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MUSIC MAKER
THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT MUSIC MAKERS
Black & White Blues - Guitar Legends
Open Tunings - Guitar Pickups - CD Reviews
Recording Home & Studio - Historic Harp
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MUSIC MAKER ISSUE 132 £3.50
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MUSIC MAKER 132
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Cover - Pennyless at Nepenthe Studios
In this issue No 132
Pennyless at Nepenthe Recording Studios . . . . . . .5
Remote Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 - 7
The Harp with a Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Life after the Strawbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Exploring Forro Music and Dance . . . . . . . . . 11 - 12
Colin Roberts: Celtic Acoustic Warrior . . . . . . . . . 13
Black and White Blues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 - 16
Understanding Open Tunings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Recording - Home or Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 - 19
Lonnie Johnson - guitar solo pioneer . . . . . . 20 - 21
CD Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 - 23
Electric Guitar Pickups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 - 25
Microvox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Old Time Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Publisher
Brian Healey
Associate Editors
Paul Brett
Bryan Chalker
Contributors
Paul Brett
Bryan Chalker
Peter Stevenson
Barbara Sandbach
Ariella Uliano
Ed Dowling
Chris Jurgensen
Production
Candi Charlton
John Titone
IT Webmaster
Simon Hyde
Advertising & Promotion
Jonathan Edwards
Joe McGonville
Paul Touche
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MAKER
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www.musicmaker.org.uk
THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT MUSIC MAKERS
Black & White Blues - Guitar Legends
Open Tunings - Guitar Pickups - CD Reviews
Recording Home & Studio - Historic Harp
MUSIC MAKER ISSUE 132 £3.50
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011
Music Licensing – a
financial bonanza
for Local Councils
Asmall restaurant has just won permission
from Camden council to
provide an unamplified live guitarist
or harpist until 10pm: But wait a moment.
Why should provision of such innocuous
live music be made a criminal offence
unless licensed? Isn't it just the sort of
music that qualifies for the Licensing Act's
'incidental music' exemption? Indeed it is,
according to both local and central government
guidance:
'The music is incidental if it is NOT the primary
purpose for attending the premises
i.e. the performer is there whilst the public
are engaged in another (non-regulated
entertainment) activity and that other
activity would still take place even if there
was no music playing. The public must be
allowed to talk during the performance of
incidental music i.e. there should be no
expectation to listen or to watch (even if
the public spontaneously sing along with
the music).'
The government's own statutory licensing
guidance is broadly the same. The exemption
should apply if the music is not the
main attraction and the volume 'does not
predominate over other activities':
So why is Camden apparently ignoring
official guidance? Did they explain the
incidental music exemption to the licence
applicants? There is no mention of the
exemption in the press reports. Perhaps
the council is encouraged to over-regulate
by Coalition wavering over the small gigs
exemption. Also, recent Ministers' replies
to Parliamentary Questions on the subject
have been somewhat ambiguous.
On 29th November in the talking shop, the
evocatively named Baroness Garden of
Frognal answered Tim Clement-Jones'
question about the rationale for entertainment
licensing:
'... what risks to public safety or public
amenity arise from the performance of live
music in workplaces that are not adequately
covered by existing public safety
and nuisance legislation, irrespective of
licensing.'
The Baroness replied: 'The Government
believe that, in the light of specific health
and safety and fire and noise legislation to
address public safety and public nuisance,
it is not always necessary or proportionate
to require the additional layer of regulation
through the licensing regime. This is part
of our current thinking about how best to
deliver the coalition commitment to
remove red tape from live music and other
entertainment. However, before finalising
any proposals, it is important to test these
assumptions with relevant stakeholders,
and that is what we are doing ahead of
announcing our preferred solution.
Congratulations to the wiley civil servant
who penned that reply. It gives something
to both sides. Those against new exemptions
can use it to justify their position
(e.g. the Act's existing exemptions are
adequate); those for reform can take it as
a hint that more exemptions are being
seriously considered.
But on 30th November, an answer from
licensing minister John Penrose suggested
that the government is sliding back into
jobsworth jargon:
Mike Weatherley (Hove, Conservative): 'To
ask the Secretary of State for Culture,
Olympics, Media and Sport what plans he
has to reduce the (a) regulatory and (b)
administrative burden on organisers of
live music performances.
Penrose: 'We are currently considering
how to deliver the coalition commitment to
cut red tape and encourage the performance
of more live music, while ensuring
that there is appropriate protection for
local communities. We will continue to
have discussions with representatives
from the music industry, the Local
Government Association and others so
that we can find the best possible solution.’
That there is adequate public protection
from small gigs, irrespective of entertainment
licensing, should be obvious. How
else could big screen sport be exempt in
bars or indeed anywhere else.
From Hamish Birchall
3

Pennyless at Nepenthe
Recording Studios
by Barbara Sandbach
N
epenthe Recording Studios are a
local recording studio, based in the
village of Kings Cliffe, near
Peterborough. It is a small studio, with one
live room, though a spacious one, the
control room where Spike is the producer,
and a comfortable reception. Spike will build
a personal relationship with the artists who
use the studio and its services, and who
look to him for help and expertise in
creating their tracks. One such, Pennyless,
first came into the studio in autumn 2009 to
record a full album. Pennyless are Penny
Stevens, Les Woods and Graham Dale, on
fiddle, guitar, flute, whistle and percussion.
Banished from The Coach House Sessions
in 2007, Penny and Les retreated to a tiny
Lincolnshire Doomsday village where they were
pelted by Rooks and stared at by Hares. They
continued to play in market squares, pubs,
village halls, beaches, boats, festivals and
English country gardens until they met Graham
carrying his bag of motley percussion and wind
instruments. Graham gave them a sign; Les
had many signs already so instead he said
"Hey man, we're off to make our fortune, why
not join us and maketh our numbers three?"
Since then they are one, and spend many a
happy day playing about with folk tune
arrangements and generally making stuff up.
In 2009/10 Pennyless recorded their debut
MUSIC
MAKER
CD "In Spring and in Blue" in Nepenthe
Recording Studios, Kings Cliffe, with Spike as
engineer and Graham as a guest artist. This
album was financed solely by the money
earned busking over the summer of 2009! They
are now back in the studio recording a second
album as a full-blown trio with original material
from all three and their own arrangement s of
jiggety folk tunes.
Their repertoire includes American old timey
fiddle, Cajun, East European Gypsy, selfpenned
folk tunes and original songs with three
part harmonies drawing from three very
different musical backgrounds.
Graham has great interest in world music
and composition, with his other commitments
being Paspatou and string quartet Orphicon,
both based in Stamford, Lincolnshire. He has
played at Cropredy Festival with Vicky Clayton
and been on the world music st age at
Glastonbury!
Les comes from a rock background and has
played in Peterborough as part of the
Davison/Woods band and The Point and has
supported Squeeze and Billy Bragg. He has a
very wide range of musical influences which
have led him to working with the violin and flute
and writing his own music - John Renbourn
being one of the most important.
Penny on violin comes from a classical
background and a'cappella world music choirs.
From left to right: Graham Dale, Penny
Stevens and Les Woods of Pennyless with
studio manager Spike (front)
She fits somewhere in the middle between the
Zen Style of Graham on flute and the Mad
Hatter that is Les on guitar!
When Pennyless first came to Nepenthe
Recording Studios they were looking for a
place that was relaxed but most import antly,
focused. Penny says, “Spike works hard and
ceaselessly to meet our incredibly varied
needs, being very quick and inventive. W e feel
comfortable, have no distractions and work
very much in partnership with him to produce
numbers ranging from live acoustic
instrumentals to multi-tracked songs. In
addition we drag Spike away from the
Engineer's room to lay down drum tracks for us
at the drop of a hat!”
Pennlyless are very excited to be recording
their second album at Nepenthe Studios. The
songs pull on the rich variety of their musical
backgrounds, and are moving away slightly
from the more traditional-sounding folk music.
The fast fiddle and flute tunes are still there
however, along with amongst others a seashanty,
a spiritual, a solo song by Les, a
beautiful Air by Graham and a couple of quirky
songs by Penny!
We hope to be releasing the still-to-benamed
CD in early Spring. Watch our website
for news!
www.nepentherecoridngstudios.com
www.pennyless-music.co.uk
5

