Reviews

Photos by Anjali: The Water Series IV Rolling Fog

8/20/2015

Somewhere in East Tennessee

They were heading from Lexington to Chattanooga when the clouds lowered.
When I spent a lot of time in the mountains, I loved to watch pockets of fog nestled in the hollows (pronounced "hollers.") Anjali noticed them, too.
I would have posted the classic 1972 recording of "Rolling Fog" on the "Dobro" album by the Seldom Scene, with Mike Auldridge, but I couldn't seem to locate a single.
So here is one of America's musical treasures (never mind the glitz), Dolly Parton, singing about East Tennessee.

Alan Rubin link

8/20/2015 12:56:59 pm

Anjali does it again! Sometimes it pays to go around in a fog.

Thanks for the Dolly Parton song. I got into country mush at about age ten listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio. It was sandwiched between two programs and I started to enjoy the music.

At about the same time, I discovered traditional music of the British Isles. Over time I expanded to most music, except rap.

My favorites among the many are music from Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta.

There was a young women who went around recording delta music while the old timers were still alive. My favorite was the comment, "if you ain't lived it, you can't sing it."

An excellent movie is "The Song Catcher".

My wife Sandi and I took a southern vacation trip in 2009 which included VA, NC, SC and GA. We learned about Marshall, NC, a half an hour north of Ashville from a UNC/UV book on music in the area.

Starting at about 7 PM, Marshall had traditional music at Marshall Railroad Depot Friday Night Music and Dance. Although obviously not locals, we were warmly welcomed.

I never understood what a cake walk was, a fund raiser.

http://www.blueridgemusic.org/SearchResultDetail.asp?EditRecord=164&Region=7

We were sitting behind two very interesting and chatty women who seemed to know everyone there and their business. I wanted to ask many questions, bur since I had difficulty understanding their dialect, I did not want to ask them to repeat things.

Youngsters were learning the traditional music and instruments and women were clog dancing.

There is so much good stuff around if we can make time.

George Vecsey

8/21/2015 01:22:47 am

Alan, I did not know you had that interest. There are such varieties of "American" music. We knew Jean Ritchie....and the McLains....and their traditional music was so different from the more commercial sound of, let's say, the Opry. Let's talk. G

Brian Savin

8/20/2015 01:59:03 pm

There is an interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal about opportunities to learn about and appreciate Tennessee country music.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/museums-offer-new-ways-to-appreciate-southern-music-1440025605
I must admit I don't have it in me to do so. I don't like it. And when there are words, I like it less. The cultural experience may be too foreign. But I like much African music, especially from West Africa and most especially when there are songs. That should be more foreign, but somehow isn't. Likes and dislikes sure are weird.

Alan Rubin link

8/20/2015 09:48:22 pm

Brian

Interesting opposites, but that is what makes people so interesting.

If you do not have it, you should look into a great CD, "Mali to Memphis".

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1131129/a/mali+to+memphis%3A+an+african-american+odyssey.htm

Enjoy!!

George Vecsey

8/21/2015 01:28:44 am

Brian, thanks, will catch up with that WSJ article. Quite a coincidence. Parton is like a throwback to another time, another place. She found a way to make it commercial....but her music is straight from the British isles, a few centuries back. She did a song called "Shattered Image," about not throwing rocks into the pond with anybody's reflection -- in other words, don't judge her, or anybody.
I've heard African music -- one of our pals had been posted to Africa with an airline and collected some tapes from Ethiopia and elsewhere -- but can't claim to know much. I do love South African music. I am sure you are on to something. Thanks, GV

Alan Rubin link

8/21/2015 01:49:03 am

I believed that Jean Richie lived in Nyack, Rockland County, for awhile and may have had a store. She was authentic and I enjoyed the sound of her dulcimer.

Sandi and I took Josh in a baby carriage to Pete Seeger's first Clearwater Sloop fund raising concert in Nyack. Years later, we went on one of its evening cruises, but we drew a still evening.

The path of Scot-Irish music entering in Philadelphia in the Colonial days and transforming along the way into Louisiana Cajun music is an interesting study.

However, Josh is the one to talk to as he should have been a musicologist. My interest in jazz was through him. Classical music did not seem to transfer the other way.

Odetta was a customer in my store, My cousin once had an apartment with a bathroom back to back with Odetta's. She would get free concerts whenever Odetta took a shower.

The Upper West Side was an interesting place to live and there was always the Village downtown.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your Appalachian experiences.

George Vecsey

8/21/2015 02:43:18 am

Alan, not sure she ever lived in Nyack. She and her family lived adjacent to the library in Port Washington for decades -- the back of their house facing into a deep ravine. I once heard her at Ballard High in Louisville, telling the audience that while she now lived in NY (or Long Island, can't remember what she said), her town reminded her of Eastern Kentucky. (North Shore being hilly.) (Louisvillians generally don't relate to the mountains, at all, I discovered, but they appreciated the sentiment.) After her husband passed, she moved to Berea for her final years. A grand American musician. GV

Josh Rubin

8/21/2015 07:31:11 am

I just happened to pass through at the right time and saw the nice things my dad wrote, so I will return the compliment. My parents really did expose me to quite a variety of music - folk, international, classical (I can't say the classical took very well, my indifference to opera is a bit vexing to my mother). So I credit them for the wide variety of music that keeps me engaged -- jazz (most periods), Indian classical (north and south), African (pop and traditional), rock, folk, soul, latin etc. these days our daughter is into Latin pop and we typically keep the Latin station on in the car, now.

For serious jazz fans, I highly recommend the book "Thinking in Jazz" by Paul Berliner.

Brian Savin

8/21/2015 02:49:23 pm

George, I wouldn't want to challenge Dolly to an IQ competition. She likes to be blunt, cleverly.

Alan, that has got to be the most underground music ever put on an album since the 1960's. Where the heck did you find it?!

Gosh I love this blog.

Alan Rubin link

8/22/2015 08:52:47 am

Brian

There is nothing underground about the music.

Putumayo CD's have been around since 1993. Check out the Cape Verde one.

http://www.putumayo.com/history/

George's blog is like an old pair of shoes, always comfortable to wear. It is also a magnet for interesting people.

Comments are closed.

Photos by Anjali: The Water Series IV Rolling Fog

Categories

Buy the Book