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Big Joe Williams and Friends Going Back to Crawford , and: Black Appalachia String Bands, Songsters and Hoedowns (review)

Big Joe Williams and Friends Going Back to Crawford , and: Black Appalachia String Bands,... Big Joe Williams and Friends Going Back to Crawford ArhooUe, 1999 CD 9OI5, $IO.OO Black Appalachia String Bands, Songsters and Hoedowns Rounder, 1999 CD 1823, $15.00 A native of Crawford, Mississippi, Big Joe WüUams was convinced that his hometown was fuU of blues talent that deserved attention. In 197 1 he convinced ArhooUe's president, Chris Strachwitz, to record some of Crawford's home-grown talent. Now, over twenty years later, these performances are finaUy avaüable. Though WiUiams's singing and playing clearly stand out, particularly on the first cut "Back Home Blues," his friends easüy hold dieir own. Going Back to Crawford nicely captures the "down home" blues of average black Mississippians who never made it on record, and whose voices and stories might otherwise be forgotten. Though avid blues fans, the folklorists John and Alan Lomax wanted to survey the wide range of black musical creativity. Black Appalachia captures a number of pre-blues traditions, from stringband and banjo tunes to washboard bands and chüdren's singing games. Tennessee serves as the cd's geographic focus for a broadly defined Appalachia, which also includes Mississippi and Arkansas. The recordings and the accompanying booklet explore the broad confluence ofwhite and black styles. Though remastered, Black Appalachia is not as "clean" as cd Usteners may be accustomed to, largely because these recordings were coUected in the field in the 1930s and 1940s. Yet it's an extremely important aural document that reminds us again of the numerous contributions, aside from the blues, that African Americans have made to southern vernacular music. Music Recordings 93 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Southern Cultures University of North Carolina Press

Big Joe Williams and Friends Going Back to Crawford , and: Black Appalachia String Bands, Songsters and Hoedowns (review)

Campbell, Gavin James.
Southern Cultures , Volume 5 (4) – Jan 4, 1999
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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of the American South.
ISSN
1534-1488
Publisher site
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Abstract

Big Joe Williams and Friends Going Back to Crawford ArhooUe, 1999 CD 9OI5, $IO.OO Black Appalachia String Bands, Songsters and Hoedowns Rounder, 1999 CD 1823, $15.00 A native of Crawford, Mississippi, Big Joe WüUams was convinced that his hometown was fuU of blues talent that deserved attention. In 197 1 he convinced ArhooUe's president, Chris Strachwitz, to record some of Crawford's home-grown talent. Now, over twenty years later, these performances are finaUy avaüable. Though WiUiams's singing and playing clearly stand out, particularly on the first cut "Back Home Blues," his friends easüy hold dieir own. Going Back to Crawford nicely captures the "down home" blues of average black Mississippians who never made it on record, and whose voices and stories might otherwise be forgotten. Though avid blues fans, the folklorists John and Alan Lomax wanted to survey the wide range of black musical creativity. Black Appalachia captures a number of pre-blues traditions, from stringband and banjo tunes to washboard bands and chüdren's singing games. Tennessee serves as the cd's geographic focus for a broadly defined Appalachia, which also includes Mississippi and Arkansas. The recordings and the accompanying booklet explore the broad confluence ofwhite and black styles. Though remastered, Black Appalachia is not as "clean" as cd Usteners may be accustomed to, largely because these recordings were coUected in the field in the 1930s and 1940s. Yet it's an extremely important aural document that reminds us again of the numerous contributions, aside from the blues, that African Americans have made to southern vernacular music. Music Recordings 93

Journal

Southern Cultures – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Jan 4, 1999

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