Remote Control
Chris Wilson, the
ex-singer from San
Francisco’s cult 60s
revivalists The Flamin’
Groovies, has a new album.
It features many of his old
band mates as well as Procol
Harum’s Matthew Fisher but
for the most part the
musicians never met
R
6
ight from the outset everyone knew
there would be no rehearsals. They
also knew that more than half the
musicians on the album would never visit
Panther Studios, the project’s Surrey base
of operations. That might sounds like a
recipe for disaster but against the odds the
finished album, Love Over Money, sounds
like a polished and coherent whole. So how
was it achieved?
“Planning, professionalism and patience,”
explained Anthony Clark, the album’s principal
guitarist and overall project co-ordinator. “We
were really fortunate to get the same core of
musicians that had worked on the previous
album, Second Life, so we immediately knew
everyone was up to the job.”
From the start of the project it was agreed
that Chris would invite along as many of his
US-based ex-band mates as possible. A fullscale
Flamin’ Groovies reunion was never on
the cards, partly as a result of geography, but
everyone contacted said “yes” to contributing in
one way or another.
“Working on this album had its own particular
technical challenges,” said Dick Coppen, the
Chris Wilson
band’s producer and owner of Panther Studios.
“For starters there was the fact that many of
the musicians live in far flung locations and
couldn’t travel to the UK. We decided to send
them rough backing tracks over the web so
they could go into local studios where they lived
and record their individual parts. Then they’d
email them back to us or post them on an FTP
site where we could download them.”
Flamin’ Groovies guitarist Mike Wilhelm
recorded his slide guitar part for the track Bad
Dreams onto his home PC using Adobe
Audition. George Alexander, the Groovies’ bass
player, offered up an acoustic guitar part and
some harmonica, also recorded at home, this
time onto a Mac. Meanwhile, guitarist James
Ferrell and singer Roy Loney used Dogp atch
studio in San Francisco and their p arts were
then loaded up onto an FTP site.
Perhaps the big coup for the album was
getting Procol Harum’s Hammond player
Matthew Fisher involved, the man who gave
Whiter Shade of Pale its distinctive sound.
“A friend of mine, Henry Scott-Irvine, had
recently finished work on the Procol Harum
album reissues and suggested that I should
contact Matthew with a view to seeing if he’d be
interested in playing on a track,” explained
Clark. “It turned out that he lives very near to
where I work but as with the US-based
musicians everything was handled over the
web.
“In fact, the only guest who recorded with us
in the studio was Robin Wills from The
Barracudas, another of Chris’ old band mates,
who added some very fine guitar to the album’s
opening track, Way Too Fast.”
Fisher, an experienced producer in his own
right, emailed over an MP3 of his proposed
keyboard part – which was perfect for the song
– before posting it out on CD. This was then
dropped into the system at Panther Studios and
immediately sounded like it had been recorded
on the premises. However, not all the remote
contributions were as straightforward to handle.
It was only when some of the other ‘down the
wire’ contribution arrived that the scale of the
project became apparent. “Once we got the
parts back we then needed to import them into
the original track and make them ‘fit’ with the
stuff we’d recorded at Panther,” explained
Coppen. “This meant a lot of editing and audio
processing, as well as adding reverbs and
effects to match the feel and ambience of all
the different parts.
“This melding of contributions was done at
different stages on each song. For instance, the
drums on the track Gamblin’ Man were done to
a guide keyboard part with completely different
vocals to the ones that ended up on the final
version. On Fading Away, Matthew Fisher’s
keyboard part was recorded to a drum and
bass track with guide vocals. Once we had
Matthew’s keyboard part we soon realised that
this was going to be an integral p art of the
song, so we had to re-edit the drums and
vocals to fit around that before adding some
additional guitar parts.”
From a technical and creative point of view
all this was very interesting and according to
Coppen “great fun”, although there were a few
hair-tearing moments.
“Each new part was received with great
excitement and an anticipation of what the
musician had done and what it would sound
like in the song. However, musically it was a bit
of a nightmare having to shoehorn each p art
into the song or in some cases, having to rerecord
or re-edit parts of the song to make the
new parts fit.”
“Digital recording methods have changed the
way albums are made beyond all recognition,”
added Wilson. “When The Groovies first went
to Rockfield Studios back in 1972, which was
still a working dairy farm at the time, everything
was done on tape in the time-honoured fashion.
It’s still the performance that matters, of course,
but if we’d used old analogue methods for Love
Over Money then there’s no way that Roy,
George, James or Mike could have contributed.
“The virtual Groovies reunion was made
possible by the move to digital recording – it
really has altered the way musicians
collaborate.”
And it wasn’t just Fisher amongst the UK
musicians that used the ‘down the wire’
approach. The album’s main keyboard player,
Andy Thomas-Emans, recorded his parts at his
home studio in Folkstone, while drummer Andy
Woodard not only laid down his drum p arts at
his own facility, he also recorded Mike Brown’s
trumpet parts on his home set-up too. All these
files were then delivered using Dropbox, a
really handy online file store.
“The only people who actually recorded at
Panther Studio were me, Chris, Dick, drummer
Greg Paulett and backing vocalist Sarah
Ferron,” explained Clark. “Everyone else
MUSIC
MAKER

operated remotely – it was a virtual band in the
truest sense of the term.”
This arm’s length approach helped keep
down costs and it was the tight budget that also
gave birth to an idea that helped shape the
overall sound of the album.
“Because we were working on such a tight
budget the final part of the production process
was also pretty interesting,” said Coppen.
“Once we had a decent mix of the title track,
Love Over Money, we decided to get that track
mastered at Abbey Road studios. As soon as
we got the mastered track back at Panther we
analysed the frequencies and set up a filtering,
EQ and compression algorithm to match it.
Once we’d done that we then used the same
cloned Abbey Road settings to master the rest
of the album, making a few small ‘tweaks’ on
each song as we went along.
“Of course, in an ideal world we would’ve got
all the guys into a room together, rehearsed all
the songs and then gone into the studio to
record as a complete unit. However, the budget
restrictions and logistics prohibited this, so we
just had to do the best we could with all the
guys recording their own parts in different
studios and then bringing it all together at
Panther,” explained Coppen. “The results are
pleasing though, and when you listen to the
album it’s almost impossible to tell which guys
recorded what and where.”
The album, available now on the French
Rock Paradise label, has already garnered
some very positive press coverage – the
leading French music monthly, Rock and Folk,
awarded Love Over Money a four-star review,
and Chris performed on national French TV on
the back of the CD’s release.
Not bad for something recorded by a band
that never met.
BonaFide Teaching Studio
lines by Tom Blakemore
or the past 11 years BonaFideStudio a
Recording and Rehearsal Studio F(bonafidestudio.
co.uk) has been at the
forefront of the recording industry catering for
recoding and rehearsal needs of their ever
growing client list.
It is less known that BonaFideStudio offers
sound engineering tutorials to individuals and
companies and often other studios. So many
musicians and engineers get frustrated when they
know the sound could be better. With
BonaFideStudio 1-2-1 Tutorials you will get to
understand how to sound engineer and learn the
science of creating and recording music.
BonaFideStudio works differently from other
training studios or courses, offering a combination
of group workshops and personal coaching
sessions that allows us to cut out the fluf f of a
traditional classroom style of training. The 1-2-1
tutorials are tailored to meet your needs; you
learn the technology faster and begin building
something of real value. Because you are working
one-to-one with an engineer, you accomplish
much more in a fraction of the time you would
spend in a classroom, working at your p ace and
skill level, to help you achieve your goals and
solve your problems. BonaFideStudio students
are simply anyone with an interest in music and
sound. BFS has students who have already
engineered that wish to learn more, complete
beginners looking to start a new career in sound
engineering but also other studios not shy to seek
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others it's to get a better sound for their band and
for some it's just a part time hobby they want to
expand on. If you are interested to enroll call 020
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MAKER
Lover Over Money – Track List
Song Title Writer Guest
Way Too Fast Thomas-Emans/Clark Wills – Gtr/Vox
Can’t Let Go Wilson/Clark Alexander – Harmonica
Bad Dream Wilson/Clark Wilhelm – Slide Gtr
Cold Dark Night Thomas-Emans
Poor Law Blues Clark
Gamblin’ Man Wilson/Thomas-Emans/Clark Loney – Vox, Ferrell – Gtr
Twice as Wise Clark
Lose My Voice Walls/Clark
Fading Away Thomas-Emans Fisher – Keyboards
Semaphore Signals Clark Alexander – Gtr
Love Over Money Wilson/Clark
Set Free [live] Clark
Guest Musicians
George Alexander The Flamin’ Groovies
Mike Wilhelm The Flamin’ Groovies
Matthew Fisher Procol Harum
Robin Wills The Barracudas
Roy Loney The Flamin’ Groovies
James Ferrell The Flamin’ Groovies
Band
Chris Wilson Vocals/Guitar/Tambura
Anthony Clark
Guitar/Bass/Keyboards/Mandolin/Vocals
Andy Thomas-Emans Keyboards
Dick Coppen
Guitar/Banjo/Violin/Keyboards/Percussions/Vocals
Greg Paulett Drums
Andy Woodard Drums
Additional Musicians
Larry Lea Vocals
Sarah Ferron Vocals
Mike Brown Trumpet
7684 5350 or email info@bonafidestudio.co.uk.
BonaFideStudio also has the unique feature of
being a ‘teaching studio’ bringing students through
its ranks and allowing inexperienced engineers to
experience first hand the workings of a modern
day studio, both the music and business sides.
These trainees work with the highly qualified
engineers helping with the everyday running of
the studio and learning important techniques of
music production.
Tom Blakemore is a Music Production student
from the University of Huddersfield currently on a
year-long internship at bonafidestudio, he has
been playing guitar in rock and metal bands since
he was 14 and has been recording local bands
from the Huddersfield/Leeds area for the p ast 2
years. Tom is currently a member of black met al
band Sanhedrin who are just about to release
their self produced debut album ‘Salvation
Through Sin’ at the end of November. The album
was engineered produced by Tom and fellow
bonafidestudio Trainee Parmahn Azad and is
available through the band’s MySpace (for more
A change from studies
information visit www.myspace.
com/sanhedrin666).
BonaFideStudio works with many Universities
across the world in providing opportunities for
students from all backgrounds to come and work
and learn in the studio. All engineers that work at
the studio were trainees once and Deanna who
owns and runs the studio herself never advertises
for paid work, including session musicians.
Many trainees have gone on to become
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musicians, most of them keeping in touch and
updating everyone of their progress, some of
them even come back as clients. Private paid
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groups or individually (for more information visit
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Bonafidestudio is a great place to send time
and a great working environment, any experience
that can be gained from hands on experience is
always a massive help and bonafidestudio will
continue to provide a stepping stone for the
engineers and producers of the future.
7

