The Essential Music Library project is an attempt to get the many musical minds of the SDMB to sit down and discuss what works are absolutely necessary for a well-stocked musical library. There will be roughly 20 threads detailing a variety of genres so that we can get the depth that would be missing from a single-threaded discussion and the breadth necessary to cover what’s out there.
This thread’s topic is grass and roots. As picker explained in the project planning thread, this is meant to include Old Time, all the grass variants, and Roots/Americana.
Various, Africa and the Blues (companion CD to book by Gerhard Kubik)
Bill Monroe, Live Recordings 1956-1959
The Holmes Brothers, Speaking in Tongues
Pete Seeger, American Favorite Ballads
Professor Longhair, Live on the Queen Mary
Anything by Odetta
I’m a bit on the ignorant side here, but have to throw a recommendation out for:
-Hello, I’m Dolly (Dolly Parton)
-Luxury Liner (Emmylou Harris)
I know those are borderlines, but I’m also writing just to give another bump and hope some of our more country-lovin’ dopers give me something to check out on my next trip to Amoeba. Picker? I know you’re out there.
Doc WatsonOn Stage, recorded live in 1971. Accompanied by his son Merle, Doc picks and sings through some classic country, blues, and old-time tunes. This album really gives you feel for what it’s like to see Doc live.
Woody Guthrie’sAsch Recordings. It’s a 4 CD boxed set, which is probably overwhelming for a casual fan, but it’s an integral part of Americana music that can’t be ignored. Guthrie’s writing covers the entire spectrum of human emotion, and he’d inspire a generation (and more) of musicians that would follow him.
Townes van ZandtLive at the Old Quarter.
Jerry Garcia and David Grisman’sShady Grove.
Michelle Shocked’sArkansas Traveler
Nanci Griffith’sOther Voices and Other Voices, Too both feature a great selection of songs in this vein recorded by Griffith’s friends. They’re not the original versions (although sometimes the writer is involved), but they provide a pretty good sample of the genre. It might or might not be in keeping with this concept.
The Bad Livers - Delusions of Banjer The Be Good Tanyas - Blue Train Johnny Dowd - Cemetary Shoes The D. Rangers - We Stay High and Lonesome Freakwater - Old Paint The Handsome Family - Through The Trees The Meat Purveyors - All Relationships Are Doomed To Fail Oh Susanna - Johnstown Split Lip Rayfield - Never Make It Home Gillian Welch - Hell Among The Yearlings Jim White - The Mysterious Story of How I Shouted Wrong Eyed Jesus
I was going to mention this – I love it! – but I didn’t want to risk being upbraided by the purists out there. (Silly me). A friend who lived in Austin, TX introduced me to these guys years ago. I think they later changed their name.
The Bad Livers were Danny Barnes and Mark Ruben and sometimes in the early phase, Ralph White…to my knowledge they no longer tour together…I believe Mark went on to work on some Klezmer Projects…gotta love Klezmer with a Tuba bass line…
I first saw the bad livers open for leftover salmon in Champaign IL around 99 or so…just Danny and Mark…WOW…what a show!
I’m not a big bluegrass guy, but I know roots. Here are a few that are absolutely essential:
Harry Smith’s legendary Anthology of American Folk Music - produced in 1952, this compilation supposedly inspired young Bob Zimmerman to start playing and singing.
Sounds of the South - a reissue of Alan Lomax’s second Southern music recording trip in 1959. One word: Leadbelly.
Speaking of Lomax, his parents made several recordings in the 30’s and 40’s in the rural South. I’m not aware of a single compilation with all those recordings, but they are collected in the *Deep River of Song* series, which are very well done.
Alan Lomax will also be essential in the World music thread, since he spent years of his life recording world folk songs, from Spain to Africa. He just died a couple of years ago, and I don’t think anybody noticed.
I’ll make a couple more recommendations while they’re on my mind, but then work, darn it!
Roscoe Holcomb - The High Lonesome Sound. His version of “House of the Rising Sun” is by a large margin the most haunting I have ever heard.
Elizabeth Cotten - I like Shake Sugaree better, but this collection has “Freight Train” on it, which is Cotten’s signature song, making it absolutely essential.
I should also point out that when one talks about American roots music, genre boundaries really break down, and one might as easily regard Robert Johnson: the Complete Recordings as much “roots music” as any other recording, including early country, Appalachiana, “country blues,” etc.
I will be in here to post quite a lengthy list of thoughts and recommendations, but it will have to wait a little bit. Right now a whole bunch of things in my life have all come to a head to create a ‘perfect storm’ of suck and there’s just no way I can do this as well. Money, health, relationships, job, housing, musically - if there’s a way it can go south, it just did.
Hopefully I’ll be able to get to this in a week or so; if I haven’t weighed in here by then by all means feel free to email me to remind me.