Saturday, February 26, 2011

J.E. Mainer on the Rural Rhythm label - Vol. 3&4

Ok folks, here`s the next installment of this series. Sorry to be slow posting this, my computer has been in the shop and I`ve had to re-load much of my music on it.
One comment on the last J.E. Mainer post mentioned that his style is sort of the bridge between old time and bluegrass music, which is exactly right.
Some of these records are not in the best of condition, so---there may be some skips here and there, so I hope you still enjoy them.

Here is Volume 3---



Track list for volume 3---
1. Seven And A Half (seems to have been a Mainer tune)
2. Devilish Mary (likely the source for this was the Skillet Lickers)
3. Hannah (likely inspired by the Chris Bouchillon or the McGee Brothers 78)
4. Baby Buntin` (source unknown to me)
5. Ride Old Buck To water (an old Skillet Lickers tune)
6. Casey Jones (this was a VERY popular song when J.E. would have been young, recorded by many country and early pop artists)
7. Arkansas Traveler (would have been a very common tune, originally from the minstrel show stage)
8. Change In Business All Around (not sure of where this may have came from)
9. Polly Put The Kettle On (sometimes it`s Molly, likely from the Skillet Lickers version)
10. Shady Grove (the common old tune, done here in a major key, often played in a minor key, with the Jew`s harp)
11. Old Blind Horse (no idea where this comes from, possibly Chris Bouchillon)
12. Papa`s Billy Goat (likely from the Fiddlin` John Carson 78)
13. Burglar Man (likely from the Uncle Dave Macon 78)
14. Don`t Tax The Girls (likely from the Blind Alfred Reed 78)
15. Eleven Cents Cotton (likely from hearing Uncle Dave Macon on the Grand Ole Opry)
16. Home Sweet Home (commonly played as an instrumental in the county areas)
17. Shortenin` Bread (likely from the Skillet Lickers)
18. Johnny Get Your Gun (likely from the Earl Johnson 78)
19. I Had An Old Grey Mare (don`t know where this came from)
20. Alabama Camp Meeting (the actual tune seems related to an old song Uncle Dave Macon used to do on the Opry sometimes called Pray For The Lights To Go Out, the talking parts may come from an old "coon" comedy 78 I have heard somewhere)

Click here to download J.E. Mainer - Volume 3

And here is Volume 4---



Volume 4 track list---
1. Shoo Fly (a common old fiddle tune)
2. Darn Little Ford (possibly inspired by the old Oscar Ford records about Ford cars)
3. In The War (All Night Long) (likely inspired by another war type comedy song about the Spanish-American war)
4. Run Boy Run (likely from the Skillet Lickers as the tune Run, Nigger, Run , Also called Run Johnny Run)
5. Preacher And The Bear ( likely from Riley Puckett, this was a hugely popular song recorded around 1905 by either Arthur Collins or Byron Harlan, who were very big recording stars in the early days of the recording industry)
6. Jimmy And Johnny (no idea where this tune comes from)
7. Down In Union County (Roy Acuff often performed this in the late 30`s, Acuff was from Union County, Tennessee which is north east of Knoxville)
8. Why Do You Bob Your Hair Girls (from the Blind Alfred Reed 78)
9. Behind The Parlor Door (J.E. claims to have wrote this, but the Pickard Family had a tune similar to this, maybe J.E.`s inspiration for the tune, sort of a different interpitation of the Pickard`s tune)
10. State Of Arkansas (sort of a version of Uncle Dave Macon`s Misery In Arkansaw tune)
11. Girl I Love Don`t Pay Me No Mind (written and recorded by Fiddlin` Arthur Smith in the 30`s)
12. Cumberland Gap (the common old fiddle tune)
13. What`ll I Do With The Baby-O (Mainer`s record from the 30`s may have been the first)
14. Dixie Bee Line (this is, of course, the old Uncle Dave Macon tune)
15. From Jerusalem To Jericho (also known as an Uncle Dave Macon number)
16. I Killed Poor Liza Foster (likely inspired by the Grayson & Whitter 78 of Tom Dooley)
17. Living On The Farm (I have no idea where this comes from)
18. Whoa Mule Whoa (the common old fiddlin and banjo tune)
19. Chewing Gum (from the Carter Family version, not the Uncle Dave Macon tune)
20. Saving Up Coupons (sort of a popular tune during the depression, but I don`t know where it came from)

Click here to download J.E. Mainer - Volume 4

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