IT ISN’T MUCH TO LOOK AT THESE
DAYS BUT THE OLD BRASS MOUTH-
ORGAN IN BRYAN CHALKER’S
INSTRUMENT HAS AN AMAZING
STORY TO TELL…..
The old brass-plated mundharmonika in my
collection of vintage instruments is way beyond
any form of restoration and looks decidedly
battered alongside later models – but we are
talking about a mouth-organ manufactured
between 1880 and 1882 and spending more
than eighty years on the seabed! The old
mouth-organ, you see, was retrieved from a
Cornish shipwreck at the turn of the 1970s and
found its way, with a host of others, to a
shipwreck music in Charlestown, where I was
able to purchase it for £16 in 1972, during a
family holiday in Cornwall.
The circa 1880 - 1882 Richter mouthorgan
retrieved by divers from a cornish shipwreck
Some of the cedar wood survives af ter more
than 80 years on the seabed
These days the Shipwreck & Heritage Centre
no longer sells off its artefacts but back in the
1970s, so many mouth-organs had been
recovered from the seabed by wreck divers that
the Charlestown museum was able to of fer
some for sale as souvenirs from the SS Mosel,
wrecked off Lizard Point on August 9, 1882.
I thought no more about the old harp, except to
point out its antiquity to journalists when they
wrote stories about my collection of
instruments, Dinky Toys, early radios and
domestic memorabilia. Other than that the
vintage mouth-organ, or harmonica, has simply
been placed in a glass display cabinet and
there it has shared space with a dozen others,
mostly manufactured by M. Hohner between
the mid-1930s and early 1960s.
1950s hohner Bandmaster ‘Blues’ harmonica in
mint condition, purchased at a Bath cer -boot
sale in 2010
8
THE HARP WITH A PAST
The colourful lid to the box cont aining the
‘Blues Bandmaster’
Still in perfect tune but un-boxed, my own
1960s Hohner ‘Contessa’, which I have used
on recordings.
1940s ‘Cavalier’ harmonica by C.H. Weiss in
the key of ‘B’. Unboxed and sourced from a
Bath car-boot sale for £3
1950s hohner Echo - Lux, without box, sourced
from Bath car-boot sale
1940s Bandmaster chromatic harmonica, with
box, sourced from a bath car-boot sale
Box containing a jazz melody mundharmonica
made in the German democratic Repubic
(GDR) during the 1960s and purchased at a
Bath car-boot sale in 2010
Early 1950smHohner key - ring harmonica
bought for £5at a Tinsbury antique fair in 2008.
Back in October 2010, my wife and I and two
German friends from Berlin, Wolfgang and
Renate Bieczek, decided to experience a selfcatering
holiday in Cornwall and I was able to
return to Charlestown’s Shipwreck Centre. Lo
and behold, examples of the SS. Mosel’ s small
cargo of mouth-organs were still displayed in a
cabinet, along with other relics retrieved from
various Cornish wrecks. When we returned to
our holiday cottage near Mevagissey, I Googled
‘SS Mosel 1882’ and was staggered at the
results.
Other 1880s ridhters on display at the
shipwreck & Heritage centre,
Charlestown,Cornwall
FINAL VOYAGE
It transpired that the Mosel was an immigrant
ship sailing between Bremen and New York –
but stopping at Southampton on the way –
between 1873 and 1882, when she was
wrecked in fog near Lizard Point. I have even
been able to trace its passenger manifest for
the final voyage to New York and the name of
its captain – Julius Hesse!
The SS Mosel was actually built in 1872 in
Greenock, Scotland, by Caird & Company for
Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd).
The ship was 349 feet long, 40 feet broad,
weighed 3,200 tons, powered by steam but
sported sails fore and aft and launched on April
1, 1873. The Mosel’s maiden voyage was
Bremen-Southampton- New York and she was
carrying immigrants, mostly German farmers
seeking a new start in the United States.
The steamship sailed on her last round-trip
voyage to New York on July 2, 1882 and it was
on her return journey that disaster struck and in
thick fog off Lizard Point, the SS Mosel ran
aground and sank –but without loss of life.
MUSIC
MAKER

The SS Mosel as depicted in an 1870s postcard issued by the NorddeutcherLloyd Comp any
Obviously Captain Hesse had had the good
sense to reduce the speed of the single screw
compound engine, or perhaps ordered it to be
thrown into reverse, and the Mosel ran aground
rather than ramming the rocks head on. In
addition to the immigrants on board (returning
to Germany from America), the Mosel carried a
modest cargo, among it being a consignment of
Richter mouth-organs, possibly exported by the
Hohner company.
The ill fated immigrant ship SS Mosel on the
rocks off Lizard Point, Cornwall, on August 9th,
1882
The mundharmonika, to give the instrument it s
German name, in its earliest form dates back to
1821, when sixteen-year old Christian Friedrick
Buschmann registered the first European
patents for a new musical invention known as
an ‘Aura’, although musical historians have also
called it the ‘Aeolina’ or ‘Aeolian’ and attributed
it to others. Buschmann’s creation was a freereed
instrument consisting of a series of steel
reeds arranged together horizontally in small
channels and offering only ‘blow’ holes
arranged chromatically. To cut a long story
short, Buschmann’s ‘Aura’ looked like a
conventional simple modern mouth-organ but
MUSIC
MAKER
with the side plates removed.
The harmonica – or mouth-organ – as we know
it today might owe its existence to a Bohemian
instrument maker by the name of Joseph
Richter, who is credited by many with having
made the most important advancements in
early harmonica design in 1826. Richter is said
to have developed a variation of Buschmann’ s
original instrument that consisted of ten holes
and twenty reeds, with separate ‘blow’ and
‘draw’ reed plates mounted on either side of a
cedar wood comb. Joseph Richter ’s tuning,
utilizing a diatonic scale, became the st andard
configuration of what Europeans called the
mundharmonika.
HOHNER
The most famous name in harmonicas is that of
Hohner. Matthias Hohner was a German
clockmaker and astute businessman, who saw
a niche in the market for a small, port able
musical instrument and began by marketing
and exporting Richter’s mouth-organ. By 1857,
Hohner began manufacturing his own
harmonicas and in that first year was able to
make a total of 650 instruments, before
developing a mass-production technique and
introducing the harmonica to North America in
1862. By 1887, Hohner was producing more
than a million harmonicas annually and mong
its most notable players during the Victorian era
were Wyatt Earp and Billy The Kid, no less!
Hohner’s Marine Band, named after the famous
band led by American bandmaster John Philip
Sousa, became the most successful harmonica
of all time.
The name ‘Richter’ can still be easily discerned
on my little brass relic, although it does not
show up on the accompanying photograph.
The fact that it spent the best p art of eighty
years – or more – on the sea bed and is still
recognisable as a mouth-organ is remarkable,
particularly as some of the cedar wood remains
intact. According to the Shipwreck Centre,
when some of the Richter mouth-organs
brought up from the wreck of the SS Mosel
were subjected to gently acid cleaning amd
removal of marine detritus, they were playable!
Equally remarkable in another sense is that the
Mosel survived another disaster in the port of
Bremerhaven in 1875, when a man named
Thomassen, in a dispute about a cargo of
goods stowed on her, placed a time-bomb on
board the ship and the subsequent explosion
killed 128 people. Thomassen confessed to his
crime and apparently tried to kill himself but we
do not know what finally happened to him.
It is also something of a miracle that between
us, Wolfgang and I have been able to trace
drawings and photographs of the Mosel and
some are reproduced here.
The humble mouth-organ has played a vit al role
in the development of popular music since
DeFord Bailey first made his mark on the
Grand Ole Opry in 1926 and remained there
until 1941. It was Larry Adler, however, who
finally dragged the harp out of the back street
bars and honky-tonks and into the world’ s
concert halls and gave the instrument the
status it deserved.
These days, of course, the harmonica is an
integral part of rock, pop, blues, country, folk
and jazz and the list of great players of all
genres, past and present, is enormous and
includes Lonnie Glosson, Sonny Terry, Doc
Watson, John Mayall, Charlie McCoy, Sonny
Boy Williamson, Roger Daltrey, Delbert
McClinton, Paul Jones, Terry McMillan, Robert
Plant, Stevie Wonder, Jean ‘Toots’ Thielmans,
Onie Wheeler, Max Geldray, Jerry Murad,
Mickey Raphael, Lee Oskar, Paul Butterfield,
Johnny Mars and, of course, Music Maker ’s
very own Matt Walklate.
It’s incredible to think that my venerable and
battered chunk of brass and wood, for so long
a seemingly insignificant part of my collection of
instruments, which includes autoharp, rhythm
harp, jews-harps, banjolele, guitars, ukulele,
Cajun/Zydeco rub-board, fiddle, didgeridoo,
First World War bugle and mouth-bow, should
finally emerge as the star exhibit after 38 years!
BRYAN CHALKER
Some of Bryans other instruments: from left to
right...1950s childs guitar, ukelele, rythm harp,
autoharp, and in the background, left, a 1930s
king Cotton Cajun Rub- board.
9

