A

2LP ANTHOLOGY

31 CLASSIC PE"FO"MANCES

STEREO

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SIDE 1 COUNTRY BLUES

1. SHAKE EM ON DOWN i Fred McDowell

Fred McDowell vocal & guitar. Recorded in Como, Mississippi, on February 13th, 1964 by Chris Strach itz. Ffom Arhoolie LP 1021. , 2. SUGAR BABE

Mance Lipscomb Mance Lipscomb-vocal and guitar. Recorded in Navasota, Texas, on June 30, 1960, by Chris Strachwitz and Mack McCormick. From Arhoolie LP 1001.

3. NEW TRIFLIN' WOMAN Black Ace

Black Ace-vocal and steel guitar. Recorded in Fort Worth, Texas, on August 14th, 1960, by Chris Strachwitz and Paul Oliver. From Arhoolie LP 1003.

4. JULY BOOGIE Alex Moore

Alex Moore-vocal and piano. Recorded on July 30, 1960, in Dallas, Texas, by Chris Strachwitz and Paul Oliver. From Arhoolie LP 1008.

5. GREYSTONE BLUES Big Joe Williams

Big Joe Williams-vocal and nine string guitar. Re­corded in Los Gatos, California, on October 5th, 1960, by Chris Strachwitz and Richard Garvin. From Arhoolie LP 1002.

6. ROBERTA Lil Son Jackson

Lil Son Jackson-vocal and guitar. Recorded in Dallas, Texas, on July 10, 1960, by Chris Strach­witz. From Arhoolie LP 1004.

7. GOING DOWN IN GEORGIA ON A HORN John Jackson

John Jackson-vocal and guitar. Recorded in Fair­fax Station, Va., on April 19, 1965, by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 1025.

8. NO MORE HARD TIMES Guitar Slim & Jelly Belly

Guitar Slim & Jelly Belly- vocals and guitars (Alec Seward & Fat Boy Hayes). Recorded in New York in the early 1950's. From Arhoolie LP 2005.

9. RIVER BLUES Lowell Fulson

Lowell Fulson-vocal and guitar; Martin Fulson-

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SIDE 2 CITY BLUES

WALKED DOWN SO MANY TURNROWS Mercy Dee

Mercy Dee-vocal and piano; Sidney Maiden-har­monica; K. C. Douglas-guitar; Otis Cherry-drums. Recorded in Stockton, California, on February 5, 1961, by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 1007.

2. GOING BACK TO THE COUNTRY Juke Boy Bonner

Juke Boy Bonner-vocal, harmonica and guitar. Recorded in Houston, Texas, on January 23, 1968, by Bill Holford at ACA Studios. From Arhoolie LP 1036.

3. TOM MOORE BLUES Lightning Hopkins

Lightning Hopkins-vocal and guitar. Recorded in Houston, Texas, on December 18, 1967, by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 1034.

4. UNLUCKY GIRL Big Mama Thornton

Big Mama Thornton-vocal; Big Walter Horton­harmonica; Buddy Guy-guitar; Eddie Boyd-piano and organ; Jimmy Robinson-bass; Fred Below­drums. Recorded in London, England, on October 20, 1965, by Chris Strachwitz at Wessex Studios. From Arhoolie LP 1028.

5. LOUISIANA BLUES Clifton Chenier

Clifton Chenier-vocal and accordion; Cleveland Chenier-rubboard; Madison Guidry-drums. Re­corded in Houston, Texas, on May 11, 1965, by Chris Strachwitz at Gold Star Studios. From Ar­hoolie LP 1024.

6. I KNOW YOU HEAR ME CALLING Larry Williams

Larry Williams-vocal and guitar; Curley Cormier­guitar; Piano Slim- organ; plus bass and drums. Re­corded in Pasadena, Texas, on December 12, 1966, by Chris Strachwitz at Pasadena Sound Studios. From Arhoolie LP 1039.

7. WILD WILD WOMAN Johnny Young

Johnny Young-vocal and guitar; James Cotton­harmonica; Otis Spann-piano; Jimmy Lee Morris­bass; S. P. Leary- drums. Recorded in Chicago, Illinois, on November 22, 1965, by Pete Welding at Sound Studios. From Arhoolie LP 1029.

