Minstrel Banjo

For enthusiasts of early banjo

I was just looking on YouTube for some renditions of the Hutchinson Family Singers songs but this came up, nearby.  As great as this CD is, it almost seems to have faded in the background so I thought I'd bring it to light, again.  Produced by a member of this site, Bob Winans, it was recorded in Ann Arbor in the early 1980s.  Ironically, I'm going to the home of the tambo player tomorrow.  Not sure how he was recruited for this recording as he is an English concertina player.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lhS9xpyblI

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Good source, Strum.  I posted a song from that album/CD because there are a lot of new members here that may not have been familiar with it.

Should be mentioned/warned that that particular CD is a scholarly i.e. exact reenactment of songs as they were written, sung, and played at the time, created for historic music educational purposes.  For that reason it includes disclaimers and warnings about containing various racist lyrics of the time. 
There are some well crafted examples of how the music may have actually sounded at the time, and I love the instrumental aspect of what they did on the CD.  But I seldom listen to the CD due to its racist content.

I think I told Bob about this......  Several years ago, I suggested to my co-worker who was the Librarian ordering CDs that she order it for it's historic (and musical) value.  She did so and then I noticed that it was sitting on her cart for quite a while.  After about a year, I asked her about it and she explained, as you did Strum, that she just couldn't put it in the collection.  I showed her a review done by a very credible source which rated it very highly for it's historic value as I wanted her to know that there was validity to my suggestion.  Well, the result was that, while I bought the LP back in the '80s, I now I have the CD as well.

Thanks for this. I should've seen it coming, but I've been trying to find out as much as I can about the history and so on.

I actually just ordered the Laurent Dubois book, but I enjoy hearing recordings as well.

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