Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams

Subject: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: John Minear
Date: 08 Dec 02 - 06:12 PM

CHRISTMAS ON THE MOUNTAIN, by Sheila Kay Adams & Jim Taylor

Copyright 1998 by PearlMae/Granny Dell Records 006-2, and available from:

Sheila Kay Adams,
PO Box 1401,
Mars Hill, NC 28754

Also check Jim and Sheila's website at here.

Cost: $16 each (includes postage).

Tracks:

1. Deck the Halls/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (instr.)
2. Frosty Morn (instr.)
3. Sherburne (shape-note singers)
4. Joy to the World (instr.)
5. Silent Night (instr.)
6. Away in a Manger (Sheila – unaccompanied vocal)
7. Old Christmas/Good King Wenceslas (instr.)
8. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (instr.)
9. A Mountain Home Christmas (written by Jim Taylor, instr.)
10. Star In The East (shape-note singers)
11. The Cherry Tree Carol (Sheila – unaccompanied vocal)
12. Breaking Up Christmas (instr., with some vocal by Sheila)
13. Christmas 1982 (written and sung by Jim Taylor)
14. A Christmas Miracle (a story by Sheila)

As a person who began collecting Christmas albums nearly fifty years ago with Harry Belafonte's classic RCA Victor album "To Wish You A Merry Christmas", I want to highly recommend this 1998 album by Sheila Kay Adams and her husband, Jim Taylor. I have loved and treasured the Christmas "folk" music by Odetta, Mike & Peggy Seeger, Pete Seeger, the Clancy Bros., Jean Redpath & the Angel Band, Jean Ritchie, and many others for years. This morning I heard "Christmas on the Mountain" for the first time. I can only say that I am sorry that it has taken me four years to discover this cd. As one who has become somewhat hard-hearted about this whole season, I was really moved by this music. Jim and Sheila's album now tops my list of favorites. Since I could find no references to this album anywhere on Mudcat, I decided to offer this review.

This album is a mix of very traditional music with two contemporary pieces written by Jim Taylor, one intrumental – "A Mountain Home Christmas" – and the other a vocal – "Christmas 1982". One could only wish that there were more vocals by Jim! There are two traditional shape-note hymns, "Sherburne" and "Star in the East" ("Brightest and Best") that are very well done. Sheila's two unaccompanied songs, "Away In A Manger" and "The Cherry Tree Carol" are worth the price of the cd! Her concluding story, "A Christmas Miracle" is pure and priceless Sheila, for anyone who has ever seen and heard her in person, and enough to restore even the most hard-hearted to some sense of the beauty and magic of Christmas.

The balance of Sheila's banjo, played in the Dwight Diller style, and Jim's hammered dulcimer is what one could only wish for on so many of the hundreds of hammered dulcimer albums that have now glutted the market. As one who has grown weary of hammered dulcimer "Celtic" music, this was like a trip to an uncontaminated mountain spring. The addition of the mountain fiddle, played by Donna Cavanaugh, and the mountain dulcimer, played by Don Pedi, places the instrumentals squarely in the mountain music tradition. They move right along with a sense of the seasonal spirit tempered by the style of fine old time music. Joe Holbert's very sensitive guitar work adds a whole other kind of feeling to a number of pieces, and especially Jim's song, "Christmas 1982". On all of the tracks, the instruments are well blended and never overpower one another. The engineering by Van Atkins at Horizon Music, out of Arden, NC is superb.

For those who already know Jim's and Sheila's works, this cd will be a fine seasonal addition to your collection. For those who have yet to discover either or both of these North Carolina musicians, you are in for a grand time of it! For those who collect and are always on the lookout for another great Christmas album and who haven't come across this one, it will restore your desire for good traditional Christmas music. Treat yourselves and rediscover a rare sense of what the holiday season might be all about.

T.O.M.

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: KathWestra
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 12:27 PM

Thanks, T.O.M. I love Sheila Kay's singing, but wasn't aware of this CD. It's always good to hear about stuff like this!

On a related (not totally thread-creep note), I just received Sodom Laurel Album, a brand-new coffee-table book of photographs, oral history, and accompanying CD by Rob Amberg. It documents the people and place of Sodom Laurel, a tiny community in Madison County, NC, where Rob (and Sheila and Jim) lives. It's published by Duke University Press. The writing and photographs are Rob's, and are wonderful. The accompanying CD includes Sheila Kay's singing, as well as that of her "grandmother," Dellie Norton, and others. Look for it!

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 02:24 PM

There's a nice review of the Sodom Laurel Album book by Mike Yates at Musical Traditions. More details on the accompanying CD are there. (Mike Yates recorded a number of singers there and recently released Far on the Mountain vols. 1-4 -- CDs that are high on my list, though I haven't gotten my hands on them yet.)

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: John Minear
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 05:06 PM

Kath, the SODOM LAUREL ALBUM is very good, both the book and the CD. The CD is all previously unreleased stuff as near as I can tell, and I've been trying to keep up with everything available from these folks. And Becky, the FAR IN THE MOUNTAIN volumes are great. CAMSCO carries these. The recordings are of good quality, and once again, they don't overlap with what is already out there. There is a lot of good Dan Tate material on the FAR IN THE MOUNTAIN recordings also, along with other good stuff from up in Virginia. The Musical Traditions website given above has all of the liner notes for FAR IN THE MOUNTAIN, which includes the lyrics! It's quite a find.

