Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band: Acoustic Swing & Jug

Jim Kweskin

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 15, 1998)
• Original Release Date: September 15, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vanguard Records
• ASIN: B00000AE5Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #199,798 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When God is your harmonica player, you can hardly go wrong. Not that Mel Lyman was that talented of a harp blower--he simply woke up one day and declared his omnipotence, drawing Kweskin in as a disciple, but effectively dismantling one of the 1960s' most eclectic and memorable bands. The Kweskin band looked back to Cannon's Jug Stompers and old-time string bands for inspiration, infusing these classic styles with a slurred, if not drunken, pre-hippie sensibility. With talents such as Bill Keith and the Muldaurs (Geoff and Maria) on board, Kweskin pulled it off magically, able to match high-level picking and singing with a loose delivery and an overriding sense of revelry. The formula, as informal as it was, had room for jug classics, early jazz and ragtime, John Hurt and Blind Boy Fuller, Uncle Dave Macon, Kahn and Whiting, Leiber and Stoller, even Chuck Berry. This 20-song collection offers a wonderful snapshot of the Kweskin band's aesthetic, one in which all parts are in service to the master--no, not Mel Lyman, but musical whoopee. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pure Jugband enjoyment for all ages, May 7, 2001

By	Walter Five (13th Floor Elevator, Enron Hubbard Bldg. Houston Texxas) - See all my reviews

This an outstanding collection and overview of Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band; it recalls the best of the 20's and 30's good-time whoopie music, refreshingly, and with a bit of modernism (Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee" for example,) thrown in for good measure. This CD compiles selections from all three of Kweskin & the Jug Band's 60's Vanguard records, though regretably, it contains *all* the same tunes as "Greatest Hits!" (and "Greatest Hits!" has four *additional* songs on it, and, lamentably, NONE of them are "Coney Island Washboard"). Just as you'll find a lot of influences from the great 1920's Jugbands like "Cannon's Jug Stompers" or "The Memphis Jug Band", you'll find a LOT of Jim Kweskin & The Jugband influence on a number of bands and acts to follow them--off the top of my head--Tiny Tim, The Captain Matchbox Whoopie Band, Leon Redbone, the Fugs, Country Joe & The Fish, Mike Gross, Loke E. Coyote, all show some heavy signs of Kweskin & Jug Band exposure! The Grateful Dead's proto-band, "Mother McCrea's Uptown Jug Champions", for example, [available directly from GDM Inc.] had a repitiore that was largely swiped straight from Kweskin's 1st LP.

This is a very accessible collection, play it at any party and watch the smiles! Kweskin's Jug Band doesn't touch some of the more "difficult" traditional subject material (often a problem in these politically correct times) that some might find overly risque, or racist, but it doesn't miss a thing when it comes to the double-entendre, and you'll hear this in tunes like "Borneo" and "Beedle Um Bum." Frankly, the *only* reason this collection doesn't get five stars, is (as I said) it has essentially the same track list as the CD "Greatest Hits" minus four tracks.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish they were still around!, March 19, 2004

By	Ann Joy (Hyannis, Ma United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ok..I am a flower child fromthe 60's...But, you have to agree,
they are the greatest...As are Richard and Mimi Farina!
I dont know if the jug band still exists with the original
members..But, if they do, would travel a few miles to see them!