I’ve played with many bands in the p ast, either
as a member or recording on various sessions.
In my earlier years, I had quite a close association
with The Strawbs and various members of
the line up over the years. I played lead electric
guitar on Dave Cousins epic “ The Lady of the
Lake” which is on their Dragonfly LP, soon to be
released on CD. Apart from working with
Richard Hudson and John Ford in Elmer
Gantry’s Velvet Opera, then Velvet Opera when
Elmer left and John Joyce joined. I worked with
Dave Lambert in Fire on the Magic Shoemaker
concept LP, which is now a top vinyl collectible.
John and I also toured with the Acoustic
Strawbs and I’ve worked for Dave Cousins
doing various Radio programmes for him when
he was a radio Producer.
Hudson and Ford,
alongside Dave
Lambert, formed the
backbone of the electric
Strawbs for many tears
and were with the band
throughout their most
successful period. Yet
another extremely fine
guitarist, Brian
Dave Lambert
Willoughby also dedicated
many years playing
with the band and it is Brian I want to mainly
document in this article. Throughout his formative
career, Brian played with Mary Hopkin,
Roger Whittaker, Joe Brown, Jim Diamond and
believe it or not, Monty Python. However it was
with The Strawbs that he dedicated 25 years of
his life working with.
Brian has always been a sensitive player, playing
subtle phrases, rather than more aggressive
styles and in this, he seemed to compliment
Dave Lambert’s style very well. I booked The
Strawbs for the Pwllheli Music & Arts Festival a
few years ago and they came up as the
Acoustic Trio, with Brian Dave L and Dave
10
LIFE AFTER THE STRAWBS
Current lineup....Acoustic Strawbs
Cousins. They performed a great set and were
well appreciated by a mainly Welsh speaking
audience, which is not an easy audience to get
a response from. It was during this time that
Brian told me he was quitting the band in order
to play with an American singer whom he had
formed a relationship with. Her name was
Cathryn Craig. Cathryn was herself, a fairly
established artiste in her own right, having
sung with the legendary Righteous Brothers,
Shel Silverstein, Jorma Kaukonnen and Bobby
Bare in the States. It must have been difficult
from Brian in many ways to t ake the decision to
leave a World name band that he had been
with for many years, but leave he did not long
after our conversation.
For the past few years now, Brian and Cathryn
have been building a very solid reput ation,
touring clubs and venues across the UK. Their
CD’s have received excellent reviews from
many top publications. Mojo wrote of Cathryn’s
Porch Songs CD “ an
intimate and compelling
slice of real country
blues”. Music Scene
wrote of their “ I Will”
CD “all encompassing
masterpiece... a must
for anyone interested in
American Roots music “.
Guitarist wrote of Brian’s solo CD Fingers
Crossed “ On this impeccably crafted album,
Willoughby moves seamlessly through just
about the whole gamut of acoustic styles “.
Apart from their solo and joint musical collaborations,
the couple have worked with
International Folk Star Nanci Griffith. They have
been busy writing songs for Charities. They
wrote “ Alice’s Song “ which was recorded by
the Strawbs as a single for the National Autistic
Society’s “ Year of Awareness” plus the song “
Rumours of Rain “ in aid of children who are
victims of war. The performed this song with
pupils of the Askam Primary School, accompanied
by members of Steeleye Span, Lindisfarne,
Fairport Convention and Pentangle. Indeed a
star studied line up. see Brian and Cathryn’s
website for more details http://www.craigandwilloughby.com/
Both Brian and I, like many other guit arists,
relied on Johnny Joyce to set up our guit ars.
Sadly, after John’s death, that reliance is no
longer available to any of us. Brian once told
me that he would have loved to have played
with Lonnie Donegan as he was a great admirer
of Lon’s work. I did have the privilege of playing
with Lon in the early 1970’s and it certainly was
an unforgettable experience. Whilst I was writing
this article, I had a call from a journalist in
the States from The Deal, a large and vastly circulated
magazine in the States, dealing mainly
with Financial Issues. Matt Miller, the Chief
Features writer was calling to ask for my
appraisal of the Vintage Guitar sales in Europe.
After the interview, he mentioned his son was a
great fan of Rick Wakeman, also a former
Strawb. He said he was currently playing in a
band with Jon Anderson of Yes, touring the
States. It suddenly dawned on me that ex
Strawbs bassist, John Ford was living in Long
Island, so I put the two in touch to see if there
was any common ground to explore. Richard
Hudson’s apres Strawb life encompassed playing
drums with many different London based
bands. I’ve always thought that Hud was one of
the best rock drummers around. He used to put
on a great stage act in Elmer Gantry’s Velvet
Opera.
The main thing is with all of these excellent
musicians, is that they have stayed the course
and adapted their styles and attitudes through
the years and are still very much in the forefront
of playing. The Strawbs constantly Tour the
Globe, sometimes with the Acoustic Line up,
now featuring Dave Lambert. Dave Cousins and
Chas Cronk and other times with a full electric
line up with Rod Coombes and John
Hawken on drums and keyboards respectively.
Rod played on my Interlife LP. John and Hud
stay in touch as they have always been close
friends as well as musical allies. Dave Lambert
just re-formed Fire for a series of live dates performing
his Magic Shoemaker concept. Bass
player and Drummer were Paul Brett Sage
members, Bob Voice and Dick Duffall who were
in the original Fire line up. I was supposed to
re-create my guitar solos on these shows, but
for personal reasons, I had to withdraw. I am
told the shows went very well, with narration
from the concept’s original producer, Ray
Hammond and that there will be a CD available
soon of the live concert. all Strawbs and related
info from
http://www.strawbsweb.co.uk/index0.htm
Something that has stuck in my mind for many
years is the show Johnny and I played at
Buxton Civic with the original Strawbs line up. In
one of the bars their was an organist playing by
the name of Esme Hand. What an apt name for
a female keyboard player ! So for everyone
mentioned, there is certainly life during and
after The Strawbs. Don’t know what happened
to Esme however ?
by P. B
MUSIC
MAKER

Banda Daladeira playing Forró at Forró do Galpao, Corbet Place, London. Photo Renzo Frontoni
EXPLORING FORRÓ MUSIC AND DANCE:
FROM BRAZIL TO LONDON AND BACK
I
n November 2005, I was in the North East
of Brazil visiting friends and trying to avoid
the European winter. It was 36 degrees,
scorching hot sertão (savannah) weather, dry
heat with strong winds burning my face from
9am to 6pm. Summer was approaching and
the local people spent hours on the beach,
whole families having picnics, youngsters
playing football or braving the ocean waves
on their surfing boards. For my part, the only
time I felt I could safely leave my pousada
without the risk of fainting after a few steps
was about 6.30 in the morning, after a
gorgeous breakfast based on mango and
papaya fruits, fresh coconut juice and a few
cups of the local coffee. Then I would walk to
the Morro of Ponta Negra when the tide was
low or shop for local clothes at the crafts
market. At night things would get more
interesting, culturally speaking, as along the
promenade kids would play the berimbau and
dance the Capoeira, challenging each other in
combat though amazingly never touching or
hurting one another. It was exciting to watch
them, their moves were graceful though
powerful, and the music intense.
But my favourite evening was Friday as I had
discovered a little outdoor stage where couples of
all ages danced in a style our friends called Forró
(pronounced faw-haw). They moved to the music
played by a trio who wore pointed cowboys hat s,
used just three instruments - accordion (sanfona),
bass drum (zabumba) and a metal triangle, and
sang with a nasal tone of voice. I later learned
that the band was playing a traditional rhythm
associated with Forró called Baião and that the
dancers were dancing in the traditional way
peculiar to that area. They were not performing
for the tourists and they all seemed to know one
another very well, couples exchanged partners
after each song with the men inviting the ladies to
dance. What struck me most was the sexiness of
it all! The steps did not look difficult and the
partners danced very close together with their
legs often inter-twined, as if mimicking lovemaking.
The movements were fluid and sensual
with the man’s left hand holding the woman’s
MUSIC
MAKER
right hand, his right arm around her back, and the
woman’s left arm around the man’s neck.
Although I have got Italian blood in my veins I still
thought that that dance was really hot stuf f and
the syncopated rhythm engaging, unusual and
quirky. When I returned to London none of my
friends had ever heard of Forró but it s sound and
feel influenced the style of my third CD ‘Tanto
Gentile E Tanto Onesta Pare’ released in 2006.
On the cover picture you can see me on a
fabulous ‘nordestino’ beach wearing a huge grin
on my face and a pretty locally-craf ted top on my
shoulders, very cliché!
In the summer of 2009, at a festival in
Wiltshire, Julia Samel was teaching Forró every
night in a large gazebo under the st ars. Finally
there was an opportunity for me to learn the
basic steps and moves of the dance… and how
that changed my life! It’s all in the body, and once
you get the beat you just let yourself go,
amazing!
In September 2009, Julia and her brother Andy
started Forró Family, a beginners’ class which
meets regularly every Tuesday night in the
Finchley Road area. On Thursday night the same
crowd of dancers moves to Forró do Galp ao, at
Corbet Place near Spitalfield Market, to dance to
live music and then goes to Guanabara in
Holborn on Sunday night.
At Corbet Place the evening starts with a
lesson for slightly more advanced dancers run by
a delightful Brazilian couple: Douglas and Gladys.
Dancing then continues till the early hours of the
morning.
At Guanabara there are some very good
Brazilian ‘forrozeiros’ who can also dance to a
very fast rhythm called Arrasta-pé and the dance
floor tends to get rather crowded and very lively
after 9pm. More recently, two smaller London
clubs have started hosting Forró teaching and
dancing: Cocobamboo in Camden Town has a
lively and busy Forró class on Monday evening
run by an Italian lady named Federica, and at
Barrio Central in Soho on Tuesday evening
Gladys teaches a combined class of Samba and
Forró.
In Brazil, Forró music and dance, which today
encompasses a great variety of regional and
individual sub-styles, has a long history dating
back probably to the time of the Portuguese
colonisation. In the 19th century a new wave of
European settlers brought their rhythm and
dance styles into the Country where they got
mixed with African, Amerindian and Portuguese
music. In fact, one of the three main styles of
Forró, called Xote (pronounced shoté), is
supposed to have its roots in the schottische
dance of Victorian fame. Xote is the most popular
rhythm in South Eastern Brazil, its tempo is
rather slow and partners dance very close
together moving left, left – right, right with a
pause in the middle. Spins are not contemplated
and it’s a very romantic and intimate style so the
better you know your partner the more you will
enjoy dancing it. Xote is a slower form of the
Baião. The Baião, also known as pé-de-serra,
was revived and revised by the nordestino
composer, singer and accordion master Luiz
Gonzaga who moved to Rio de Janeiro and
exported the rhythm there and to the rest of
Brazil in the late 1940s and 50s. In Forró Baião
partners tilt to the sides and t ake smaller steps to
follow the faster and rather frenetic rhythm. Luiz
Gonzaga’s first hit is titled Baião and was
recorded in 1946. Members of his band went on
to create the group Trio Nordestino in Rio de
Janeiro in 1957, their speciality was Forró pé-deserra.
In the 1960s the style was declining in
popularity though still going strong in the North
East where Forró parties had become very
popular events. The 70s saw a revival and
diversification of the genre especially in Sâo
Paulo and Rio de Janeiro where, probably
because of the migration of people from the
North East, Forró parties became increasingly
popular and the word Forró an umbrella term for
the different rhythms and styles of the dance. In
the 1980s another group emerged in Sâo Paulo,
the Trio Virgulino, also specialised in Forró pé-deserra.
In the 1990s, Forró was revived again in it s
slower form of Xote and danced by university
students especially in Rio de Janeiro and Sâo
Paulo. The style became more complicated to
include variations, spins and turns with the
partners moving forward and backwards and it
was called Universitário. The two most famous
bands to emerge from this middle-class milieu
were Rastapé (1999) and Falamansa (1998)
both from Sâo Paulo. These groups still
focused on traditional instruments though
creating a smoother sound which brought the
style to international fame. The dance
academies of the big cities took upon
themselves the task of trying to define and
categorise the different Forró sub-styles, often
controversially. In the 90’s the academies in Rio
incorporated Forró Universitário and produced
a new generation of professional dancers highly
skilled in all the possible variations of the
genre.
Finally, the new millennium sees Forró dance
and rhythms being exported to Europe with
young musicians and dancers from Brazil
travelling abroad in search of fame and fortune.
In London, dancer, teacher and Ritmo Dance Co.
founder Gladys has been performing Forró since
she first arrived here five years ago. This elegant,
charming and very approachable lady talked to
me after her class at Corbet Place:
11

