Black Banjo Songsters of North Carolina and Virginia

Black Banjo Songsters of North Carolina and Virginia

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This is more than just another excellently researched, heavily-annotated, and well-recorded Smithsonian Folkways disc of archival old-time sound. Like recordings of fife and drum music, this collection documents a rich African American musical tradition that was all but lost by the 1970s. The textbooks tell us that the banjo was brought to America by enslaved Africans, but the majority of musicians who've recorded with that instrument are white. While many of these modal, story-based folk songs will be familiar--"Coo Coo," "John Henry," "Shortnin' Bread"--there's an edge to these versions that's firmly rooted in the blues. Black Banjo Songsters is an essential compilation of claw-hammer-style banjo playing and deep, Appalachian singing. It happens to redress a historical wrong, but it's also a grand recording of deep, raw folk. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description
The sounds and social history of African American banjo playing--32 superb instrumentals and vocals, recorded between 1974 and 1997. Extensively annotated with performer's life histories, tunings, lyrics, bibliography, and discography. The banjo's gourd ancestors came to the Americas with enslaved Africans, forging the link between West African griots and performers of 20th-century blues and string-band music. 64 minutes.

Tracks:

Coo Coo - John Snipes
Coo Coo - Dink Roberts
Old Rattler (Fox Chase) - John Snipes
Georgia Buck - Dink Roberts
Georgia Buck - Joe Thompson & Odell Thompson
John Henry - James Roberts
High Sheriff - Dink Roberts
John Hardy - Dink Roberts
Garfield - Dink Roberts
Old Corn Liquor - Dink Roberts
Old Corn Liquor - Joe Thompson & Odell Thompson
John Henry - Joe Thompson & Odell Thompson
Love Somebody - Joe Thompson & Tommy Thompson
Long Tail Blue - John Snipes
Ain't Gonna Rain No More - John Snipes & Tommy Thompson
Going Where I've Never Been Before - John Snipes
Black Annie - Dink Roberts
Old Blue - Dink Roberts
Going Away From Home - John Snipes
You Don't Know My Darling - John Snipes
Jaybird March - Etta Baker & Cora Philips
Going Up North - John Jackson
Sugar Hill - Homer Walker
Momma Don't Allow - Irvin Cook & Leonard Bowles
Shortnin' Bread - Leonard Bowles
Shortnin' Bread - 'Big Sweet' Lewis Hairston
Fox Chase - John Tyree
Roustabout - Dink Roberts
Cookin' In The Kitchen - John Snipes
Coo Coo Bird - Rufus Kasey
Fox Chase - Dink Roberts
Little Brown Jug - Joe Thompson & Odell Thompson

Amazon.com

This is more than just another excellently researched, heavily-annotated, and well-recorded Smithsonian Folkways disc of archival old-time sound. Like recordings of fife and drum music, this collection documents a rich African American musical tradition that was all but lost by the 1970s. The textbooks tell us that the banjo was brought to America by enslaved Africans, but the majority of musicians who've recorded with that instrument are white. While many of these modal, story-based folk songs will be familiar--"Coo Coo," "John Henry," "Shortnin' Bread"--there's an edge to these versions that's firmly rooted in the blues. Black Banjo Songsters is an essential compilation of claw-hammer-style banjo playing and deep, Appalachian singing. It happens to redress a historical wrong, but it's also a grand recording of deep, raw folk. --Mike McGonigal

Album Description

The sounds and social history of African American banjo playing--32 superb instrumentals and vocals, recorded between 1974 and 1997. Extensively annotated with performer's life histories, tunings, lyrics, bibliography, and discography. The banjo's gourd ancestors came to the Americas with enslaved Africans, forging the link between West African griots and performers of 20th-century blues and string-band music. 64 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

Good stuff.......2006-11-11

There's nothing like old timey black banjo music. I really like to listen to the melodies and rhythms that sound the least western. This is the dawn of American music. Track 30 is the strangest version of Coo Coo I have ever heard.