,__ __ - -------------~ rhythm guitar. Recorded in Los Angeles in the I early 1950's. From Arhoolie LP 2003.

- --------Photos on cover-reading clockwise beJ nning at 12 o'clock: Mance Lipscomb, Big Mama Thornton, Lightning Hopkins, Fred McDowell, John Jackson, Nathan Abshire, Juke Boy Bonner, Bukka White, Rev. Overstreet, DelMcCoury, Johnny Young& Big Walter, Clifton Chenier, Kid Thomas, J.E. Mainer.

COVER: Wayne Pope Edited & produced by Chris Strachwitz

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SIDE 3 GOSPEL & JAZZ

JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS TO SAVE THE WORLD Bukka White

Bukka White vocal and guitar. Recorded in Berk­eley, Calif. on November 26th, 1963 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 1019.

2. AMAZING GRACE Jesse Fuller

Jesse Fuller-guitar solo. Recorded in Oakland, Calif. on April 22, 1955 by Tom Spinosa and Norman Pierce. From Arhoolie LP 2009.

3. l'M A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF THE LORD Rev. Overstreet

Rev. Overstreet vocal and guitar with his four sons. Recorded at St. Luke Powerhouse Church of God in Christ in Phoenix, Ariz. on December 15, 1962 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 1014.

4. THE MA GRINDER Robert Shaw

Robert Shaw-piano solo. Recorded in Austin, Texas in March of 1963 by Mack McCormick. From Arhoolie.LP 1010.

5. EH LA BAS Kid Thomas

Kid Thomas (Valentine) trumpet and his New Orleans Jazz Band: Louis Nelson-trombone; Manuel Paul-tenor sax; Joe James-piano; George Guesnon-banjo and vocal; Sammy Penn-drums; and Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau-bass. Recorded in New Orleans on May 24th, 1959 by Mike Slatter. From Arhoolie LP !1!016.

6. OLD PINEY BROWN'S GONE Joe Turner

Joe Turner vocal with Pete Johnson-piano; James Ross & Art Farmer- trumpets; Frank Sleet-alto sax; Pete Peterson-tenor sax; Milburn Newman­Baritone sax; Addison Farmer-bass; Robert Brady -drums. Recorded in Los Angeles, Calif. in 1949. From Arhoolie LP 2004.

7. NISABA IN THE GRASS Luna

Luna with Lee Cronbach piano and leader; Pat Wallace-bass clarinet; Gabriel Stem-flute; Har­vey P. Warren-violin; Ed Epstein-tenor sax; Tom Koosis-alto sax; Mike Vannice-alto sax; Bill Hannaford-bass; Ellsworth Johnson- drums. Rec­orded in Berkeley, Calif. in August of 1967 by Chris Strachwitz at Sierra Sound Studios. From Arhoolie LP 8001.

©1968 by Arhoolie Records Send 25¢ for our complete LP catalog. Box 9195 Berkeley, Calif. 94719

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SIDE4 COUNTRY, CAJUN, & FOLK:

RUN MOUNTAIN J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers

J.E. Mainer vocal and fiddle; J.E. Jr.-vocal and guitar; Glenn Mainer-banjo; Carolyn Mainer Wilson-guitar; Earl Cheeks- b~ss; Otis Overcash­mandolin. Recorded in Concord, N. C. on April 7th, 1963 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 5002.

2. DREAMS Del McCoury

Del McCoury vocal and guitar; Bill Emerson­banjo & vocal; Billy Baker-fiddle; Wayne Yates -mandolin and vocal; Dewey Renfro-bass. Rec­orded in Glenrock. Pa. on December 10th, 1967 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 5006.

3. CARROLL COUNTY BLUES The Hodges Brother:s

The Hodges Brothers: Felix Hodges-fiddle; Ralph Hodges-mandolin; James Hodges-guitar; John White-bass. Recorded at WAPF in McComb, Miss. on July 19th, 1960 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 5001.

4. CROWLEY WALTZ Luderin Darbone

Luderin Darbone & the Hackberry Ramblers: Luderin Darbone-fiddle; Lennis Sonnier-guitar and vocal; Edwin Duhon-bass. Recorded in Sulphur, La. on April 14th, 1963 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 5003.