Couple dancing Forró at Forró Family, Finchley
Road, London. Photo Renzo Frontoni
Q: When did you start studying dance in Brazil?
A: I started 18 years ago with Jaime Arouxa at
his school in Rio and I studied Forró, Samba,
Lambada, Bolero, Tango as well as Ballet,
Acrobatics and Acting. We practised 12 hours
every day.
Q: Why did you decide to learn Forró?
A: I was born in Amazonas and moved to Rio as
a baby. I decided to learn Forró when I was at
Uni in Rio because people around me had
started organising secret Forró parties so even
after I finished Uni, every single night I was going
to these parties and I fell in love with Forró. Then
at the Academy in Rio, when I told the dance
teachers that I knew Forró Universitário they
asked me to start a class there. I was the first to
teach the new Forró style, before there were only
classes of the traditional style from the North
East.
Q: Why is it called Forró?
A: There are many opinions, the main two are
that the word Forró comes from Forrobodó,
meaning ‘great party’ (Câmara Cascudo), or that
it comes from the English words ‘for all’ that were
used in the 1900 by English engineers when they
organised social parties open to everybody.
Q: What Forró styles do you and Douglas teach
in London and which one tends to be the most
popular?
A: In London we try to teach the basic step s of
the two main styles: the more romantic Xote from
the South East and the faster Baião from the
North East. We try to teach variations as well but
keep it as simple as possible for everyone to
enjoy.
Q: Do you have to adapt the style when you
teach dancers in London?
A: Yes, I do not think it’s good to be too strict and
conservative when teaching Forró because this is
London and people come from everywhere, they
come and go. But when people learn to
recognise the different styles they will choose the
one they love the best.
Q: Do you think Forró dancing is a living
tradition?
A: Yes, in Rio there are new mixed styles, for
instance Forró-Samba de Gafieira (Forrófieira), or
you can have Samba de Gafieira street dance or
in its more classical form. Now in Rio all the big
dance schools work together, do events together
and, unlike before, they accept all the variations.
In Rio and in London the situation is very similar .
Q: Why did young people in Brazil bring about a
revival of Forró in the 90s?
A: New bands started playing traditional Forró
12
Forró night at Cocobamboo, Camden Town,
London. Photo Renzo Frontoni
adding new instruments, so they made it more
fresh and modern.
Q: Why do people in London like it?
A: Because it’s romantic, people find partners,
sometimes people who’ve met through Forró get
married. Also, Forró is traditional folk music and
people in London like folk music.
In the last decade the capital has also been the
cradle of newly formed Brazilian Forró group s
such as Banda Daladeira (da ladeira: of the hill)
and Zeu Azevedo & Forrodaki Band, who
regularly play for enthusiastic audiences and
dancers at several venues, including the Royal
Festival Hall. I managed to get hold of the leader
of Banda Daladeira, Lucas – son of the famous
Brazilian Forró singer Geraldo Azevedo, before
their gig at Corbet Place and asked him about his
personal experience of Forró as a performer in
Brazil:
Q: Why do you think this traditional style of music
was revived?
A: Well, Forró was forgotten at that time and we
had no real Brazilian music, we had rock and pop
from the USA but young people did not listen to
nor played Brazilian music anymore. Now if you
go to Brazil they do.
Q: So, what about Samba, that’s very popular in
Brazil!
A: Yes, Samba is also being revived now. When I
left Rio, Forroçacana and Paratodos were in
decline there and Samba was on the up…Samba
is easy for us, we have it in our veins, everyone
like Samba and we’ve got lots of good Samba
bands. But for instance 10 years ago there was
no carnival in Rio, carnival was just in the
Apoteose, where they got all the Samba schools.
Now carnival is a big party in the streets and
there is a revival of Samba in Rio, but Forró is
still strong in the North East and in Sâo Paulo.
Q: What’s the difference between your audience
in Brazil and here?
A: It’s pretty much the same but in London there
are people from everywhere and from all p arts of
Brazil, so this is a special place for Forró
because there is one style that was created here,
every place has its own style but there are moves
I’ve seen in London that I’ve never seen before.
Q: Who creates the new moves, the teachers or
the dancers?
A: It’s the dancers, they adapt things they learn,
then maybe teachers get these and st art teaching
them. You can learn Forró in the class, but you
dance real Forró when you’ve danced with at
least 30 different partners and get your own
moves, in the end you learn it by dancing it. I
Gladys and Douglas teaching Forró at Forró do
Galpao, Corbet Place, London. Photo Renzo Frontoni
never had a class, I learned from other people.
Q: Do people teach Forró in Brazil?
A: Yes, but much less than here. Here people do
not feel confident dancing Forró unless they’ve
had lessons, even some Brazilians don’t!
Q: Why do you think the people in London like it?
A: Well, the music is incredible, the lyrics are
very nice…about life, daily life, girlfriends…and
the dance is sexy you know, people want to flirt,
there is the contact of the bodies.
Q: What’s the future of Forró in Brazil?
A: Now it’s becoming popular again in Rio and
new bands have come out, like Trio Dona Zefa,
and you know… the bands can make the
movement.
Q: So, Forró music and dance are still evolving?
A: Yes, they are developing under our eyes, I’ve
got this feeling that Forró will grow a lot, it’ s
growing a lot now in London and the rest of
Europe.
Q: And what do you think of the modern
electronic sound of the so-called Forró Estilizado,
do you like it?
A: No, I don’t, people in the North East hear it on
the radio so they like it, it’ s an ‘Americanisation’ of
Forró but now also in the North East young
people are becoming interested in the traditional
Forró pé-de-serra, so it’s starting again.
Q: Why is it called pé-de-serra (foot of the
mountain)?
A: Well, I suppose it just means ‘root s music’, in
the mountains some things are more traditional
and rootsy.
A few days ago, Corinne from Forró Family sent
me a message in which I believe she beautifully
expresses how all Forró lovers, myself included,
feel about this fantastic music and style. Here it
is:
For me I can just get lost in the music, I love how
the dance flows and how I can empty my mind
completely while I dance it. I also like that it is
unassuming, not full of poses and posturing, and
can be danced in so many dif ferent ways.
Someone told me once that Forró is meant to
look like flowing water, and I love that image; I
think that when you dance with someone and it is
like that, it just fits and works, it is the most
amazing experience.
To find out more about Brazilian traditional
music and culture, check out the works of the
pioneering ethnomusicologist, poet, novelist, art
historian and photographer Mário de Andrade
(1893-1945). by Ariella Uliano
MUSIC
MAKER

Colin Roberts
A Celtic Acoustic Warrior
What happens when an electric Celtic Warrior from one of
Wales's best known bands, turns his hands to acoustic music ?
olin Roberts, vocalist and bassist in
'Karac', ( the name is an abbreviated Cform
of Caradoc, who fought against
the Romans) has embarked upon a solo
venture of late and it is one which may
prove very interesting along the way. I saw
Colin perform recently at the Acoustic
Power night, in y Fricsan, a pub in the heart
of Snowdonia that features many night of
great acoustic music. As soon as Colin
started his set, he reminded me straight
away of a certain Richie Havens, one of my
all time favorite acoustic guitarists /
vocalists. Unquestionably, Colin has a great
voice that is the apex of his talent and his
rhythmic approach to acoustic playing
shows obvious connections with his rock
based original songs. It's always nice to see
an electric based artiste, catch the acoustic
bug, and to note the enthusiasm and song
potential that derives from this new
marriage. Colin's main instrument for many
years (apart from his voice) has been bass
guitar and Karac are a reasonably well
establish band on the live circuit. I made the
change to acoustic in the early 1970's after
catching the bug from 12 string Blues
guitarist John Joyce, who was playing with
the Levee Breakers at the time. It opened up
a whole new world for me as a guitarist and
songwriter and I could clearly see that Colin
was benefiting from this discovery too, even
though he is still firmly a part of Karac. He
tells me that he is intending to record a CD
of his original songs in the near future and I
MUSIC
MAKER
would suspect, based upon what I have
heard, that it will be a worthwhile listen
when it it finished. I asked Colin what
prompted him to run an acoustic project
alongside his band activities. "I suppose I’m
a singer in the first instance and then a bass
player, then an acoustic guitar singer
songwriter. I sing and play bass in blues
rock band Karac. But I’ve always written on
the acoustic guitar. I started playing at age
12 but I don’t really consider myself a
"guitarist" as such, but i love exploring and
finding appropriate platforms on the guitar
to deliver a vocal or to search melodies. The
challenge then is to actually play rhythmic
and percussive guitar "colourings" whilst
supporting the vocal. Therefore, rhythm and
feel is essential to me, especially as its only
me to blame if it goes all pear shaped live! I
have to say though, I rarely touch the bass
at home, my love affair has always favoured
the acoustic guitar! The acoustic is never
far from my clutches. Barely a day passes
before I'm finishing off a track or finding
new ideas! Totally lost without the release of
music endorphins! I?m so loving the
acoustic solo project, because it offers me a
challenge, no safety net, just me and my
guitar and my songs, warts and all!
Hopefully it captures the passion I most
certainly feel as I write and deliver."
For me as a long time guitarist and
performer, it certainly did Col, keep at it.
Paul Brett
MUSIC MAKER
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13

