of Precious Jewel, which lives up to its title. I'm proud to say it was Mike Seeger's Close To Home: Old Time Music From Mike Seeger's Collection 1952-1967 that turned me on to Kilby, though it was John Cohen's High Atmosphere from a few years earlier that turned me onto Wade.

As an anomaly, the Bonaparte's Retreat is not the tune of which you're thinking. There are plenty of versions of it elsewhere but if you've long been on the lookout for the specific side from which Aaron Copland's Hoe-Down was directly lifted, you need the W.M. Stepp version found on Music Of Kentucky: Early American Rural Classics 1927-1937.

What else is there to say about this disc? Plenty, but maybe I've said enough. All I keep thinking is that the world is worse off today than it was a few days ago when Mike Seeger was still here. Hopefully surrounded by friends and family in his home on 8/7/09, a living, loving, vast library of American musical knowledge passed away.

5.0 out of 5 stars It's exactly what it claims to be., December 1, 2008

By 

Dwight E. Howell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Masters of Old Time Country Autoharp (Audio CD)

The title says it all. It this is what you want get it. If you were looking for something else...