5. CAJUN TWO STEP Nathan Abshire

Nathan Abshire-accordion and vocal; Dewey Balfa-fiddle; Rodney Balfa-guitar; Basile Marcentel-triangle. Recorded at the Cajun Frontier Bar in Basil, La. on May 15th, 1966 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 4002.

6. ONCE I HAD A SWEETHEART Alice Stuart

Alice Stuart vocal and guitar. Recorded in Berk­eley, Calif. at Sierra Sound Studios in July of 1964 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 4002.

7. CHARLES GITEAU Crabgrass

Crabgrass: Dave Fredrickson-vocal & guitar; Toni Brown- vocal and guitar; Pete Berg- mandolin; Art Koch-fiddle; Steve Talbot-harmonica. Recorded in Berkeley, Calif. in 1963 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 4001.

8. BABY PLEASE DON'T GO James Campbell

James Campbell & his Nashville Street Band: James Campbell-vocal and guitar; Beauford Clay-fiddle; Bell Ray-banging fiddle bow on tuba; Ralph Robinson-tuba; George Bell-trumpet. Recorded in Nashville,Tenn. on October 26th, 1962 by Chris Strachwitz. From Arhoolie LP 1015.

American popular music has undergone in recent years a series of changes so radical, far-reaching and significant that its character and substance have been altered out of all recognition. So vast and profound- and so obvious- have been these changes that the mass media have taken to endlessly discussing the "revolution" in popular music, viewing rock ( or what they term "the new music") as a symptom, or at least a corollary, of the recently emergent hippie ethic, along with such other symptoms as "the new morality," and "the new life style ," and so on.

Whether popular music is truly in the throes of a revolution or whether it is merely going through the normal processes of or­ganic growth proper to any popular art is much to early to determine with any accu­racy. What is apparent (and important) , how­ever, is that contemporary popular music­under whatever banner it elects to march: "acid rock," "hard rock," "folk rock," etc.­is possessed of an excitement, a creative fer­ment, a freshness and experimental vitality that are und.eniable, and which are doubly striking after the watery gruel Tin Pan Alley has so monotonously served the American

,-public for so many decades. Rock is nothing if not hardy, exuberant, lively, and for these reasons its conquest has been as complete as it has been sudden.

That its emergence should have struck so many listeners as a revolutionary develop­ment is perhaps not particularly surprising, nor is it surprising that rock should have wrought such a total victory in so brief a time. "The very swiftness of the develop­ment indicates its real nature," writes Albert Goldman in an interesting essay "The Emer­gence of Rock" in the New American Review Number Three. He goes on, "Unlike other popular arts, rock has not been forced to spin its substance out of itself. Instead, it has acted like a magnet, drawing into its field a host of heterogeneous materials that has fal­len quickly into patterns. No other cultural force in rhodern times has possessed its pow­er of synthesis."

Along with other types of American pop­ular music, past and present, rock is an amal­gam, a synthesis of a number of the richest strains of native music produced by any nation: the strong, exciting, vibrant country and urban folksong traditions nurtured in the United States over the last three centu­ries. In rock there come together and are fused in an electronic flash such diverse mu­sical idioms as Negro blues and gospel song, jazz old and new, hillbilly and modern coun­try-and-western music, Tin Pan Alley-styled song, rhythm-and-blues , rock-and-roll, swing band music, and "soul" music, as well as a number of specifically regional folksong styles as those of the French-speaking Cajuns and the Mexican-American subcultures, among others. Rock, quite simply, takes its materials from anywhere and everywhere ; its freshness and spontaneity are of the "let's­try-this-and-see-if-it-works" variety of prag­matic experimentation. No holds barred, in other words.

Rock is peculiarly, distinctively American in character ( despite a proliferation of British rock groups) simply because it is a thorough­ly democratic music: its lineage cuts across all r_acial, ethnic, economic and cultural lines.

Though this was, and is, equally true of jazz, America's other great musical contribution to the world, it assumes far greater impor­tance in the case of rock, simply by virtue of rock's huge international following, its vast hold upon youth everywhere.