IT WILL SURPRISE SOME BUT NOT OTH-
ERS TO LEARN THAT CERTAIN ELEMENTS
OF THE BLUES AND ROOTSY COUNTRY
MUSIC SHARED A KINSHIP IN THE OLD
DAYS AND FREQUENTLY CROSSED OVER
INTO EACH OTHER’S TERRITORY. A NUM-
BER OF EARLY BLUES RECORDINGS – BY
BLACK AND WHITE HILLBILLY PERFORM-
ERS – WERE DECIDELY RISQUE AND WE
HAVE GATHERED TOGETHER AN ENTICING
TWENTY-FOUR CLASSIC SONGS, SOME OF
WHICH ARE GLORIOUSLY DOWN AN’
DIRTY.
The acknowledged Father of Country Music,
Jimmie Rodgers, loved to mingle with black
musicians. Muddy Waters began his distinguished
career picking in a small country string
14
BLACK & WHITE BLUES
Leadbelly
band. Hank Williams was happy to acknowledge
the influence of black musician Rufus
‘Tee-Tot’ Payne on his stupendous music. One
style traded off on the other and, on occasions,
the two became inextricably linked, because
musicians tend to display no racial barriers.
Music is music and it didn’t need a politician
canvassing for votes to tell a hot guit ar picker
like Merle Travis that he couldn’t trade licks with
a dirt-poor black busker on 4 th and Delaware.
It was once said that Southern politicians were
so slow on the uptake that they wore calendars
instead of watches on their wrists!
Many of the old-time musicians – black and
white – were poor but with a common goal –
making the ‘blues’ talk for them. If some, like
Jimmie Rodgers, Sonny Terry & Brownie
McGhee, Big Bill Broonzy and Jimmie Davis,
finally got lucky, then that was fine but the vast
majority struggled to make enough small
change for chittlin’s, turnip-greens or a Masonjar
of corn-liquor at the end of a gig. But music,
real meaningful music, was the common
denominator that pulled blacks and whites
together and their songs and melodies possessed
real soul and humour.
This isn’t the first attempt at drawing the two
factions together. My colleague Tony Russell
did it for CBS back in 1970 with a groundbreaking
vinyl LP called ‘Blacks, Whites And
Blues’, which brought together the talents of the
Dallas String Band, Lil McClintock, Bob Wills,
Earl Hooker and Macon Ed & Tampa Joe, to
name but few. In his sleeve-notes Russell
wrote: “Interaction between black and white
musicians has been one of the most stimulating
forces in American folk music. Nowadays, for
social reasons, exchanges are rarer; but in the
Twenties and Thirties they were frequent and
fertile. Why it should have been so was well
explained by Frank Walker, a Columbia A&R
man who recorded many musicians from both
races.
“In those days, in the outskirts of a city like
Atlanta, we’ll say, you had your coloured section…..and
you had your white, but they were
right close to each other. They might be swinging
round in an arc, the coloured people being
the left end of the arc and the white the right,
but they would pass each other every day. And
a little of the spiritualistic singing of the
coloured people worked over into the white hillbilly,
and a little of the white hillbilly worked over
into what the coloured people did, so that you
got a little combination of the two things here.
They (the hillbillies) adopted little things that a
coloured man might be playing on his guit ar,
but he (the coloured man) heard the white fellow
across the way…..and he adopted a little of
that”.
And so it was during the Second W orld War,
when black and white GIs were thrown together
and traded off (musically) on each other, that
the great fusion began in earnest and led in just
over a decade to the emergence of rhythm and
blues and rock ‘n’ roll. Be that as it may, we
are interested here in looking back to a time
when black and white musicians seemed
almost interchangeable. Hillbilly artists like
Jimmy Rodgers, Gene Autry, Riley Puckett and
Jimmie Davis adopted the blues into their
repertoires. In his excellent ‘Black, White And
Blue’ feature for an earlier Music Maker, Harry
Guevitch wrote: “If the race artists and the hillbillies
didn’t share the same skin colour they
did share the same poverty. Blind Lemon
Jefferson may have ended his life in some
degree of affluence but few others did. The
majority of these early bards, black and white,
started off as poor working-class Americans
and most ended up that way. Recording
enriched very few and though many of them
had a great time, the great times didn’t last all
that long. As always the blacks had an even
harder time than the whites”.
It would be easy to dismiss much early hillbilly
as ‘white trash’ music but equally the early
blues artists were reviled for songs that, with
hindsight, have evolved into historic masterpieces;
songs of the calibre of Leadbelly’ s ‘Take
This Hammer’. ‘Cotton Fields Back Home’ and
‘Midnight Special’ now stand for all time.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
The blues, for the blacks at least, were a way
of kicking back at oppressive slave-owners,
brutality on the chain gangs and the sheer raw
deal of life itself. The blues gave black
Americans freedom of expression. Most
singers avoided blatantly confrontational lyrics
and skilfully veiled their musical protestations
and laments with double entendres and often
incomprehensible moans, wails and ‘whoops’
and ‘hollers’. In 1903 W.E.B. DuBois, author of
‘Sorrow Songs’, wrote: “….They that walked in
MUSIC
MAKER

darkness sang songs of the olden days –
Sorrow Songs – for they were weary at heart.
There are people who tell us that life was joyous
then for the black slave, careless and
happy. But not all the p ast South, though it
rose from the dead, can gainstay the hearttouching
witness of these songs. They are the
music of an unhappy people, of the children of
disappointment; they tell of death and suf fering
and unvoiced longing toward a truer world. In
these songs the slave spoke to the world.
Such a message is naturally veiled andonly
half way articulate.
“Through all the sorrow of the Sorrow Songs
there breathes a hope – a faith in the ultimate
justice of things. The minor cadences of
despair change often to triumph and calm confidence.
Sometimes it is faith in life, sometimes
a faith in death, sometimes assurance of
boundless justice in some fair world beyond.
But whichever it is, the meaning is always
clear; that sometime, somewhere, men will
judge men by their souls and not their skins….”
Profound words indeed for an observation
made over one hundred years ago but accurate
in what the blues were all about then – and
now. ‘Sorrow Songs’, as DuBois called them,
were not the strict reserve of black Americans,
for they applied equally to downtrodden whites
and Hispanic migrant workers. Woody Guthrie
spoke for blue-collar workers. Millard Lampell,
a member of the celebrated Almanac Singers,
which also included Guthrie and Pete Seeger,
The Almanac Singers: From left: Woody
Guthrie, Millard Lampell, Bess Hawes, Pete
Seeger, Arthur Stern, Sis Cunningham circa
1941
once summed up Woody in this way: “He was a
rebel and a radical. He was for the out sider
and the outcast, the working stiff and the onemule
farmer. For the drifter and the stray, the
skid-row scrounger sleeping in a doorway, the
down-and-out freezing his tail on the lonesome
highway. He was for the disinherited and the
dispossessed living in flop-houses, fleapits,
migrant camps and jailhouses. He was against
poverty and hunger, bigotry and bargain-basement
justice, con artists, jackleg preachers,
deputy sheriffs and FBI men. Against the comfortable
sonsofbitches who pile up profit out of
war.
“Woody never made any money to speak of. In
his prime years, records hadn’t yet become a
million dollar business – unless you were Irvin
Berlin or Cole Porter. There was good loot in
the ballroom, nightclub and college dance gigs,
MUSIC
MAKER
but those went to the big-name bands, Benny
Goodman, Harry James, Artie Shaw and Glenn
Miller. And even in jazz, the black musicians
who had created it were starving.
“It’s not easy to believe that in 1940 when
Woody came east to join the Almanacs there
weren’t any but a dozen country or folk singers
who had ever ventured north of the Blue Ridge
Mountains. When a dude pushed into a subway
lugging a guitar, people gawked as though
he was carrying a kayak.
“The first time I met Woody was in 1940. He
rolled into New York City, and Pete Seeger
brought him around to the place near the W est
Side Docks where I was living with Lee Hays.
He ambled in, unshaven and flat-broke, with his
guitar slung across his back. Saying with a dry
grin, “Feel like I been shot and missed, shit at
and hit”.
How many of those old-time black blues artist s
felt the same as Woody? Guthrie knew how
they felt and so did Jimmi Rodgers. In later
years artists like Merle Haggard and Johnny
Cash would sing about injustice and segregation.
DOWN AND DIRTY
Poor blacks and poor whites shared common
ground and the sole purpose of this collection
of songs is to illustrate the interaction and
exchanges of ideas prevailing during the early
years of recording between certain Negro musicians
and white hillbilly artists. The blues, by
definition, are melancholy musical statements
made by an oppressed people but, for every
ten songs of misery and hopelessness, there
was one about sexual prowess and conquest.
In the speakeasys, jukejoints and brothels
down and dirty songs were regarded as the
‘norm’ and there was a ready market for this
blatantly risqué material. Many of these songs
were cleverly worded and could not be regarded
as ‘half articulate’ but skilful exercises in
Woody Guthrie Memphis Minnie
duping censors and bigots alike. Memphis
Minnie’s ‘What’s The Matter With The Mill?’,
later recorded by Moon Mullican and Claire
Lynch, among others, is full of double meanings
and one can quickly discern that those hell-bent
on suppressing ‘blue’ songs wouldn’t have had
a clue about the sexual content of this p articular
item. Equally oblique in essence is ‘Press
My Button, Ring My Bell’, by Lil Johnson &
Black Bob but once you’ve switched on to the
subtle humour of these old-time artists – black
and white – you realise that songs like ‘Press
My Button’ are highly amusing.
Alberta Hunter’s ‘You Can’t Tell The Difference
After Dark’ also tweaks at the chuckle muscles
but is hardly offensive, even though it was considered
somewhat earthy at the time.
The blues in general were songs of woe and
frustration borne out of hardship and social
injustice. If the lot of the grossly over-exploited
15

