Mongolian Throat Singing? Flapper Guitar? Psychedelic Fiddle? Peg-Legged Radio Star? From 1928 & 29.
Hoedown History
66,089 views
Some of the most fascinating recordings in old-time music history aren't the famous ones.
---Special Thanks to Tony Russell's "Rural Rhythm". Who did most of the great research of these recordings in the video.
They're the strange, forgotten records that don't quite fit anywhere—odd performances, mysterious musicians, unusual instruments, bizarre vocal effects, and tunes that seem to have appeared out of nowhere.
In this episode of Hoedown History, we're digging into four strange and unusual hillbilly recordings from the 1920s and early 1930s that caught my attention while researching old-time music.
We'll hear the remarkable Tennessee Ramblers and their unusual “Fiddler's Contest,” which brings together traditional fiddle music, ragtime guitar, blues, and a fascinating glimpse of how old-time music was beginning to change in the late 1920s.
We'll also meet the nearly forgotten Peg Moreland, a Texas radio singer whose wonderfully understated delivery and dry humor made “Stay in the Wagon Yard” one of the most memorable recordings I've come across.
Then there's Arthur Miles and his mysterious recording of “Lonely Cowboy.” Miles performs a bizarre vocal effect that music historian Tony Russell called “humwhistling.” Some researchers have compared the technique to forms of overtone singing—and nobody really knows how Miles learned to do it.
And finally, we'll travel to Georgia to hear the Theo and Gus Clark and their wonderfully strange “Wimbush Rag” and “Barrow County Stomp”—two hypnotic fiddle tunes that sound surprisingly modern even though they were recorded in 1929. And the mystery surrounding the name “Wimbush” may never be solved.
These aren't necessarily the most famous records in old-time music history. In fact, that's part of what makes them so interesting.
They're little musical time capsules—forgotten pieces of a musical world that was changing rapidly.
Some are funny. Some are mysterious. Some are downright strange. But all of them are fascinating.
#OldTimeMusic #HillbillyMusic #FiddleTunes #CountryMusicHistory #Bluegrass #HoedownHistory #78rpm #StringBand #VintageMusic #AmericanMusicHistory
20 Comments
The Winbush rag reminds me very much of one of the library of congress records from the late 1920s of Cajun fiddle tunes (I really wish I could remember which one, I borrowed it from the music library many years ago and have been searching for it for years). That same trance inducing sound, almost shamanistic.
The part about Willy playing Polynesian music reminded me of a conversation I had about 20 years ago. I was shown how an Edison cylinder player worked by an old cowboy who went by 'Tex', because he came from Texas. He was born somewhere about 1915 and was 90 when I met him. He explained to me about how the Edison player didn't sell very well when it was first introduced, because people could go to any corner bar and hear a live band anytime they wanted. Edison came up with the idea of importing a sound that couldn't be heard locally - namely Hawaiian guitar, and it worked to sell more players and disks. The sound was such a hit that the local musicians picked up the guitar style to compete, and it became part of the foundation of what we call old-timey music now. I remember coming home and putting on a disc of Darby and Tarlton and thinking "wow, it's so obvious". But I've never come across any mention of this influence being so big in any histories of the style. Maybe this is well known, or maybe Tex was pulling my leg, but sitting around listening to old timey tunes direct from the Edison tubes sure was a great day for me.
We are lucky to have Lomax and others record individuals who weren't contracted to record companies.
Recall gearing of an elderly aunt going through the South and Appalachia in the 50s and 60s, recording, writing down music and lyrics and stories from sharecroppers and migrant field hands.
Mongolian Throat Singing? Flapper Guitar? Psychedelic Fiddle? Peg-Legged Radio Star? From 1928 & 29.
Hoedown History
66,089 views
Some of the most fascinating recordings in old-time music history aren't the famous ones.
---Special Thanks to Tony Russell's "Rural Rhythm". Who did most of the great research of these recordings in the video.
They're the strange, forgotten records that don't quite fit anywhere—odd performances, mysterious musicians, unusual instruments, bizarre vocal effects, and tunes that seem to have appeared out of nowhere.
In this episode of Hoedown History, we're digging into four strange and unusual hillbilly recordings from the 1920s and early 1930s that caught my attention while researching old-time music.
We'll hear the remarkable Tennessee Ramblers and their unusual “Fiddler's Contest,” which brings together traditional fiddle music, ragtime guitar, blues, and a fascinating glimpse of how old-time music was beginning to change in the late 1920s.
We'll also meet the nearly forgotten Peg Moreland, a Texas radio singer whose wonderfully understated delivery and dry humor made “Stay in the Wagon Yard” one of the most memorable recordings I've come across.
Then there's Arthur Miles and his mysterious recording of “Lonely Cowboy.” Miles performs a bizarre vocal effect that music historian Tony Russell called “humwhistling.” Some researchers have compared the technique to forms of overtone singing—and nobody really knows how Miles learned to do it.
And finally, we'll travel to Georgia to hear the Theo and Gus Clark and their wonderfully strange “Wimbush Rag” and “Barrow County Stomp”—two hypnotic fiddle tunes that sound surprisingly modern even though they were recorded in 1929. And the mystery surrounding the name “Wimbush” may never be solved.
These aren't necessarily the most famous records in old-time music history. In fact, that's part of what makes them so interesting.
They're little musical time capsules—forgotten pieces of a musical world that was changing rapidly.
Some are funny. Some are mysterious. Some are downright strange. But all of them are fascinating.
#OldTimeMusic #HillbillyMusic #FiddleTunes #CountryMusicHistory #Bluegrass #HoedownHistory #78rpm #StringBand #VintageMusic #AmericanMusicHistory