"Rather than either lowering or elevating us, rock has served to equalize cultural pres­sures and forces ," Goldman notes. " It has cleared a channel from the lowest and most archaic to the highest and most recent, and through that conduit is now flowing a revi­talizing current of energy and of ideas. The result has been the elevation of rock to the summit of popular culture and the acceler­ating expansion of its interests and resources."

In its pluralism, naturalness and total lack of prejudice, our popular music might well stand as the living affirmation of those prin­ciples upon which the Republic was founded. Its one-out-of-many character is clearly in­dicated in this present program of 31 per­formances , which sets out in handy and handsome order the full range of traditional American folk musics, those very "interests and resources" which have contributed to the current flowering of popular song and which serve, in a very real sense, as its roots land touchstone of reality.

Further, this body of 31 performances­all drawn from the large Arhoolie catalog of traditional folksong recordings- stands in a very special relationship to contemporary popular music. The recordings were made, and the Arhoolie (an old southern Negro term for a field holler of special plaintive­ness) label was started in the first place in response to a demand for authentic folksong recordings. A sizeable audience for this kind of genuine , undiluted musical expression had been created by the so-called folk music "re­vival" of slightly more than a decade ago.

Actually , "arrival" would be a far more accurate term to describe what occurred. It was simply that a number of musical idioms which had existed for many years in isolated rural areas of America, primarily in the Southern states, suddenly reached the ears, and touched the hearts and minds of large numbers of young city-dwellers. It may well be that these songs fell upon urban ears as quaint or exotic, and inspired in the breasts of urban youths a romantic yearning for the simple, uncomplicated life with which the songs dealt and in which they were centered. (Goldman suggests something of the sort : "The youth of the swing era," he writes, "thought they knew who they were; today's youth has no such illusion. But lacking any clear-cut sense of identity has only made them more keenly aware of everyone else's. Rock is, in one sense, a direct reflection of their hunger for the essence of every people or period that displays a striking or exotic style. The Rock Age has assimilated every­'thing in sight, commencing with the whole of American music . . .. ")

Starting with an appreciation of the songs of the southern rural folk , the urban folk­song audience soon developed a taste for the authentic style of performance. Many of the performers of the older styles of hillbilly music and Negro blues were sought out and, once re-discovered, brought out of retire­ment, obscurity or both to perform their stir­ring old music to an appreciative audience of northern listeners two to three generations

their juniors. The original 78-rpm recordings, many of them quite rare, on which the fame of these old musicians rested, were reissued on LP. A performance circuit of coffee houses, college auditoria, and "festival" stages rapidly developed, and such veteran performers as Big Joe Williams, Jesse Fuller, Bukka White , Lightning Hopkins, and J.E. Mainer, am~ng others heard here, found their music enthusiastically received by a new, young audience.

Moreover, previously unknown workers in the older folksong traditions were dis­covered and brought to the attention of urban listeners. Among these newly-found tradition bearers are such important folk artists as Negro songsters Mance Lipscomb and John Jackson, blues singers Fred McDowell and Juke Boy Bonner, gospel singer Rev. Overstreet, bluegrass performer Del McCoury, and many others.

Once initiated, the youngsters discovered a wealth of musical styles, the existence of which they had scarcely suspected. Who could have thought that American folk mu­sic would have been so rich and varied? In addition to the widely popular country blues and southern white mountain music, urban listeners soon found their way to the more modern string-band style, bluegrass; discovered the powerful, exciting dance music of the French-speaking Cajuns ( cor­ruption of Acadian) of the Louisiana bayou country, and the Texas Negro form of this idiom, Zydeco ; listened to the wild strains of the Norteno music of the Texas-Mexico border; took to their hearts the modern, electrically amplified ensemble blues styles developed in the postwar years, and found hitherto unsuspected virtues in the contem­porary country-and-western and Negro "soul" musics.