lack field hand picking cotton from dawn ‘til
dusk was cause for concern and a reason to
sing the blues, then think of the equally downtrodden
white boys (and girls) employed in the
notorious weave-rooms. It must be remembered
that at the turn of the 20 th century children
as young as eight were employed as spinners,
earning eight cents a day! Black workers
probably earned even less.
Coal-mining and railroad construction were
equally demanding occupations with high mortality
rates but, where the railroad was concerned,
it represented a slender potential for
escape. The lure of the iron road and sheer
romance of those mighty Shay and Baldwin
steam locomotives have inspired songwriters
from the earliest days of recording. Jimmie
Rodgers, Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie and Sonny
Terry were all influenced by the rhythm and
mysticism of the train. A po’ boy could hitch a
ride in a swaying boxcar from the Chicago
freight yards and steam all the way down to the
sweet sunny South and beyond – but the coal
mines were another matter. As Merle Travis
wrote, they were “as dark as a dungeon and
dank as the dew; where the dangers were double
an’ pleasures were few”.
HARD TIMES
The blues were about hard times, trouble and
strife. The blues are laments and dirges and
chronicles of times past. An excellent case in
point is ‘Frankie And Johnnie’ (performed by the
great blind white guitarist and singer Riley
Puckett), which relates to the historical event s
Blind guitarist Riley Puckett had been blinded
when a sugar of lead solution was accident ally
used to treat a minor eye ailment when he was
a child. His soulful and resonant singing sold
many records and he additionally was one of
the earliest guitarist to employ walking bass
runs, usually made by up-picking with his index
and middle fingers.
of October 15, 1899, when Frankie Baker shot
and killed Al Britt in St. Louis. Earlier versions
of the song were called ‘Frankie And Albert’ or
‘Frankie Baker’ but Charlie Poole & His North
16
Carolina Ramblers recorded it as ‘Leavin’
Home’. It was also recorded by other hillbilly
performers as ‘You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone’
and in 1929 by Jimmie Rodgers as ‘Frankie
And Johnny’.
Our collection also includes an interesting version
of the time-honoured ‘Stack O’Lee’, sometimes
known as ‘Stagger Lee’, by Cliff ‘Ukelele
Ike’ Edwards. Edwards, who was born in 1895,
was once described as a ‘jazz-age Peter Pan’
and a ‘one-man Mills Brothers’.
‘Black & White Blues’ combines the Mississippi
Delta blues of Bukka White (‘Drunk Man Blues’)
and Robert Johnson (‘Ramblin’ On My Mind’),
the Memphis blues of Memphis Minnie (‘What’ s
The Matter With The Mill?’) and the Memphis
Jug Band (‘Kansas City Blues’), through to the
country blues of white hillbilly artists like Frank
Hutchison (‘K.C. Blues’) and Bill Cox (‘Long
Chain Charlie Blues’). But there’s much more
besides, including the powerful ‘Unemployment
Stomp’ by Big Bill Broonzy, Woody Guthrie’s
‘Dust Bowl Blues’ and ‘Texas Hambone Blues’
by Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies.
The smoothest vocal performance comes from
Canada’s Hank Snow with his interpretation of
‘Trouble In Mind’, a Negro blues st andard which
found favour with many white country performers.
Hank Snow rose to become a country
Following his 1954 Opry appearance, 1955 saw
Elvis join Hank Snow's tour orchestrated by his
then manager, Colonel Tom Parker, giving Elvis
his first wide exposure beyond the Louisiana
Hayride.
superstar but he knew hard times during the
1930s and frequently delved into the blues
repertoire for inspiration and solace. Gene
Autry was another early white artist who knew
what it was to go hungry before he achieved
global success and his ‘Rheumatism Blues’
sounds remarkably authentic from a blues
standpoint, even to the extent of Autry sounding
‘black’, whilst Allen Shaw on ‘Moanin’ The
Blues’ adopted a white delivery.
William Lee Conley (‘Big Bill’) Broonzy
summed it up best when he wrote: “When you
work twelve months of the year as a farmer and
don’t come out of debt, and the boss has to
give you food on credit ‘til the crop is sold, you
can’t do nothin’ but get the blues”. That was
saying it for the black man. W oody Guthrie
spoke for black and white and Millard Lampell
brought it all into focus when he said, “It’ s a
relief to know that those depression days are
long gone now. Nobody starving and desperate
in this country anymore.
“Except maybe some blacks in the ghettos.
Except maybe some shiftless Indians, Puerto
Ricans and Chicanos.
“Oh sure, there are the bums and p anhandlers
drifting the skid rows of several hundred of our
cities. There are out-of-work millhands, the
miners with Black Lung. And those bothersome
mountain folks in Appalachia. There are the
cotton-field hands in Alabama and Mississippi,
the sharecroppers in back-country Georgia.
And the migrant workers penned up in rotting
shacks across California, Florida, New Jersey
and Connecticut.
“Nobody you see very often. Nobody who
counts”.
Listen well to the lyrics contained within these
twenty-four songs but heed equally the quality
of instrumental prowess displayed by many of
these great old-time musicians. Black or white,
it mattered not, because they sang and played
as one.
Gene Autry Bryan Chalker
MUSIC
MAKER

UNDERSTANDING OPEN TUNINGS
by Ed Dowling
Readers of Music Maker will know that I first
came across Ed Dowling whilst browsing
the internet for information about playing
slide guitar. I was sufficiently intrigued to
want to know more. Ed.
Open tuning is a fairly logical way to proceed to
anyone playing slide guitar. Tune the open
strings to any chord, say G eg (G B D G B D)
and the A chord will be obtained by placing the
steel bar across the strings at the second fret
and so on up the fret board until you get to G
an octave higher at the 12th fret. Ed’ s ideas on
open tunings stretch far beyond the realms of
slide guitar. He is a self t aught musician
untroubled with the constraints of musical theory
and with an engineers logical approach has
produced a book and 2 CDs setting out the
case for open tuning. In essence Ed’ s tutor is a
series of chord charts for 4 and 6 string instruments,
all explained without recourse to any
understanding of musical theory, which will
appeal to non readers. The accompanying text
to the chord charts deals fully with finger picking
patterns and styles of music and really
comes to life when you watch the DVDs. In
fact just by watching Ed playing and listening to
his laconic wit at the same time will t ake the
reader down the intended path of getting you to
play without being too bothered about the written
note.
So whether you play the mandolin, banjo or
guitar you will be enlightened by Ed’ s approach.
We asked him to tell us how he came to write
the book and this is what he says.
B. H.
Ed Dowling comments
I saw Tom Rush in 1966 and he played some
tunes on the guitar with a tube on his finger and
it sounded great. I spoke with him between set s
and he said that he was playing in Open E -
that he wound up the 3 strings that were normally
fretted to make an E cord. When I st arted
playing in open tunings that is all the information
that I had and all that I knew of. Shortly
after that I discovered John Fahey who played
mostly open tunings but there was still little or
no info on how to tune or play in open tunings. I
continued to learn by doing and experimenting.
I figured out how to fret the E tuning to make
cords and also used a slide a lot. Having no
info, I made up my own method of underst anding
and naming the cords. To me, an A cord
was “up 5” because it was played on the 5th
fret in open E. When I found the fretted equivalent
of that cord I named it “up 5”. This
approach gave me a great understanding of
cords and how they relate to the “root” note /
cord and each other. I bought an antique banjo
and made it playable - and discovered that it
was played in an open G cord. I could see that
the 5 strings had the same relationship s as 5 of
the open E tuning guitar strings just 3 frets
higher. I got the Earl Scruggs banjo book and
discovered the “real” names of the cords and
even 7th, 9th, and augmented cords. Few peo-
MUSIC
MAKER
ple know that Earl Scruggs had a major influence
on how dobro is played - he worked with
Josh Graves on using the banjo rolls on the
dobro - thank you Earl. I then learned how to
transpose open tuning cords from the banjo
open G to the guitar open E - still with no
instruction. I continued learning and playing in
open tunings for the rest of my life. At some
point I decided to put all of the things I learned
into a book so that future generations would not
have to start form scratch like I did. So..... I
wrote the book and made a 2 hour DVD to
show how it all works. Open tunings are used
a lot now and I hope this book and dvd set are
of use to folks who want to play in open tunings.
There’s more information at
www.eddowling.com
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17

RECORDING - HOME OR AWAY
Do It Yourself Approach - There are basically
two ways to record your own CD. The
first is what a lot of independent artists are
doing: they do it themselves in the privacy
of their own home. They get themselves a
computer, install the software and go to
town. The advantage to this approach is
simple; you can spend a year recording
your CD and tweak every tiny thing that
bugs you. You can punch in your guitar solo
seven thousand times ‘till you get it right.
You can fix any pitch problems, add tons of
layers, spend a bunch of time getting a killer
tone, go nuts without getting yourself in
debt like you would if you had to pay an
engineer or for the same amount of studio
time. The only problem is that unless you
practically have a studio in your home, you
are going to have a rough time recording a
full band, especially if you play the kind of
music that needs to be played live, with real
musicians. Jazz, Fusion, Blues and some
Rock are a few examples. Drums are a
nightmare and big amps can also possibly
pose some problems. That is why the kind
of music that generally gets recorded
using this “do it in the privacy of your own
home” method is ambient, techno, electronica
and the like. Not to say you can’t record
other genres effectively but a recording studio
tends to produce better recording
results when you need to record traditional
instruments.
The Traditional Approach - Rehearse the
band and get in the studio. This poses one big
obstacle: MONEY! Studio time is expensive so
you need to be well rehearsed or at least use
musicians that are quick. Both my CDs, “Big
Bad Sun” and my first release, “Prospect s”
where recorded this way and with no
rehearsals. We only had three days to record
the “Big Bad Sun” CD so more then the other
two guys in the band, I had to be tot ally prepared.
I had to know exactly how I wanted to
start and end each song, the form of each tune,
have my lyrics together. Recording a CD in
three days is impossible if you have to spend
more than two hours on each song so I had to
18
have an image of each song
in my head before we even
got in the studio. By the way,
most CDs are recorded in
about a month but when you
are paying for the studio time
yourself, plan on doing it in
about five days or you’ll go
broke.
Who Does What
The Engineer - When recording
at home an engineer is
out of the question (unless it
is you), you would have to be
Bill Gates to be able to af ford
to pay an engineer to come
over everyday for six months.
In a recording studio, you will
have to hire one or use the
one that they give you. Out of
all my years playing guitar in
dozens of recording studios, I still don’t know
how to turn half the stuff on much less mix my
own tracks. As I said, most recording studios
will supply an engineer but you may want to
hire one with a good reputation. You can
always listen to CDs that they engineered.
Basically engineers are passive for the most
part, they work best when they are told what to
do. That’s where problems arise. I mean, during
a recording session if the engineer where to
ask me; “How do you want me to EQ the snare
drum?” I would be dumbfounded for an answer .
I know what I like when I hear it but I don’t
know how to EQ it to make it sound like what I
like. So if you are not up to giving the orders,
you may want to consider hiring a producer
A word on Engineers -
Engineers are different than
us guitarists. Unlike us, they
are into compressors and
limiters and things like this.
Compressors and limiters
are boring to guitarists,
they have unexciting
brand names that
sound like French
food or German medi-
cine, names like Sennheiser, Neuman or Neve.
We aren’t interested in them because they are
basically made to control volume, which is
something strange to us. We are always trying
to figure out ways to play louder anyway. The
last thing that we want to think about is ways to
by Chris Juergensen
compress or limit our volume. Besides, guitarists
like things with exciting names like
“Nuclear Harmonic Expander” or “Tri-Stereo
Distortion Booster” ( I made these names up,
but you get the point). Plus the compressors
and limiters that they like are old and crusty
and look like crap, we guitarists prefer things
that gleam and are shiny. As much as engineers
love compressors and limiters, mastering
engineers love them even more (I’ll get to mastering
later). Mastering engineers go so crazy
with compressing and limiting that recording
engineers get pissed off. They often complain
that the engineer that masters the music cranks
up the volume too much and then cut s off the
highs and lows and erases the dynamics of the
music. It is best to stay out of the whole thing
and let them do what they like to do.
The Producer - Sometimes you can find a guy
that is good at both engineering and producing.
One reason a producer is good to have is
because with only a few days in the studio, you
are going to have a hell of a time editing your
tracks by yourself. Let me explain: let‘s say you
are recording your vocal track, usually you sing
through the song four or five times and record
each take on different track. Each time you sing
through it, the producer sitting at his groovy
producer desk in the studio, picks the phrases
from each vocal take that he likes the best. He
makes notes on your lyric sheets, marking
which phrase he likes from what t ake. After you
are done singing through the song several
times he will tell the engineer how to glue the
different parts he likes together. If you aren’t the
greatest singer, it is an enormous undertaking,
like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. It would
take you way to much time to do this yourself.
He will also tell the engineer how to mix everything,
what kind of reverb, delay, how to EQ
your guitar. Being a musician, you would figure
that you could tell the engineer how to mix
everything but I found that after hours in the
studio I tend to lose my sense of perspective
but a good producer’s ears never seem to get
tired. A good producer also has a fascinating
ability to know how things will sound recorded.
Guitarists tend to listen to the sound of our amp
and that’s where it ends but the producer listens
to the sound of our amp, imagines the
sound hitting a specific mike placed in a specific
location in the studio, travel to the mixing
board, get some reverb and delay added, get
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MAKER

