American artists who sing traditional music

Subject: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Ian Kirk (inactive)
Date: 14 Jan 99 - 06:01 PM

I have ordered Liam's brother's CD and Art Thiemes and it got me to wondering whether you good people could let me have a list of other American artists who sing traditional material. I don't mean mainly Blues and C and W or Cajun stuff but songs lilely to have originated in the UK or Ireland that have been carried over to the US and maybe collected anew.

Some details on how to get hold of the CD or whatever would also be most useful.

Regards

Ian

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 14 Jan 99 - 06:49 PM

Take a look at Folk-Legacy's catalog.

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Jan 99 - 10:37 PM

My favorite traditional recordings are the "Golden Ring" CD's from Folk-Legacy (click here). It's not 100% traditional music, but the Lost in Song album by a group called "Finest Kind" is absolutely wonderful a cappella singing. - it's at Folk-Legacy, too.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 14 Jan 99 - 11:49 PM

At the risk of exploiting this thread, I'd also suggest Ian Robb and Margaret Christl's The Barley Grain for Me, all traditional English-language songs collected in Canada. Also, the Joe Hickerson cassettes are almost all traditional songs sung by the one-time head of the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress Folklife Center (recently retired). All of these may be checked out on the aforementioned Folk-Legacy web site. Click on Joe's hot link, for an instant passage to the site.

Sandy

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 15 Jan 99 - 12:07 AM

If you can get to hear them the two Jeffs--Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis do a magnificent job on traditional American songs, whether as a duo (alas, no more) or as soloists. Margaret McArthur, of course, is wonderful; Judy Cook is a relative newcomer who has a nice way with trad. material. And there are always those two---what's their name again...---oh yes. Sandy and Caroline Paton.

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Art Thieme
Date: 29 Jan 99 - 11:48 AM

Michael Cooney on Front Hall & Folk Legacy.

Cindy Mangsen.

Many of Pete Seeger's records devoted to specific themes. _American Industrial Ballads", _Champlain Valley Songs_, _America's Favorite Ballads_--for a few---All are on Folkways/Smithsonian

Library of Congress Archive records---_Anthracite Coal Mining Songs_(Geo.Korson), _Bituminous Coal Mining Songs_, etc.

Vivian Richman on Folkways/Smithsonian.

Ellen Steckert on Folkways/Smithsonian.

Sam Hinton on Folkways/Smithsonian, Decca & privately issued.

__Wolf River Songs_ (various traditionally collected lumber camp ballads---on Folkways/Smithsonian)

_Songs Of The Ontario Shanties__(collected by Edith Fowke---on Folkways/Smithsonian)

MANY Paul Clayton recordings on Folkways/Smithsonian and Riverside.

These are just a few of many. Most of the older (wonderful) records are not on CD. Americans, in large numbers, are not into revivalists doing songs from our history at present. Sad, but true.

Art

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: rick fielding
Date: 29 Jan 99 - 04:44 PM

If you're somewhat adventurous you might go in a slightly different direction and hunt down the many recordings of Bradley Kincaid, Hylo Brown or Lee Moore. These artists (all deceased?) would be seen by some as "country", but they did indeed record many traditional folksongs.

If you're not familiar with Joe Hickerson's recordings on Folk-Legacy, check them out. They're among my all-time favourites. One night on Sharon mountain (inside their house I'd better add) Caroline Paton (strongly) suggested I hear Joe, and for the next few days I wallowed in him!

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Art Thieme
Date: 29 Jan 99 - 05:27 PM

Yep, the Paton's collection up on Sharon Mountain is/was a great place to "field collect" & do research when one is on a longish break between gigs and availong oneself of their wonderful companionship and comaraderie. What a grand relaxed place to record an album! It was that even when a truck went by right in the middle of a decent take. And Sharon, CT (which will forever be known as THE GATEWAY TO TORRINGTON) has a wonderful thrift shop. I'm wearing a sportcoat I bought there as we speak. And thumbing my nose at Bill Buckley was always a fun thing to do when the Audubon Center was closed. ;-)

Ah, nostalgia!