The next step was to be expected. Many of the young northern listeners became prac­titioners of these musical styles as well, and soon had attained to degrees of vocal and instrumental proficiency that were aston­ishing, given their removal in time and place from the settings that had produced the

, original musics. When these young singers and instrumentalists began to turn their at­tention to the creation of a music of their own, they quite naturally gravitated to the popular music form with which they had grown up, rock-and-roll. However, to it they annealed various borrowings from the tradi­,tional folk music stylings they had heard and enjoyed. In this fusion of musical styles, the children of the urban folksong move­ment began to grope their way toward a new music that sensitively and interestingly juxta­posed the old and the new, the country and the city, in the creation of a musical form that had the power and contemporaneity of the electric rock-and-roll ensemble and the delicacy, poetic expressiveness, lack of pretension, and unselfconscious artistry of the older folksong idioms. A period of in­tense creative ferment and imaginative ex erimentation in popular music was ushered in. The sudden emergence of rock signaled that the times were, indeed, a­changing.

What rock and the new popular music constituted was not so much a revolution (in the sense of a total or radical change in the existing order) as a re-ordering, a realignment

of a number of elements that were available in contemporary American culture and which had not been organized into quite those particular combinations before. By reinterpreting certain ideas and values asso­ciated with the older folk musics in contem­porary instrumental and musical forms, and by reinvesting the present with the strength, individuality and vitality of the past, an interesting new set of conjunctions was set up , and a new lease on life given rock-and­roll. The roots of America's native music were used to reanimate current musical growth, the cross-pollination of these older and newer strains supporting and nourishing the flowering of a vigorous new hybrid.

Actually, a whole raft of hybrids resulted from these experiments, almost as many new strains, in fact, as there were experi­menters. The range of permutations that the fusion of old and new genres would support was virtually limitless; the sole limit would appear to be that imposed by the skill, taste and imagination of the musicians involved. The range was broad too, from the simplest electrically-amplified adaptation of an old country blues to the most elaborate studio­contrived recording confection which drew upon a large number of musical genres and all the electronic wizardry of modern re­cording technology.

But the basic elements with which today's young musical iconoclasts work are to be found in this appealing set of recordings. These 31 selections represent virtually every important folksong genre that has been developed in America, from the sim­plest country music styles to the most sophisticated urban extensions of them, from the most strongly personal and orig­inal of expressions to the most fixed forms of traditional narrative song, and encom­passing every combination in between these 'two poles.

The oldest and most individualized strains of country blues could hardly be better illustrated than by Big Joe Williams' powerful "Greystone Blues" or Melvin "Lil Son" Jackson's "Roberta," while a different type of personalization occurs on Fred McDowell's gripping version of "Shake Em on Down," a song originally associated with another Mississippi bluesman, Bukka White. However, McDowell invests the song with the impress of his own strong person­ality and reinterprets it in light of his own experience, so that, while what goes in is White's song, what comes out is pure McDowell.

Though blues is predominantly a music of personalized expression, other types of Negro folksong reflect a more communal nature and purpose, Texan Mance Lipscomb's "Sugar Babe" and Virginian John Jackson's "Going Down in Georgia on a Horn" being excellent examples of this more formalized traditional music. Most religious song is like­wise conventionalized, though it does permit a large measure of extemporization. The songs are more regular in their structures, however, than are country blues, and often employ a different musical structure than the blues' 12-bar, three-chord format. Bukka White's "Jesus Died on the Cross" is an admirable example of the powerful type of religious song of the country church service, while Jesse Fuller's "Amazing Grace" is

much closer to urban style. Rev. Overstreet's volcanic "I'm a Soldier" fuses the older country religious song style with the rapid­tempoed, jazz-based gospel song approach developed in Pentecostal churches in the early years of this century.

The major differences between the Negro blues of the country and the city are admir­ably documented on the recordings con­tained on Sides 1 and 2 of this set. The basic differences are of structure and tonal organization. The country blues, you may note, are much rougher in texture, much less regular in their metrical structure, and use as their basis of musical organization a modal system, generally of five notes, at least two of which are attacked ambiguously, with considerable variation in pitch (the so-called "blue notes"). The accompanying instru­mental lines partake of this same tonal pattern, and as such may be said to repre­sent a relatively free, vocalized approach to playing.

