The New Lost City Ramblers
40 Years of Concert Recordings
Rounder 821 610 481-2
John Cohen (vocals, mandolin, guitar, kazoo, banjo, banjo-guitar, triangle), Mike Seeger (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, banjo-mandolin, banjo, autoharp, mouth harp, jaw harp), Tom Paley (vocals, guitar, banjo, kazoo), Tracy Schwartz (vocals, fiddle, guitar, button accordion)
Soldier’s Joy /Down in the Willow Garden/Brown’s Ferry Blues /Too Tight Rag /Little Birdie/Darling Corey /The Democratic Donkey (is In His Stall Again) /Poor Ellen Smith/On Some Foggy Mountain Top/Cackling Hen/The Battleship Maine/Worried Man Blues/The Unquiet Grave/Lady of Carlisle/Groundhog/Orange Blossom Special/East Virginia Blues/Country Blues/Little Maggie/The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake/Keep Movin’/Fortune/She Tickles Me/The Arkansas Traveler/Saddle Up the Grey/Sally Goodin’/The Old Bell Cow/It’s Hard to Leave You, Sweet Love/Dark Holler Blues/Locks and Bolts/Wildwood Weed/Milk ‘Em in the Evening Blues/Madeline/Sourwood Mountain/Black Bottom Strut/Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel/The Old Man at the Mill/Tom Sherman’s Bar Room/Turkey in the Straw (intro.)/Turkey in the Straw/Old Joe Clark/Rabbit Chase/Poor Old Dirt Farmer/Tennessee Blues/Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar/I’ve Always Been a Rambler/Baltimore Fire/Three Men Went A-Hunting
“Reagents for Organic Synthesis” by Louis and Mary Feiser is a twenty-volume work found in the personal libraries of most practicing Organic chemists. Unlike a textbook or an encyclopedia, it is an essential reference, a compendium of past and present knowledge of the field as perceived by two eminent scientists. Simultaneously instructive and inspirational, it provides a portal to the universal corpus of chemical knowledge known as “the literature”. By analogy, the personal libraries of old-time music enthusiasts should include the two CD set “The New Lost City Ramblers: Forty Years of Concert Performances”.
The history of the NLCR is well known to readers of the OTH. Notable accomplishments include re-introducing urban mid-20th century American society to its rural cultural antecedents and sowing the seeds that blossomed into a still vibrant subculture. Perhaps more importantly, along with Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Pete Seeger, they collectively and individually defined the role of a practicing vernacular musician-folklorist who operates outside of academia. The NLCRs’ deflation of academic ethno-musicological pomposity with excruciating puns, controlled silliness, and sparkling, authentic old-time musicianship motivated a multi-generational urban audience to personalize and re-invigorate traditional rural culture. Although the NLCRs’ penetration into mainstream consciousness was minimal at most, the band and its audience influenced the nature of mainstream culture with a very distinct stage whisper. But most importantly, the NLCR were and remain one hot little band, as evidenced by this outstanding collection.
This recording is a generous forty-eight cut retrospective of the Ramblers’ live performance career, ranging from a radio dub of “Soldier’s Joy” recorded in 1958 to “retrograss” experiments with Bill Monroe’s “Tennessee Blues” recorded in 1999. NLCR archivist Mike Seeger provided most of the material, which was assembled into the present collection by Jon Pankake in collaboration with the Ramblers. The intent was to create a program that conveyed the unique, joyous feel of a NLCR concert as well as to make available alternate takes and new live material. The entire breadth of the NLCR repertoire is covered. Examples of classic string band re-creations, solo ballad singing, Cajun music, jug-band blues, re-interpretation of material from cornerstone performers of traditional music such as Dock Boggs, early commercial country music, and newly-composed songs in traditional styles are spiced with trademark near-surrealistic humor concerning the travails of rural life in and around the imaginary hamlet of New Lost City. Most of the selections are intensely vocal-driven. The raw energy of the earlier live performances is captured and enhanced by the primitive recording techniques. Occasional ensemble raggedness contributes to the feeling of immediacy and excitement. The differences in musical approach shown by the original ensemble that included Mr Paley and the current line-up that includes Mr Schwartz are clearly discernible. The maturation of the Ramblers as a musical unit and the growth of their interpretative powers are fascinating to witness. Sixteen tracks are previously unreleased. A veritable treasure-trove is presented!
Since the previously released tracks (some appearing on the 1978 Flying Fish 2-LP set, "20 Years: Concert Performances") may be familiar to OTH readers, this reviewer chooses to highlight some of the newly released material. A performance recorded at Symphony Space (NYC) in 1995 (“Turkey in the Straw”, “Old Joe Clark”, “Rabbit Chase”, “Poor Old Dirt Farmer”, “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar”, “I’ve Always Been a Rambler”, “Three Men Went A-Hunting”) is one of the gems of the collection. The Ramblers are at the apex of their powers as interpreters of traditional music. Mike Seeger demonstrates how the lowly jaw harp can be used to deliver a virtuoso performance of “Turkey in the Straw” with a tongue-knotting patter-song vocal alternating seamlessly with the jaw harp’s metallic boinnnng. “Poor Old Dirt Farmer”, composed and performed by Tracy Schwartz, is a stark lament accompanied by an ominously droning DDAD-tuned fiddle. The song is indistinguishable from traditional material, and the presentation is a testament to Mr Schwartz’s uncanny skill at assimilating diverse traditional musical genres. Two interesting performances come from a 1972 concert at NYU. The Uncle Dave Macon chestnut “Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel” is given a supercharged full-band reading that threatens to flatten the audience, not unlike the aggressive approach taken by post-modern old-time bands such as the Old Crow Medicine Show. Tom Ashley’s “The Old Man at the Mill” receives a deep, mysterious reading, as belies the enigmatic nature of the text. An unusual selection was unearthed from a 1963 performance at Knox College (IL): “Orange Blossom Special” is given a good time, non fiddle-indulgent “train blues” treatment, complete with a running commentary on the Doppler effect. OTH readers who truly hate OBS should give this a listen! Outstanding among the previously-issued material is the side-splitting, rapid-fire “Arkansas Traveler” routine, which should take its place in the pantheon of word-play inhabited by Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First?”
Many of the recordings were not made on professional equipment, and a progression of sound quality from earlier to later performances is evident. This in no way interferes with the enjoyment of this release. A carefully annotated booklet is included containing full source, personnel, and recording details for each cut. Striking band portraits and an illuminating essay by veteran folk music commentator Jon Pankake round out the packaging. Also included are an extensive bibliography, filmography, and discography of Messrs Cohen, Paley, Seeger, and Schwartz, as well as references to important documentary musical collections produced by them. “40 Years of Concert Recordings” is, in this reviewer’s opinion, marvelously entertaining and absolutely essential listening for anyone interested in traditional American music. I cannot recommend it more highly.
Steve Senderoff
