Virginia Traditions: Non-Blues Secular Black Music

by Virginia Traditions

Overview

The Blue Ridge Institute for Appalachian Studies at Ferrum College in Ferrum, Virginia, released a series of eight LPs in the late '70s and early '80s under the group title Virginia Traditions. Each album featured an aspect of traditional Virginia folk music, setting old 78s and field recordings alongside more recent field material to create an interesting and historical view of the styles of music presented. This volume, released on CD by Global Village and subtitled Non-Blues Secular Black Music, is perhaps the most interesting in the series, collecting narrative songs, country dance tunes, minstrel pieces and several old-time banjo recordings that help sketch in the non-blues aspect of black folk music in Appalachia. It is a fascinating set, with Lemuel Jones' 1936 protest song, "Poor Farmers," John Calloway's halting, fractured version of "The Cuckoo Bird" from 1976, Irvin Cook's condensed, efficient take on "Old Blue" (also recorded in 1976), and Lewis "Big Sweet" Hairston's two gentle banjo tunes, "Bile Them Cabbage Down" and "Cotton-Eyed Joe," emerging as particular delights. Also worth noting are two non-Cajun accordion pieces from the Northern Neck area, as well as two minstrel-like banjo songs, "I Used to Work on the Tractor" (the song refers to working for a contractor, and has nothing to do with farm machinery) and "Tennessee Dog," by convicted axe-murderer Jimmie Strothers that were recorded by Alan Lomax in 1936. Intended as an archival release, the album has fluctuating sound quality, and some of the older material suffers from the scratches and pops inherent to rescued 78s, but the historical value of what is here more than outweighs the occasional sound defect, and the end result is a fascinating portrait of music that has all but vanished in the 21st century. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	10/01/2013
Label:	Smithsonian Institution
UPC:	0093073000121
Rank:	249549

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Leonard Bowles   Primary Artist,Fiddle
Turner Foddrell   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Irvin Cook   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Clayton Horsley   Primary Artist,Guitar
Daniel Womack   Primary Artist,Guitar
Lewis "Big Sweet" Hairston   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Clarence Waddy   Primary Artist,Vocals,Accordion
Isaac Curry   Primary Artist,Accordion,Vocals
Jimmie Strothers   Primary Artist,Vocals,Banjo
Uncle Homer Walker   Primary Artist
John Cephas   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar
Sanford L. Collins   Primary Artist,Harmonica
James Applewhite   Primary Artist,Vocals,Harmonica
John Jackson   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar
Lemuel Jones   Primary Artist,Vocals
Marvin Foddrell   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar
John Lawson Tyree   Primary Artist
John Calloway   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Homer "Uncle Homer" Walker   Primary Artist,Banjo
Virginia Traditions   Primary Artist
John Tyree   Banjo

Technical Credits

Traditional   Composer
James Applewhite   Performer
Clarence Waddy   Performer
Turner Foddrell   Performer
John Calloway   Performer
Etta Baker   Composer
M. Christian   Composer
Jimmie Strothers   Performer
John Cephas   Performer
Isaac Curry   Performer
Daniel Womack   Performer
Jerry Garcia   Composer
John Tyree   Performer
John Jackson   Performer
Uncle Homer Walker   Performer