Both Kinds

October 7, 2011 8:42 AM

R. Crumb's Pioneers of Country Music

Dr. Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters -- Take Your Foot Out of the Mud

The Carter Family -- Worried Man Blues

Ernest Stoneman -- Old Joe Clark

Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters -- West Virginia Gals

Mumford Bean & His Itawambians -- The 12-year old Mumford Bean's only two sides are available to play at Juneberry.**^{Please see below.}

Frank Blevins & His Tar Heel Rattlers -- Nine Pound Hammer

Jimmie Rodgers -- Blue Yodel #1

Uncle Dave Macon & His Fruit-Jar Drinkers -- Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel

Hoyt Ming & His Pep Steppers -- Monkey in the Dogcart

Happy Hayseeds -- Cottonwood Reel

Red Patterson's Piedmont Log Rollers -- Battleship of Maine

Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers -- Hand Me Down My Walking Cane

Carter Brothers & Son -- Cotton-Eyed Joe

Taylor-Griggs Louisiana Melody Makers -- Where the Sweet Magnolias Bloom is available at Juneberry.**^{Please see below.}

The Tennessee Ramblers -- Tennessee Traveler

Harry "MAC" McClintock -- Big Rock Candy Mountains

Narmour & Smith -- Avalon Quickstep

Shelor Family -- Billy Grimes, The Rover

Burnett & Rutherford -- Short Life of Trouble

Ted Gossett's String Band -- Eighth of January

Fiddlin' Doc Roberts Trio -- Ninety-Nine Years

Earl Johnson & His Dixie Entertainers -- Ain’t Nobody’s Business

Jimmie Johnson's String Band -- Soap in the Washpan

Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters -- John Brown’s Dream

Fiddlin' John Carson & His Virginia Reelers -- Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down

Eck Robertson & Family -- Sallie Gooden

Crockett Kentucky Mountaineers -- In The Shade of the Old Apple Tree

Paul Miles & His Red Fox Chasers -- The Arkansas Traveler

South Georgia Highballers -- Blue Grass Twist is available at Juneberry.**^{Please see below.}

Fiddlin' Powers & Family -- Ida Red
(A 1977 Interview with Ada Powers from Fiddlin’ Powers & Family)

Ray Brothers -- Friday Night Waltz is available at Juneberry.**^{Please see below.}

Leake County Revelers -- Make Me a Bed on the Floor

Wilmer Watts -- Knocking Down Casey Jones

Weems String Band -- Greenback Dollar

Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers -- White House Blues

East Texas Serenaders -- Mineola Rag

Fiddlin' Bob Larkin & His Music Makers -- Kansas City Reel

Shepherd Brothers -- The Peddler and His Wife

Dock Boggs -- Country Blues

Roane County Ramblers -- Roane County Rag and Everybody Two Step are both available at Juneberry.**^{Please see below.}


**Please search the page for the tunes. There are some strange scripts on the actual song pages that cripple Firefox on a Mac. They seem to play fine on Chrome or FF on Windows, or you can directly save the MP3.

posted by OmieWise (19 comments total)

I'm a bit non-plussed. Like his Bluesmen card set, I wish he would have put some effort and thought into a genuine Crumb-style caricature for each of these musicians and groups, and not just a sketch of a photograph.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:45 AM on October 7, 2011

When you kiiiiilled me...
...Iiiii diiiiiiiiiiiied
(kiiiiiilled meeeee iiiii diiiiiied)
posted by fetamelter at 8:51 AM on October 7, 2011

Man, some of those bands have fantastic names, the "Fruit Jar Drinkers," the "Piedmont Log Rollers"? Awesome.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:52 AM on October 7, 2011

I've seen the source photos for a number of these. Crumb has infused his renderings with something indefinable, affection perhaps, giving them a depth I don't see in the photos. I can't wait to do me some listenin' later on.

Thanks for posting... I knew Crumb did work like this but haven't seen much of it. Really beautiful work.
posted by kinnakeet at 8:56 AM on October 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

I did an earlier post about the Heroes of the Blues cards.
posted by OmieWise at 8:58 AM on October 7, 2011

Nice sequel post!

And I'll reprise my suggestion that people pick up all the Heroes of the Blues and Country in one nice book (with a great CD featuring a handful of the artists). Worth every penny.
posted by JBennett at 9:06 AM on October 7, 2011

"South Georgia Highballers" Wow.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 9:38 AM on October 7, 2011

I love the idea, and I love R Crumb, so I hope I don't sound like I'm just ragging on the post, but I wish Facebook wouldn't save all jpegs at quality=0.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:41 AM on October 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

He doesn't do 'caricatures' of the artists because he is trying to show them genuine respect, I think. You just can't touch those early American musicians!
posted by 200burritos at 10:19 AM on October 7, 2011

OMG these are amazing. Thank you!
posted by spitbull at 10:25 AM on October 7, 2011

For those of you who have not heard all of these before - don't miss the Weems String Band, really. A cool bottom-heavy grinding sound, that makes them different from most other recorded hillbilly bands of the era.
posted by sheldman at 10:38 AM on October 7, 2011

These are great! I can only hope that Early Jazz Greats is next?
posted by TheCoug at 1:08 PM on October 7, 2011

R. Crumb is a national fucking hero. This is on my DO WANT list as of now (And his Book of Genesis which will go into a Forbidden Knowledge Hope Chest that I will give to my firstborn son the day he turns 12. Or something like that).
posted by Doleful Creature at 2:46 PM on October 7, 2011

Now this is the set that I actually own. The actual physical set of cards. So I'm not gonna favorite this post.

Actually, nah... still gonna favorite! Great job rounding up the various links, OmieWise!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:37 PM on October 7, 2011

"Crumb Blues" = 4 million results on Google. Is it a Metafilter post every time someone on Facebook posts something ubiquitous? Or, if we see something interesting on Facebook or Twitter, could we go the extra mile or the extra four minutes to make it Best of the Web instead of Best of Mark Zuckerberg or Best of Jack Dorsey?
posted by FLAG (BASTARD WATER.) (Acorus Adulterinus.) at 1:05 AM on October 8, 2011

FLAG etc - you may have missed the fact that this is not just links to the Crumb cards, but also links to recordings by each band. Very much worth listening to.
posted by sheldman at 8:32 AM on October 8, 2011

The blues post set a high standard for Number of Album Purchases Directly Inspired By a Mefi Post, for me at least. And I don't even care about the cards.

This one has me listening to country music, against all odds.
posted by vanar sena at 9:44 AM on October 8, 2011

could we go the extra mile or the extra four minutes to make it Best of the Web instead of Best of Mark Zuckerberg or Best of Jack Dorsey?

OmieWise spent a lot more than four minutes compiling those excellent music links.

So, what's really needed, see, is for you to stop and think for, say, four minutes (if not longer) before posting poorly aimed and completely unjustified comments.

And thanks again for the great post, OmieWise.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:49 PM on October 8, 2011

Maybelle is not pregnant in this rendering! In the original she pretty well is. He gets credit, though, for including her pre-Gibson L5 guitar. I can't find a still of the picture, but here it is on "Don't Forget This Song." Bonus: interview with Maybelle in which she mentions the Fruit Jar Drinkers.
posted by skbw at 8:24 PM on October 8, 2011