Customer Reviews

The Music Of Kentucky: Early American Rural Classics, Vol. 2

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very appealing if you like OLD music ... however, that doesn't mean boring. I have vol.1 & vol.2 and they are both good. This CD seems to have more 'back porch' and less studio recordings than vol.1 ... but then there isn't a lot of difference with this kind of music. Get them both.

For some reason I don't think of this disc as a full 5-Star classic like its sister cd, Music Of Kentucky: Early American Rural Classics 1927-1937 even though I listen to it just as often and remain in love with all my favorite sides contained herein.

Not until a couple days ago while reviewing Country Blues: Complete Early Recordings did I realize it's out-of-print. Fear not, if you needed it for Hayes and Bill Shepherd. They're here! Hayes kinda plays banjo like an uptempo Dock Boggs but his vocals have more of the penetrating nasal twang closer to those of Roscoe Holcomb. Bill's sides are the 2 noisiest, messiest in either volumes of Music of KY but a good bit of magic powers right through the static.

Notes To Wandering Deadheads and Garcia/Grisman Fans: Monroe Gevedon's Two Soldiers is the tune you'll know from Grisman & Garcia but it could quite accurately be said that Monroe is the worst musician on either Music of KY discs. Quite clumsy. If curiosity about Emry Arthur's Man of Constant Sorrow brought you here, he's sort of charmingly clumsy at times, with She Lied To Me being my favorite side. For me, the Constant Sorrows you really need to get your ears on would be more like the ones on Fiddlers 4 and An Untamed Sense of Control. I also think you Box of Rain fans will notice a familiar thread in John Hammond's Little Birdie, just as you will on Southern Banjo Sounds. Hammond is a disc highlight throughout. He has a vocal vulnerability not often heard in banjo players of this era.

Luther Strong could be W.M.Stepp's lost fiddling brother. Between Stepp's playing on KY volume 1 and Luther's here, you've got some of the best fiddling on any collection of American mountain musicians.

Mike Seeger's recent death sparked this review and though he wasn't part of this release, this music was a part of him and from that we've all benefitted.

An excellent compalation the greats of the early 1920.s. It gives a good out look of what back woods music is really like. It features excellent fiddle work along with a great out look on gospel music along with Blues Music. It is a bit raw in the recordings part because the works were taken from original 78.s. To me if you like classic country at its best than get this CD. It will take you back to a time when things were good and the music was great.