Early Southern Guitar Sounds

by Mike Seeger

Overview

Folklorist/singer/multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger may not bear the cultural weight of his better-known cousin Pete, but between the two a veritable encyclopedia set of sepia-tone Americana resides. Seeger's follow-up to his excellent 2003 Smithsonian Folkways release True Vine is as much a historical artifact as it is the perfect front porch/parlor room soundtrack for a hot summer's day. Early Southern Guitar Sounds is just that, a 28-track musical lecture on the styles, body shapes, and songs that mythically described the guitar from around 1850 to 1930. Seeger takes the listener through ragtime, blues, Celtic-infused old-timey ballads and straight up traditional folk and country on a multitude of different instruments, from pre-World War I arch tops to a turn of the century banjo, lending his voice to a few and his formidable instrumental skills to the majority. This isn't flashy or progressive noodling, rather it's the musical equivalent of the slow food movement, offering up samples of cuisine that haven't seen a dinner table since the first World War, let alone been injected with any commercial additives. As with all Smithsonian Folkways releases, Early Southern Guitar Sounds features exhaustive liner notes that include dissertation-worthy descriptions of playing styles, detailed photos of period instruments, and song-by-song histories that make you want convert your listening room into an old oak library or pine box saloon. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	09/11/2007
Label:	SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS
UPC:	0093074015728

Tracks

1. Wildwood Flower
2. Old Chisholm Trail
3. Spanish Fandango
4. Shakin' the Pines in the Holler
5. Weary Lonesome Blues
6. White Oak Mountain
7. I'm Crazy Over You
8. Can't Get a Letter from Home
9. Guitar Rag
10. Smoketown Strut
11. Big Kid's Barroom
12. Fishing Blues
13. After All Has Been Said and Done
14. Joe Lee's Tune
15. Carroll County Blues
16. Birmingham Tickle
17. Worried Blues
18. Kenny Wagner's Surrender
19. Arizona
20. Pearly Dew
21. Risselty Rosselty
22. Johnny Doyle
23. Black Jack David
24. John Henry
25. Buckdancer's Choice
26. Riley and Spencer
27. When This World Comes to an End
28. Leaning on the Everlasting Arm

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mike Seeger   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Sylvester Weaver   Composer
Frank Hutchison   Composer
Leonard Copeland   Composer
Pete Reiniger   Mixing,Mastering
Huddie Ledbetter   Composer
Sam McGee   Composer
Roy Harvey   Composer
A.P. Carter   Composer
Mike Seeger   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Annotation,Liner Notes,Audio Engineer,Audio Production
Anthony Showalters   Composer
D.A. Sonneborn   Production Supervisor
Elisha A. Hoffman   Composer
Jack Bryant   Composer,Composer
Peter Reiniger   Mixing
Theopolis Lacey Phillips   Composer
William T. Narmour   Composer
Andrew Jenkins   Composer
Mary Monseur   Production Coordination
Carla Borden   Editorial Assistant
Jeremy Ledbetter   Photography
Daniel Sheehy   Production Supervisor
Sonya Cohen Cramer   Design,Layout Design