Customer Reviews

Times Ain't Like They Used to Be - Early Rural & Popular Music

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

 

 

Here's your chance to see three hot jazz bands recorded on film while the jazz age was still going on. I was stunned by the late twenties footage of Herb Westphal, Johnson's jazz band (super hot!), and Ted Weems. The film of the Georgia field hands singing was a step back into a time machine of American rural life. The gospel choir ended up swinging with an hypnotic spiritual that had me clapping along. Some of the other films had less interest for me but this is a must-see if you love early jazz, country, or folk music.

At least that's where I found a copy and purchased it. And promptly fell in love with it. The clip of Whistler's Jug Band really grew on me until I had to listen to it every day, even though the first time I heard it, it didn't sound melodic at all.

"Tomorrow" and "My Ohio Home" by Eddie Thomas and Carl Scott are excellent with sublimely lo-fi instruments: a washboard, a ukelele, and a kazoo. The other clips are also interesting just for the infectious happiness and enthusiasm that the musicians had for their craft.

I purchased this disc primarily for the Jimmies Rodgers and Bob Wills footage; I figured the rest would be gravy. I wasn't too far off the mark, either - although I was disappointed with the Wills segment (it's just a basic fiddle tune... no steel guitar or other innovative musicianship found on Texas Playboys recordings), the Jimmie Rodgers footage is priceless. The Singing Brakeman performs the classic "Waiting For A Train", plus "Daddy and Home" and "T For Texas (Blue Yodel #1)". This is essentially "Jimmie Rodgers Unplugged", as Jimmie accompanies himself on guitar on a soundstage made to look like a train depot. Watching this footage, it's easy to see why audiences loved his music - Jimmie Rogers was an unassuming regular Joe who got your attention with lovely melodies sung in a unique style; no fancy lighting or pyrotechnics needed.

As far as the other footage, it's hit-or-miss. Some of the jazz bands are great, some aren't. I was hoping the Lemire Twins would be a brother duet in the vein of the Delmore Brothers or The Blue Sky Boys, but they were some cheesy banjo duo. While I don't have a problem with one banjo, a banjo duo is sort of like a root canal duo. To make matters worse, there's also a banjo quartet.

But it's not all that bad. There are some hillbilly vaudeville perfomances that are highly entertaining and definitely merit repeat viewings. There are several clips of black performers, too. Some anonymous farm hands performs a great version (in spite of not knowing all the words) of "Mary Don't You Weep", but Uncle John Scruggs' otherwise fine performance is marred by its exploitative quality.

This disc would have gotten 4 stars for the Jimmie Rodgers footage alone (the absolute lack of any extras prevent it from getting 5 stars from me), but the dreadful sound quality of this anthology gets a star taken away. Sure, this is some ancient archival footage and some flaws are to be expected, but most of the noise is stuff that could have easily been fixed. The sound is acceptable when there's music, but in the gaps between songs or dialogue the noise is awful. A part of me wants to be extremely grateful that this footage is even available to the public, but another part of me realizes that other companies *cough*BEAR FAMILY*cough* would have taken the time to do a great job, not just a good job.

The reason I bought this CD was because it was the only thing that I could find showing Ted Weems and his Orchestra on video. Weems, who was popular for a number of years, and whose band had a million copy seller with his hit, "Heartaches" in 1947, never really received the full recognition that he deserved as a band leader and discoverer of talent (Perry Como, Marilyn Maxwell, Red Ingle, etc.). In addition to this, he was also considered by all who knew him as a kind and warm individual. The rest of the video was also interesting, and contains a lot of rare footage of rural American music being performed by the people who originated it and in their natural surroundings. Fine job on the part of producers. It is fortunate that these rare, live musical performances have been preserved so that we can all enjoy them.

There's some audio hiss on these mostly late-1920s film clips, yet not having their clarity destroyed by oppressive filtering is an absolute plus. Visually, most are in remarkably fine condition.

PROGRAM--

[8:42] JIMMIE RODGERS - "The Singing Brakeman" (1929)
Superb dub from the only surviving 35mm print of Jimmie's sole screen appearance has him in work clothes serenading two ladies in front of a mock train station porch.

[2:31] WHISTLER'S JUG BAND - Foldin' Bed (5/25/30)
As pictured in lower right corner of cover art, three jug blowers perform with banjo and guitar.

[2:30] ELDER LIGHTFOOT SOLOMON MICHAUX and congregation - Happy Am I (2/18/35)
Michaux preaches for D.C. radio audience, then chorus sings, congregants clap and dance.

[3:51] BASCOM LAMAR LUNCEFORD BAND - Doggett's Gap (10/7/28)
From Asheville, N.C. Two banjos and lady guitarist back fiddlin' vocalist.

[:45] JULES ALLEN - Home on the Range (9/24/30)
Unrecognizable melody in this relaxed performance. Newsreel fragment was captured by a Raton, N.M. campfire.

[4:02] UNCLE JOHN SCRUGGS - Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane (11/8/28)
A definite highlight! Chickens, turkeys and a hound scatter when Uncle John, wife and grandchild exit their dilapidated Powhatan County VA. cabin. John plays an unusual looking clawhammer banjo while the baby smiles and his Missus serenely sits.