The city blues style, on the other hand, is regular in its structures, most often em­ploying the 12-bar pattern, and is organized harmonically through an adherance to the tonic-subdominant-dominant pattern. This is as the result of two forces. The first is one born of necessity; urban blues often were played by small ensembles of instrumental­ists who required a recurrent structural unit if they were to play successfully in concert. The second is the influence of the phonograph record and the growth of a commerical blues recording and entertain­ment industry, both of which exerted tre­mendous pressures towards conformity upon the city blues musicians. In the years before World War II most of the instruments used in these small bands were of the acoustic variety; in the late l 940's, however, electric amplification became a standard feature of the various blues bands in the northern cities which were the centers of blues recording. This added a new dimension to blues style­as is illustrated here in such selections as Big Mama Thornton's "Unlucky Girl," Johnny Young's "Wild Wild Woman," and Larry Williams more recently-styled "I Know You Hear Me Calling" - and eventu­ally led to the development of rhythm-and­blues and, later, rock-and-roll.

Incidentally, the use of the piano in blues ensembles further stimulated the adoption of the standard 12-bar, three-chord harmonic approach and to the gradual supplanting of the older, more irregular and vocally-centered country blues styles. Robert Shaw's "The Ma Grinder" offers a fascinating glimpse of an older style of piano blues, while Mercy Dee Walton's "Walked Down So Many Turn Rows" indicates the more usual ensemble wle of the piano in blues.

The ongoing influence of jazz is illus­trated here by the inclusion of two jazz performances very closely related to the roots of Negro folksong-the vocalized in­strumental jazz of New Orleans (perhaps the most "folk" of all jazz idioms) is represented by the wild, stirring music of trumpeter Kid Thomas Valentine and his group of New Orleans veterans, while the full-throated shouting of Kansas City's Joe Turner and s small band support indicate the close fusi of jazz and blues which was a traditional feature of the Negro bands of the south-

western states. The so-called avant-garde jazz of recent years has marked a return to a much more vocalized orientation in this sophisticated instrumental music, as is suggested here by the performance of "Nisaba in the Grass" by the young San Francisco group Luna, which combines elements of contemporary jazz and popular musics.

While the influence of Negro styles was most pronounced in the development of rhythm-and-blues, white country-and­western music was a crucial component of the so-called "rockabilly" or, as it was later and more popularly titled, rock-and-roll style that was developed in the mid-l 950's. The roots of country-and-western music are here suggested by a number of recordings­J.E. Mainer's "Run Mountain" indicates the older southern highland string-band style based in Anglo-American folksong traditions; the Hodges Brothers' "Carroll County Blues" represents a later permutation and refine­ment of this basic approach, while the most recent traditional string band approach is here indicated by the smooth bluegrass sty lings of Del McCoury ("Dreams"). This string band tradition underwent an inter­esting transformation at the hands (and throats) of the French-speaking Cajuns of Louisiana, who evolved a striking synthesis of Anglo-American and French musics in such pieces as the Hackberry Ramblers' "Crowley Waltz" and Nathan Abshire's "Cajun Two-Step." This musical style under­went yet another permutation when it was melded with blues by the French-speaking Negroes of Louisiana and Texas; Clifton Chenier's wildly impassioned "Louisiana Blues" admirably illustrates both the Cajun and blues traditions at the roots of the Texas "Zydeco" style. The accordion, incidentally, is an instrument traditionally associated with Cajun music.

The sty lings of the urban folksong· per­formers- those youngsters who learned to emulate the older folk styles and who later were responsible for the development of rock and other contemporary popular musics-are here illustrated by two perfor­mances by young Californians, Alice Stuart's "Once I Had A Sweetheart" and the blue­grass sty lings of Crabgrass in "Charles Gitteau."

- Pete Welding August, 1968

THE ARTISTS

FRED McDOWELL born January 12, 1904 (prob­ably). Lives in Como, Miss. and is the best living bottle-neck guitarist. Made his first recordings for Alan Lomax and has been a favorite at the New­port, Chicago, & Berkeley Folk Festivals. Has played many clubs and toured Europe in 1965 with the American Folk Blues Festival.

MANCE LIPSCOMB born April 9, 1895 in the Brazos River bottom lands near Navasota, Texas. Developed his own guitar style which is also in the Texas Tradition. Share-cropped most of his life. Became best known local songster and musician. Was first recorded in 1960 for Arhoolie Records. Has appeared at many Festivals and folk music clubs throughout the country.