Well Worth Your Time and Money.......2006-06-21

Not for the faint of heart or the common folk music revivalist, this stuff is the real deal. You won't find anything like it anywhere ever again. Both the book and CD are excellent.

Great Historical Document.......2005-07-30

This CD is a great historical document showcasing, as the title says, black banjo songsters of Nth Carolina and Virginia namely John Snipes, Dink Roberts, Joe and Odelle Thompson and some others. Then why only 3 stars? Well as I said it's a great historical document but I found the recording quality and sound can at times be a little difficult to sit through. Don't get me wrong there are some great tracks here including Old Blue by Dink Roberts, Jaybird March by Etta Baker and Shortnin' Bread by Lewis Hairston to name a few. I would have liked to hear more of Etta Baker even though she is 'primarily' a guitar player. I bought this CD not long after getting into old time banjo (I play old time banjo myself) back in 1998. I already had the 'North Carolina Banjo Collection' (see my review), which is superior in my opinion, because it showcases more artists and styles, and I later bought 'Kentucky Old Time Banjo' (see my review) which I like best out of all three CD's.

A torch that is being passed on, Black Banjo Old & NEW.......2004-09-09

The pickers and players on these recordings are not only preserving the history of the African American origins of the Banjo, of the African American origins of both frailing/clawhammer/knocking/rapping or whatever you want to call down picking, as well as Carolina two finger pikcing. Moreover, by issuing these recordings Scott Oddell and Cece Conway, helped these pickers to light the torch to pass the flame on. From all over the country and beyond, Black banjoists are reviving, extending and enriching what our elders here have done.

Today, one of the most dramatic innovative Blues performers, like Taj Mahal, Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Otis Taylor have picked up the banjo. Otis will be coming out with a recording including Kep Mo, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Corey Harris, and New Orleans tenor and six string banjo master Don Vappie that seeks to recapture the banjo for Black folk in February 2008. The last several years has seen the resurgence of several African American string bands playing this music including the Carolina Chocolate Drops and New York's Ebony Hillbillies.

April 7-10 2005 at Appalachian State University with the able and friendly assistance of Dr. Cece Conway, we will be held the first Black Banjo Then and Now Conference. We united elder Black banjoists and fiddlers like those on these recordings as their virtual descendants among younger generations of Black folk from middle schoolers on up with t national and international scholars of the banjo, unblack banjo pickers and fiddlers.

While this music sounds bluesy, exhibiting their common African American heritage, this music is different from the Blues. It arose separately and probably earlier as a descendant of banjo sounds Africans brought to the New World and fiddling Africans who had played bowed fiddles in Africa who mastered the violin they found in America (although some made folk fiddles that were hybrids between African fiddles and the violin). Distinctly African in its origins, this music interacted with European-American folks sounds to produce the string band music that powered European-American rural and mountain folk dancing.

All the artists on this recording are from the generation of African Americans who developed the Blues in its second generation. Indeed, several of the artists including those with some of the most archaic sounds like Dink Roberts and Odell Thompson were also very skilled Blues guitarists. Several others here like Homer Walker have recorded great blues recordings elsewhere (see the digital library of the appalachian's magnificent online site for multiple recordings, interviews and pictures of all of the Virginia and West Virginia based artists here except Josh Thomas.) Speaking of Thomas, the bulk of his music remains unreleased, but his banjo playing was drenched in the blues and he recorded several blues songs.

These pickers in the Carolinas and Virginia, represent the last traditional expression of Black banjo playing that once was heard in New York City, San Fransisco, Chicago, New Orleans, and other cities as well in the country. Their music has inspired a new generation of Black banjoists that keep the banjo ringing.

Conway and O'Dell have even more recordings of Black banjoists prepared for a second double volume of this wonderful history making music

African American influence on American music.......2003-10-13

I'm African American and learning how to play the banjo. I tried this CD out from the library and I was very impressed with the old time style banjo music from blacks. And I didn't know that Etta James played the banjo. The song Jaybird played by Ms. Jamess was so beautiful.

It's unfortunate that we don't see many African American playing banjos today and how they contributed the banjo to American culture.

Music Review: