I thought I would post a weekly listing of additions to the Camsco Music folk music catalog. As long as it's properly labeled in the thread title, people who don't want to see it don't have to open it so I don't see a lot of harm to it. I would like to know whether the Mudcat community sees this as something they'd like to see or not. Here's the first posting.
Here is the weekly list of Updated
Monday, August 23, 1999
- VEST 13019, Elizabeth Cotten, $22.49 (Folk)
VIDEO
Elizabeth Cotten (1893-1987) inspired every fledgling fingerpicker of the "folk boom" era with her classic "Freight Train." But there was more to Libba Cotten than the novelty of her "upside down" approach to guitar or her most famous song: she continued to make up new songs even in her eighties, as well as recall old ones from her turn-of-the-century girlhood. Close-ups of Cotten's remarkably youthful hands (she was 85 at the time of this video) show the nuances of her unique "Cotten picking" style, and there's inspiration for guitarists and non-guitarists alike in the dignity and assurance of a very poised octogenarian who never tired of sharing her balanced sense of musicality and humanity.
- MTM 0050, The Original Fat City String Band, $13.78 (Old Time)
Recorded in February, '99 and April of '97, this is the first recording the trio has done in nearly thirty years! This is a live digital recording with Bob Potts on the fiddle, Mac Benford on the guitar, and Walt Koken on the banjo. Plenty of good vocals with that old "Highwoods" feeling. Old time fans won't want to miss this one
- YAZ 2045, The Cornshucker's Frolic, Vol. 1, $13.78 (Old Time)
Beautifully remastered fiddle tunes, string band performances, and blues on this first volume of Cornshucker's Frolic. This is a very ambitious project that allows us to appreciate downhome music and entertainment from the american countryside that was popular during the late 1920s & early 1930s.
- YAZ 2046, The Cornshucker's Frolic, Vol. 2, $13.98 (Old Time)
- HAR 017, Stone, Steam and Starlings, $13.49 (English)
Dave Goulder's seventh album - His first with Harbourtown Records. Recorded in America with Gordon Bok and Carol Rohl.
- OLDH 4017, Early String Band Favorites, $13.78 (Old Time)
This is a wonderful collection of guitar duets, guitar and fiddle, and string-band pieces by this legendary guitarist and vocalist that recorded extensively in the 1920s & 1930s. Known better for his work with Charlie Poole & the North Carolina Ramblers, Harvey performed extensively with fellow West Virginian artists Jess Johnson, Leonard Copeland, Branch & Coleman, and others
- VEST 13035, Rare Performances 1960-1984, $22.49 (Blues/Gospel)
VIDEO
John Lee Hooker is one of the foremost blues performers of the postwar period. He is in actuality a Mississippi country bluesmen and his music has always been firmly grounded in the traditional blues of his native state. He has remained true to its fundamental principles throughout a professional career of more than five decades. Whether playing solo in 1960 or with the Muddy Waters Band in the same year or his touring bands of the late `70s or early `80s, John Lee Hooker's genius of writing and performing magnificent, intense and emotionally potent blues can
be seen in all their glory in this one hour video collection. Approximately one hour; 13 songs.
- VEST 13026, Legends of Old Time Music, $22.49 (Old Time)
VIDEO
Celebrated as the wellspring of bluegrass and country, old time music is a richly exciting genre in its own right. Steeped in Anglo-Celtic roots and nourished by New World experience and encounters with African-Americans, at once personal and communal, free-spirited and conservative, old time music expresses Southern folklore and lifestyles which have largely passed into history. Some of its greatest practitioners have been preserved and are collected on this video. The full range of this archetypally American music, from its British roots ("The Four Marys") to its `high lonesome' Kentucky branches (Roscoe Holcomb), is explored via voices, guitars, fiddles, banjos, and a dulcimer in rare footage capturing the essence of Appalachian American folk music at its purest and best. Artists include: Tommy Jarrell, Roscoe Holcombe, Sam McGee, Doc Watson, Clarence Ashley, Marion Sumner and others.
- VEST 13071, Shady Grove, $22.49 (Old Time)
VIDEO
This video presents poignant and exciting musical performances by four highly expressive and individualistic makers of traditional old time country music. Although Kilby Snow, Dock Boggs, Tommy Jarrell and Roscoe Holcomb played vernacular music that in some ways was typical of the regions in which they spent their entire lives, they also were at times astonishingly inventive. Their influence has extended far beyond their local communities, affecting the minds and works of the makers of mainstream popular music, as well as the playing of far-flung old-time practitioners.
Here is the only known footage of Dock Boggs singing his classic mountain blues and playing his signature banjo style; the intense and original "high lonesome" singing of Roscoe Holcomb, playing both banjo and guitar; Kilby Snow's moving vocals and brilliant autoharp playing and the legendary fiddle and banjo of Tommy Jarrell, solo and accompanied by Mike Seeger and Blanton Owen.
- ADE 9918, On The Road Again, $12.98 (Blues/Gospel)
Walter "Furry" Lewis (1893--1981) was a Memphis blues guitarist/singer who helped create the "Memphis Sound" of the 1920's. He is known for his impressive bottleneck guitar playing, as well as his unique treatment of ragtime songs and ballads. Like many other musicians of his time, Furry had two distinct periods of success--first, in the 1920's, and later in the 60's and 70's. This recording features Furry with Bukka White and Gus Cannon.
- VEST 13011, In Concert, $22.49 (Blues/Gospel)
VIDEO
This video presents a rare television concert recorded in Texas for KRLU.
- VEST 13004, Legends of Traditional Fingerstyle Guitar, $22.49 (Guitar)
VIDEO
With Rev. Gary Davis (one song), Merle Travis (three songs), Elizabeth Cotten (four songs), Doc Watson (two songs), Doc & Merle Watson (three songs), Sam & Kirk McGee (three songs), Mance Lipscomb (two songs), Roscoe Holcomb (one song), Josh White (one song) and Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry (one song). Traditional fingerstyle guitar is particular to its time and place, drawing heavily upon local culture, but allowing for personal expression and innovation. By the time regional representation of rural black and white music began appearing on record, the guitar had become (in most places) the premier instrument for its versatility and its expressiveness. While songs such as "John Henry," "Casey Jones" and "Sitting on Top of the World" became standards almost upon their inception, the manner in which they were played varied from place to place (two radically different -- yet still traditional -- versions of "John Henry" by Merle Travis and Josh White appear in this video to illustrate this). These artists are all masters of the fingerstyle guitar, whether using two or three finger picking, with or without picks. They fashioned a deeply influential playing style created from the rags, blues, ballads, and native airs that permeated their times and give impetus to any musician, knowingly or not, who picks a string today.
- CTY 2728, Hell and Scissors, $13.78 (Old Time)
Absolutely stunning old-time fiddle release! Rafe Stefanini, one of the finest traditional artists to perform in recent years, has put together a sharp and well defined body of fiddle tunes and assembled a great group of artists to back him up on this new release.
- VEST 13056, Red River Blues 1948-1974, $22.49 (Blues/Gospel)
VIDEO
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, more than anyone else, introduced a generation to the power and glory of country blues. Terry (1911-1986) and McGhee (1915-1996) were once ubiquitous, and as such tended to be taken for granted in the halcyon days of the 1960s blues rediscoveries. But nearly two decades have passed since the duo parted ways. The 16 performances here remind us of the team's superb complementary strengths: Sonny the archetypal country blues harmonica player, whooping and 'fox chasing' in a style as old as any known; Brownie the more urbane (but no less passionate) exemplar of the Southeast's Piedmont-style blues, a stunning guitarist and singer. Together they proved a sense of showmanship refined on New York stages needn't be at odds with the elemental energies of country blues.
- VEST 13012, The Video Collection -- Rare Performances 1946-81, $22.49 (Country)
VIDEO
This video captures 35 years of rare film and television performances done between 1946 and 1981 by one of the all-time great American musicians. There isn't a fingerstyle guitarist whose playing hasn't been touched by Travis's style and technique. He wrote over 900 songs, some of them (such as "Sixteen Tons" and "Dark As a Dungeon") so popular that they are considered American folk songs. Other featured songs include "Nine Pound Hammer," "John Henry," "I'll See You In My Dreams," and "Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette." Includes a 36-page booklet with an interview and biographical essay and many rare photographs.
- VEST 13034, The Songs & Guitar of Merle Travis: Sixteen Tons -- Rare Performances, $22.49 (Country)
VIDEO
The many facets of his career are all present in this second offering of rare footage spanning his West Coast post-War prime to his last days as a rediscovered legend. The renewed interest in his music in the 1970s is evident in six
performances from that decade, while an informal duet with his son, Thom Bresh, videotaped towards the end of Travis' life, provides a moving coda to this varied collection of brilliant country guitar playing leavened with Travis' blend of humor, poetry, and downhome philosophy in his songs. 22 songs
- VEST 13023, Rare Performances 1963-1981, $22.49 (Folk)
VIDEO
The world of American folk music was immediately enriched by the discovery of North Carolina's Doc Watson in 1960. He arrived in time to play an active role in the then-booming folk revival, where he showed a generation of guitarists how to play traditional music with fresh drive and imagination. This collection illustrates the power and range of Doc's talents and the evolution of this performance style. The tapestry of sounds Doc wove during his first two decades performing outside North Carolina unfolds in these enduring and inspiring performances.
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