BLACK ACE born Babe Karo Lemon Turner in ' 1905 in East Texas. Calls himself B. K. Turner. Became known as Black Ace while doing radio broadcasts in the 1930's when he also made his fust recordings. Learned his unique steel guitar style mostly from Oscar Woods. Lives today in Ft. Worth, Texas.

ALEX MOORE grew up· in North Dallas, Texas where he still lives today. Made first records in 1929. One of the most fascinating and eccentric

pianists to live through the wild days of barrel­houses and rent-parties.

BIG JOE WILLIAMS born October 16, 1903 (prob­ably) as Joe Lee Williams near Crawford, Miss. Made first records in 1929 and continued to be active with his rough and uncompromising Delta blues style. One of the most forceful blues singers. Has made many appearances at Folk Festivals and clubs and toured Europe on several occasions.

LIL SON JACKSON born Melvin Jackson August 17, 1916 near Tyler, Texas. Farmed until after • World War II when he made his first records and became a professional singer. A successful recording artist in the 1950's when down-home blues were at their zenith in popularity. Gave up music in the late 50's but recorded once more for Arhoolie in 1960.

JOHN JACKSON born in 1924 in Rapahannock County, Virginia. Has farmed most of his life and worked at odd jobs. Played guitar for his own amusement. In 1964 met Chuck Perdue by acci­dent and has since appeared at folk music clubs and festivals including Chicago, Newport, and Philadelphia among o thers.

GUITAR SLIM & JELLY BELLY. Guitar Slim is Alec Seward (the smoother voice) born in 1901 in Newport News, Va. Jelly Belly is Fat Boy Hayes (the rougher voice) born in 1912 in Asheville, N. C. Got acquainted in New York City in the 40's and recorded as the Backporch Boys, The Blues Boys, & Guitar Slim & Jelly Belly. Their style is in the Carolina-East Coast tradition of Blind Boy Fuller and Brownie McGhee.

LOWELL FULSON born in 1921 in Oklahoma. Went to Texas and started to play in a string band in 1938. Later accompanied Texas Alexander. After service during World War II in the navy found him­self on the West Coast where he made his first records and established himself as one of the most popular blues singers in California.

MERCY DEE born Mercy Dee Walton August 13, 1915 in Waco, Texas-died in Stockton, Calif. Dec. 2, 1962. One of the best Texas blues pianists. Moved to California and gained some success in the 50's with his record of " One Room Country Shack".

JUKE BOY BONNER born Weldon Bonner March 22, 1932 near Bellville, Texas. One of the few younger blues singers in the older style. Grew up with the music of Lightning Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, etc. An excellent poet and has developed his own gui!ar and harmonica style~.

LIGHTNING HOPKINS born Sam Hopkins March 15, 1912 near Centerville, Texas. The most famous Texas blues singer since Blind Lemon Jefferson. Began a prolific recording career in the late l 940's. In the 1960's became well known to folk music audiences. Has made concert and club appearances and toured Europe in 1964 with the American Folk Blues Festival but prefers to stay at home in Houston, Texas.

BIG MAMA THORNTON born Willie Mae Thorn­ton in Alabama. Moved to Houston, Texas where she made her first records and gained some fame in 1953 with "Hound Dog" by Lieber and Stoller who handed her the song scribbled on a paper bag at the session! Has been on the West Coast since 1956. In recent years has gained some recognition as one of the very best female blues singers at Festivals and clubs and toured Europe in 1965 with the American Folk Blues Festival.

CLIFTON CHENIER born June 25, 1925 near Opelousas, La. Grew up with Cajun music and heard Blues in the 1940's. Mixed the two into a style referred to as Zydeco. Is the best accordion player in this idiom and appears at dances and clubs along the Louisiana-Texas Gulf Coast. In the 1950's toured with R&B shows and recently has appeared at the Berkeley Blues Festival, at the Ava­lon Ballroom in San Francisco and at the Ashgrove in Los Angeles.

LARRY WILLIAMS is a young Houston, Texas guitarist-singer who grew up admiring T-Bone Walker, Lowell Fulson, etc. A very gifted song writer he has worked around Houston for a num­ber of years. His " I know you hear me calling" was also recorded by Little Johnny Taylor.

JOHNNY YOUNG born January 1, 1917 in Vicks­burg, Miss. Moved to Chicago in 1940 and worked with the late John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. In recent years with the renewed interest in the older blues he has appeared at various Folk Festi­vals and clubs.

BUKKA WHITE born November 12, 1906 near Houston, Miss. One of the most inventive poets in the blues idiom-says about his songs: " I just

reach up and pull them out of the sky". Began to record in the late 20's and in rece\-Jt years has appeared at folk festivals and clubs and toured Europe in 1967.

JESSE FULLER born March 12, 1896 (probablyJ m Jonesboro, Georgia. Is a one-man band and has experienced the entire development of the blues. His repertoir, like that of Mance Lipscomb, is very broad and reflects the entire spectrum of music heard in the South at the turn of the cen­tury. Moved to Oakland, Calif. in 1929. Began appearing at folk clubs and festivals in the early 1950's and has toured a great deal since then including a couple of trips to Europe.

REV. OVERSTREET born April 1, 1921 near Lakeland, La. Began singing with quartets. In 1938 had a vision telling him to get a Bible and guitar and preach the gospel in the streets. Has developed his own unique guitar style and tuning. In 1961 moved to Phoenix, Ariz.

ROBERTSHAW born Augu'st 9, 1908 in Stafford, Texas. Played barrelhouses and bars all over the South-West. Settled in Austin to run a barbecue place and dance hall and today operates a grocery store. Probably the best living barrelhouse pianist.

KID THOMAS born in 1896 near New Orleans, La. Is one of the best of the New Orleans jazz musicians to stay behind in the 1920's when King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, & others moved North to gain fame and recording contracts. Has continued to play at dances and parades and in recent years appeared at Preservation Hall and at concerts.

JOE TURNER born in Kansas City May 18, 1911. Began as a singing waiter and became one of the best city blues shouters. Was joined by Pete John­son and in 1938 appeared at Carnegie Hall for John Hammond. In the 1950's became a well known R&B singer.

LUNA under the leadership of Lee Cronbach, a young pianist devoted to the new music, is a modern music ensemble comprised of eleven young Berkeley musicians who are also deeply dedicated to the new music which offers a great deal of freedom of expression.

1. E. MAINER born July 20, 1898 near Weaver­ville, N. C. Has played music all his life and made many records in the 30's with his brother Wade. Later on his own continued to record and broad­cast all over the Sou th. Has developed a unique fiddle style and continues to play-lives in Con­cord, N. C.

DEL McCOURY grew up in North Carolina. Moved to York County, Pa. and comes from a musical family. Joined Bill Monroe 's Bluegrass BOYS in 1963. Today leads his own group and plays dances and theatres. One of the best Blue-grass singers around. ·

TH_E HODGES BROTHERS grew up near Bogue Ch1tto, Miss. and have been singing and playing together for over 20 years. Play at dances, picnics, church meetings, carnivals, etc. -wherever old time entertainment is needed.

LUDERIN DARBONE and the Hackberry Ram­blers became one of the most popular Cajun string bands in the l 930's and have continued to perform on week-ends ever since. Luderin Darbone devel­oped his own unique fiddle style and lives today in Sulphur, La.

NATHAN ABSHIRE born June 27th, 1913. Lives today in Basil, La. One of the best accordion players in the older Cajun style. Began to record in the 1930's and became well known in the 50's with his " Pinegrove Blues" (Ma Negresse). Con­tinues to be active in local dance halls and beer joints.

ALICE STUART comes from Seattle, Wash. and became interested in folk music during the early 1960's when all types of American ethnic music were enjoying considerable popularity. She ap­peared at the 1964 Berkeley Folk Music Festival and performs from time to time at various folk music gatherings.

CRABGRASS was also the result of the folk music boom of the early 1960's when interest in tradi­tional American music among young urbanites was at its peak. Crabgrass was the best string band to appear in the Berkeley area. Singer-guitarist Toni Brown at the time was also writing country songs. Today she is writing contemporary songs and working with her own group.

JAMES CAMPBELL born September 17. 1906 in Nashville, Tenn. Became a full-time street musi­cian in 1936 when as the result of an accident he lost his sight. This type of street band is today a rather rare occurrence but in years past must have been rather common in the South.