The wonderful thing about all of this material is that you can actually trace songs and ballads across generational lines and see how they got handed on, from Doug and Cas Wallin, and Evelyn Ramsey and Dellie Norton and others to Sheila, and what she has done with them. She learned these songs from her family and friends as she was growing up. And you can go the other direction and compare these recordings with those collected by Cecil Sharp when he was in Madison County in the early 1900s. On one of her albums, Sheila sings "My Dearest Dear", which she learned from the Wallins, but she decided to go back to her great-great(?)Aunt's unique version of the tune in Sharp's collection, who was Mary Sands. When you compare Doug Wallin's version and Sheila's you can see how the tune changed between the time of Mary Sands and that of Doug Wallin. It is fascinating.

I highly recommend all of these albums for anyone who wants to hear some of the best of the North Carolina mountain music. T.O.M.

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: John Minear
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 11:45 AM

The 14th track on "Christmas on the Mountain", which is a story called "The Christmas Miracle", told by Sheila, can be found in her book COME GO HOME WITH ME, published by The University of North Carolina Press, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2288, with a Foreward by Lee Smith. It is a collection of stories by Sheila Kay Adams, about growing up in Sodom, North Carolina. Sheila says that she has been telling her "Christmas Miracle" story to her family for 30 years now. T.O.M.

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 12:11 PM

Sheila Adams is a real treasure. Born to a rich southern mountain musical and storytelling tradition and one who appreciates her heritage. She is also an exceptional performer of traditional music and a memorable story teller. Jim is also a fine musician. Thanks for the mention of their Christmas CD.

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: KathWestra
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 12:29 PM

Becky, thanks for the link to the review of Sodom Laurel Album! Yes, this is all good stuff. T.O.M., you're so right. Tracing the travels of these songs from their sources to Sheila's singing is really interesting. There just isn't enough time in a day to absorb it all.

BTW, I believe Sheila and Rob are going to be in Washington, DC, in April, presenting the Sodom Laurel material in a program for the Folklore Society of Greater Washington. Will post details when I have them. Generally, these programs are the third Saturday of the month at the Washington Ethical Society auditorium.
Kathy

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 07:15 PM

Sheila Kay Adams' CDs (along with those of Helena Triplett and Laura Boosinger) are all available at CAMSCO (along with just about anything that's folk and in print. For authentic trad, I highly recommend Mike Yate's two 2-CD sets "Far in the Mountains", recorded in the Southern Appalachians some 20 years ago.

CAMSCO Music
800/548-FOLK (3655)

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: John Minear
Date: 11 Dec 02 - 10:53 AM

Thanks, Dick. I'm glad to know that you carry Sheila's CDs. She sure deserves a wider distribution. Do you also have her first two cassettes? She did mention last summer that she hoped to combine those on a new CD fairly soon. T.O.M.

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: John Minear
Date: 13 Dec 02 - 05:22 PM

Kathy, can you say anything more about the presentation in April of the "Sodom Laurel Album" material in Washington D.C.? That might actually get me up to D.C.! T.O.M.

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: toadfrog
Date: 13 Dec 02 - 06:39 PM

Always buy from Dick Greenhaus! I ordered my Far on the Mountain this morning! And may I put in a plug for Helena Triplett's Green Are the Woods? Shiela Kay Adams is wonderful, but Triplett is pure magic!

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 13 Dec 02 - 09:45 PM

Looks like CAMSCO will also be able to offer the book-cum-CDs "Sodom Laurel Album" at a price several bucks lower than Amazon or B&N (and quite a few bucks less than if you order it directly from the U of NC.

Let me know if you're interested. 800/548-FOLK (3655)

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: bbc
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 01:50 PM

Dear T.O.M.,

Thank you so much for bringing this music to our attention. I ordered Sheila's Christmas recording, as well as her ballad recording (I understand she consulted for the movie & most of the songs in it are her versions?) & her book. The Christmas recording has been a real joy to me in an otherwise difficult advent season. BTW, I copied your review & sent it to her w/ my order. She appreciated your kind words! Now, I'm wondering if I *need* her husband's Civil War songs, as well! Ah, the riches of music!

best of the season to you,

bbc

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Dec 02 - 12:50 PM

Is there a website for CAMSCO?

Subject: RE: Review: Christmas on the Mtn- Sheila Adams
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 25 Dec 02 - 03:15 PM

There is a website---camso.com--but it's way out of date. When you carry anything that's in print, it's very difficult to have either a complete website or a complete catalog.

Try calling 800/548-FOLK. I can almost always get you what you want at a discount comparable to what you get at CDNOW or Amazon--If I can't, I'll refer you to the best deal I've been able to find.

Subject: Sheila Kay Adams in NYC 5/7/04
From: Suffet
Date: 11 Apr 04 - 05:29 PM

New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club
(Folk Music Society of New York, Inc.)

presents a New York Pinewoods Series Concert...

SHEILA KAY ADAMS

Friday, May 7, 2004
8:00 PM
Advent Lutheran Church
Broadway & West 93rd Street
New York City

General admission: $18.
CD*NY members: $15.
Senior citizens and students: $10.
Children: $6.
TDF vouchers accepted.
NY Pinewoods members: FREE.

Sheila Kay Adams comes from a small mountain community in western North Carolina. For seven generations her family has maintained the tradition of passing down the English, Scottish, and Irish ballads that came over with her ancestors in the late 1700's. Sheila learned these ballads from her relatives, primarily from her great-aunt, Dellie Chandler Norton.

Sheila also grew up listening to great mountain storytellers. Stories from them, and about them, and her own growing up years in the little community of Sodom, NC, form the nucleus of her repertoire. A gifted and talented performer on the 5-string banjo, Sheila captivates audiences with her clawhammer style picking, her singing, and her stories.

For further information, please call Evy Mayer at [phone] after 11:00 AM.

NY Pinewoods website: http://www.folkmusicny.org/

Be there!

--- Steve