Art

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: rick fielding
Date: 29 Jan 99 - 05:43 PM

How right you are Art, about those damn trucks ruining a take, but did you ever have squirrel on the roof mess up a song? I did, and if ever ambient noise should have been left on a track, that was it. Unfortunately we decided to go "commercial", and recorded a squirrel-less version. Although I never got the chance to "thumb a Buckley" (sounds like fun) I was told that if you waited around the gourmet section of the local grocery store you might see Paul Newman.(in his sauce, no doubt. I was never in the thrift store, but thanks to Sandy Paton's Olde Farte discount card I was able to purchase many years' worth of underwear and black jeans at the nearby Ames store.

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 29 Jan 99 - 06:25 PM

Okay, so we have the occasional truck and squirrel, it gives our artists something to look forward to. The room, which provided hay storage as a dairy barn for 100 years before being converted into the recital room for a music school in 1939, has great acoustics. I've always enjoyed the "natural" sound, loathing the later addition of electronic echo as I do. I figured that I'd surely lose it if I sound-proofed the room.

Being given the guest room with the folklore library has kept Rick Fielding from getting a decent night's sleep every time he's been here. Could you sleep with the entire collection of English Folk Dance and Song Society publications shelved right by your head? Art always went for the various U.S. state and regional collections, which may explain why he deserves to be mentioned prominently in this thread. He always chose to sing traditional songs, with the occasional trad-sounding contemporary song thrown in just to remind us that the tradition is a continuing one. That may explain why he's not rich and famous.

Sandy

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Art Thieme
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 11:27 AM

Jean Ritchie and Edna Ritchie definitely must be mentioned as Americans who do their family variants of British ballads and songs from the hills of Viper, Kentucky. (Edna is on Folk Legacy & Jean is on Folkways/Smithsonian and MANY other labels.)

Jean's husband, photographer George Pickow, was credited with having actually STOPPED BIG BEN (a near catastrophy in Britain) when he was doing a photo shoot of the innards of that venerable clock. But that's another story...

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: lingolucky
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 05:11 PM

If you haven't discovered Roy Harper, do so. He's likethe old time one-man bands, with guitar style like Jimmie Rodgers, occasional harmonica, fine deep voice and great ol-time repertory. I have five or six od his cassettes, picked up at Augusta Festival and Kerrville Jimmie Rodgers festival. A rare treat. Lane Goldsmith

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Liam's Brother
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 05:46 PM

Hi Ian!

For unaccompanied singing, my favorite American was, without equivocation, a lady from Arkansas named Almeda Riddle. To my mind, her best was recorded when she was a relatively young grandmother and was on the Vanguard label (as an LP only). Any other will do. If you can come up with nothing from Mrs. Riddle and really like unaccompanied singing, send me an e-mail.

Not in the same league stylistically but with a very interesting Irish-Canadian repetoire is Tom Brandon, available on Folk-Legacy as a cassette. Unaccompanied again.

The first Doc Watson LP (called "Doc Watson") on Vanguard was superb. Doc is pictured in a black-and-white photo with a Martin D-18 guitar. There were also Folkways recordings called "Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's" (featuring Doc Watson and friends). Both of these may be available in CD form, possibly as double sets.

If you want to hear Pete Seeger singing real folk songs, then it's "America's Favorite Ballads" for my taste.

Get an old Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys recording. Look on the back and pick one with folk song titles on it.

There is a Bascom Lamar Lunsford CD on Smithsonian Folkways. He is a mountain music classic.

There are probably CDs with Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry, Leadbelly and Cisco Houston all on the same disc. Pick up one.

There is a (U.S.) Columbia disc: CK46784, "Cajun Dance Party." I wouldn't want to listen to all 23 tracks in a row but there is some great music on there.

These are the ones that spring to mind.

All the best,
Dan

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Liam's Brother
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 05:53 PM

...and, if you're really interested in American artists who sing traditional music, there's always Harry Jackson. He was a great stylish singer of unaccompanied cowboy songs and did exquite sculpture in bronze.

All the best,
Dan

Subject: RE: American artists who sing traditional music
From: Wally Macnow
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 06:16 PM

You might check the Camsco Music site, www.camsco.com. It's virtually all traditional music recordings.