[5:46] JACK JOHNSON'S JAZZ BAND - Tiger Rag, 4 takes (12/21/29)
Possibly shot at Johnson's NYC Checkers Club. The chubby ex-boxer awkwardly conducts his hot jazz band (sousaphone's horn wrapped in string!) while he demonstrates footwork and boxing moves. It's kinda sad to see a great athlete now fallen.

[:44] Anonymous - Waggoner (9/24/30)
Fiddle and guitar play for square dancers. Taken from same newsreel as the Jules Allen clip.

[2:09] BELA LAM and family - Poor Little Benny (2/17/30)
Outdoor shoot on a frigid Greene County VA day. Mrs. Lam's bundled in a fur-collared longcoat as she and work-clothed Bela perform outside their rustic cabin.

[1:32] CUMBERLAND RIDGE RUNNERS - Goofus (1/7/35)
Spike Jones forerunners consist of fiddle, upight bass, mandolin and guitar. In this Chicago Shriner's Hospital film, string players exchange in mid-note or strum each others' instruments. Impressive and silly at the same time.

[3:57] EDDIE THOMAS and CARL SCOTT (11/21/28)
Richmond VA. street musicians captured on newsreel. Ukulele with kazooing washboard player.

[2:30] BOB WILLS' TEXAS PLAYBOYS - Fiddlin' Man (9/51)
Pristine excerpt of classic C&W swing artists was filmed in Hollywood. Twin fiddles, upright bass, steel guitar and drums.

[1:56] GEORGIA FIELD HANDS - Mary Don't You Weep (3/21/29)
Anonymous workers grouped around an Augusta, GA. stump take turns leading this spiritual.

[:57] BUN WRIGHT'S FIDDLE BAND - Soldier's Joy (1/26/33)
Excerpt has FDR requesting a number from his favorite Warm Springs, GA. musicians.

[1:20] TED WEEMS ORCHESTRA - Cheer Up (7/17/30)
The Weems band plays on Atlantic City's Steel Pier while Norma Schutt's bathing suited chorus girls high kick beach sand.

[13:42] OTTO GRAY'S OKLAHOMA COWBOYS - Sippin' Cider Thru a Straw, and others (1929)
Another highlight. Their complete comic vaudeville act, filmed in NYC. Rope tricks, a dancing couple and a shepherd dog intermix with many familiar songs played and sung by zany group.

[4:00] ESTUDIANTINA INVENCIBAL - El Fiel Enamoradao ("The Faithful Lover") (10/31/29)
Set at a Royal palm's base, this fascinatingly rhythmic Havana, Cuba group performs two song takes as a lone curious spectator edges ever closer.

[:45] Anonymous fiddle band - Miss McLeod's Reel (2/5/29)
Home movie feel to this fragment captured at Speculator, NY. Possibly a family event.

[:45] DUKE DAVIS BANJO BAND - Ida (12/30/29)
Duke's six-foot tall banjo sounds like a tuba!

[1:45] FRED LAMIRE and his TWINS - Mighty Lak' a Rose/Dream Kisses (3/25/28)
Fred plucks another giant floor banjo while his sons strum a lively duet.

[:59] Fiddler's Convention - Turkey in the Straw (4/3/32)
Star, N.C. musicians play for newsreel as father and child flat-foot dance on a loose plank floor.

[1:29] FRANK WESTPHAL'S ORCHESTRA - Sing You Sinners (4/26/30)
Newsreel of Chicago radio show has Sophie Tucker's ex leading band in two takes that contrast jazz and classical styles.

TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 69 minutes

If you love listening to some of the very best in the early days of our country's popular music, this is the one for you. If you are familiar with Jimmie Rodgers (Waitin' For A Train), you'll love the music on this DVD. He appears singing another of his great tunes. The video in this is black and white, so don't look for special extras. This is just early 30's and 40's music at it's very best, and the people who performed it best. There is even a cameo of one of our nation's president's! For music lovers, this is a great buy to let your children (and/or grandchildren) to see what YOUR grandparent's listened to as children. A great example of the evolvement of our country's popular music.

Okay, I will admit that I have gone off the deep-end, at least a little, in my seemingly endless search for the roots of the American musical songbook. I have gone down the musical road to Cajun country, I have gone to the hills of Appalachia and the Piedmont of North Carolina, and I have catalogued cowboy songs, railroad songs, every kind of blues, and even the some selections from Tin Pan Alley. But reviewing the present DVD seems on the outer edge even to me.

The producers of this series of film vignettes from the 1920s and 1930s have apparently gone deep into the vaults to get down, way down, into the depths of musical Americana. Tops here are a couple of yodeling Jimmy Rodgers tunes, Jules Allen doing up "Home On The Range", The Duke Davis Band playing (accompanied by a huge banjo) "Ida" and the Fiddler's Convention playing "Turkey In The Straw". Did I say Americana? Yes, indeed. Also included are anonymous clips of square dancers, singing cowboys (real and fake, including Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys), banjo strumming black performers out in the sticks and a number of other things that practically defy categorization.

I have been a fan of old time music for awhile. I have some on CD, but to see the people preforming was quite moving. I think in the modern times we live in, is like going back in time. By slipping a DVD in my computer I get a look at America in 1928-35. I love it. Can't wait for volume two.