Joe Bussard's Annual Banjo Podcast

[Wes Merchant]

https://soundcloud.com/dusttodigital/joe-bussards-country-3

For those of you unfamiliar with Joe, he is one of the world's premier collectors early country, blues and jazz of 78's. He's also the subject of the Australian Documentary "Desperate Man Blues". I've known Joe for many years, and actually played in a band with him for a while, he's quite a character and a great resource Here's the play list : Taylor's Kentucky Boys, Ernest Hilton, Dock Boggs, B.F. Shelton, Buell Kazee, John Hammond, W. A. Helton, Dad Crockett, Clarence Ashley, Uncle Dave Macon, Wilmer Watts, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Hobart Smith, Flatt & Scruggs, Carl Story

[Wes Merchant]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC_ypYa0chc  I was listening to another of Joe's podcast on the way to play some music this afternoon when this song came on. It's Uncle Dave Macon I've always though  of him as the last of an era. Fiddlin' Arthur Smith joins in on a fine version of Rye Straw at the end.

[Ian Bell]

Thanks for posting the link to Uncle Dave. That was three minutes well spent. They sure tear it up at the end!

[Wes Merchant]

Glad you enjoyed it. That's said to be him in the front with the mustache.

[Joel Hooks]

Funny, one always sees that photo cropped showing just Macon.

Bones, Tambo, 2d banjo, two violins.... Is that interlocutor in the middle?  More cork opera then "old time."

By the time we get to hear him, the hillbilly sound is popular.  The county bumpkin was more marketable than the (by that time) old fashioned minstrel show.

One part of studying history that we often fail to keep in mind is that bills still needed to get paid.  These guys "sounded" whatever way that they needed to to get paid.

[Wes Merchant]

Agreed Joel. I always liked the bare bones Uncle Dave the best, solo banjo and voice. Certainly the addition of the McGee Brothers gave his music a different feel. Uncle Dave recorded two versions of "She's Got the Money Too".  I like the earlier one without the band much better, I'll have to see if I can find a link. The Original song goes back  to at least 1869:

https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/27150

[Wes Merchant]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejojCcPlAwc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si-SH1XkTeY

Actually I like both, but two quite different approaches.