mixed with the other instruments, get mastered,
burned and getting stuck in a cheap CD player
then getting listened to by someone who probably
doesn’t even play the guitar. Musicians tend
to listen in real time but a producer must be a
clairvoyant. You should definitely take a listen to
the CDs that he has produced before you hire
him. Each
producer has his style, some guys like everything
super wet and some hate wet sounding
recordings, so it is best to match up your likes
and dislikes with his. When you meet with him,
tell him what kind of image you have and
maybe give him some CDs of recording that
you like. One reason I picked the producer I did
for the “Big Bad Sun” session is because he,
like me, is a guitarist and pays special attention
to mixing the guitar correctly.
Choosing A Studio
What to look for - Because the computer is
used mostly these days rather than t ape, the
process is a lot faster. When things were
recorded on tape, half your studio time was
spent rewinding each take. It may seem trivial
but when you record nine or ten songs four or
five times each, punch-in solos, separately
record the vocal tracks several times each and
edit them, you spend an enormous time rewinding
tape. Since studio time is expensive definitely
pick a digital studio over an analog one.
Whether or not you record at home or in a
recording studio, there is also one more great
advantage to using computers for recording,
you can send the data out for various purposes.
Mastering is one example but also imagine this,
you could record your tune and send the dat a
to me, and then I could record in a guit ar solo
MUSIC
MAKER
and send it back to you. You could send your
data all over the world and have dif ferent people
record different tracks. Couldn’t really do
that in the old days. Generally the medium
sized studios will charge you less if you bring in
your own engineer but of course you will need
to pay him separately for his time. The big studios
will charge you more and may be less
interested in the project.
A word on digital recordings -
Remember how I was saying
that engineers like old crappy
outboard gear? Actually
there is a pretty good reason
for their obsession with
these old compressors, limiters
and pre-amps. It is
because of the new digital
revolution. You see, most
engineers, especially the ones
in their forties, feel the sound of
all the digital components plus
the SSL board gives off a very
cold, sterile sound. To compensate
for this they like to use older outboard
gear, tubes included to add some
warmth back into the mix. I personally buy
this argument. The older recordings definitely
have a warmer tone but recording in a completely
analog studio seems impractical.
Best of both worlds - There are some guys
that combine both the “do it yourself at
home” and “traditional” methods for spectacular
results. Keyboards and
sequences are recorded at home, the
data brought to the studio, drums, guitars
and vocals added, data brought
back home, tweaked and tweaked
again, etc.. This method is also very cost ef fective
as it reduces your time in the studio.
Once It’s Recorded
Mastering - Don’t screw up here. You get in
the studio, record a great session, mix it down,
and add the perfect blend of equalization,
reverb, delay and whatnot. Now you have to
get it mastered. When you master a CD this is
what happens, the data goes to a mastering
studio, the mastering engineer will then arrange
the songs in the proper order, do fade-outs on
the songs he is supposed to, make sure all the
songs are the same level, EQ the whole thing,
compress the music so there is no jagged
edges sticking out, and raise the general volume.
He basically makes it easy to listen to. My
general rule of thumb is that I never let the
engineer who mixed the music master it. It is a
whole different thing and it is best to let someone
who is listening with fresh ears to master
it.The cost of mastering depends on the mastering
studio and amount of songs that need to
be mastered. I would suggest you wait at least
a week to master your CD. You should listen to
it a bunch of times in dif ferent stereo systems
before to make sure you like the mix first.
Studio monitors sound great so don’t let them
fool you, compare it to some other CDs at
home in the same stereo that you always listen
to.
Whichever recording method works best for you
is for you to decide and both methods have
their advantages and disadvantages. My final
advice is this: it is easier to make music than it
is to sell it so be not only an artist but also be a
businessman. Do the maths, homework and
all the preparations you need and finally sell
enough to make a profit!!
Chris Juergensen - Native New Yorker, long
time studio musician and session guitarist Chris
Juergensen is in constant demand. He has
played sold out venues as intimate as the world
famous Blue Note and as large as the Long
Beach Auditorium. After teaching guitar for six
years at the prestigious Musicians Institute in
Los Angeles along side with Paul Gilbert (Mr.
Big), Scott Henderson and Joe Diorio, Chris lef t
the states to
become the Director
of Education at
Tokyo School of
Music in Japan
where he still
resides.
Big Bad Sun -
Traditional in nature,
contemporary in sound, Chris Juergensen’s Big
Bad Sun is a bold departure from the blues you
may be familiar with. Passionate guitar playing,
good story telling plus crystalline production
makes this CD destined to become a true,
modern day, blues classic.
Prospects - his first solo CD, has been critically
acclaimed throughout the world.
For his efforts in promoting international music
education, Chris was made an honorary citizen
of New Orleans by the Mayor of the city ,
Albums can be purchased from:
chrisjuergensen.com
bandvillage.com
cdbaby.com
guitar9.com
abstractlogix.com
magnatune.com
towerrecords.com
19

Legends of Music
Lonnie Johnson
The man who pioneered guitar solos
Lonnie
Johnson (left)
playing in
Chicago, 1941
O
ne of my all time guitar favorites is
American Blues guitarist/vocalist,
Lonnie Johnson. He had a great
voice, and in my opinion, one of the best
in the blues genre. He played exacty the
right amount of notes to enhance his
songs too. He wasn't a speed - freak,
playing at breakneck pace, up and down
the neck, he made the notes count, much
the same as Eric Clapton does. If you
listen to his classic song "Another Night
to Cry"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8fyb9v
pIc0 you will hear what I mean. In this
YouTube clip, he is introduced by the
legendary harmonica player, Sonny Boy
Williamson. Lonnie is playing a single
pick up Kay style leader. Many of the
electric bluesmen played Kay's, as they
were inexpensive at the time, much like
the acoustic Stellas that dominated the
scene before electric guitars were
introduced.Lonnie up until then, played
an acoustic and here's an earlier, solo
acoustic rendition of "Too late to Cry".
which is similar in style to the first song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDRg3X
MfU94&feature=related Here too, Lonnie
demonstrates an equal proficiency in both
genres. You will also notice that both
versions sound full within themselves,
which is the mark of a true artiste.
20
Lonnie Johnson was born in New Orleans
in 1899 and he was fortunate to be born into
a family of musicians. He learned guit ar and
violin in his father's group by his late teens
and in 1917, he toured the UK with a revue
show. Upon his return to the States, he
learned that all of his family, except for his
brother James, had died in the 1918 flu
pandemic. This was the last great 'wipe out'
virus, also called Spanish Flu, to hit the world
as a global pandemic. Estimates put the
death toll somewhere between 50 and 100
million people worldwide. Strangely however,
it hit mainly young, healthy adults, as
opposed to the normal flu, which hit s the very
young and elderly the most. After this family
tragedy, Lonnie had a number of jobs,
working on Riverboats and in a duo with his
brother. Like many bluesmen, Lonnie entered
a contest which he duly won in S t.Louis and
the prize was a record deal with Okeh
records This was an independent label who
signed blues artistes for their 'Race
Recording" arm, which proved extremely
successful. They had a policy of recording
acts live, known at the time as 'remote' or
'location' recording, and they would send out
mobile recording units to places like St.
Louis, Atlanta, New Orleans, San Antonio,
and other places where artistes plied their
trade, outside of the major cities of New York
and Chicago, where such artistes would not
have been heard. Okeh signed Johnson as a
Blues artiste, this was a tag he was never
comfortable with, as he saw himself in a
wider musical vein. He said "I guess I would
have done anything to get recorded - it just
happened to be a blues contest, so I sang
the blues." I often wonder why the music
industry proper, has always chosen to put
artistes into 'boxes'. The same with the
media as a whole. It puts constraints on
artistic freedom as many musicians and
songwriters, write and play across a whole
range of styles. We actually live in a world of
'boxes' as such constraints suit the marketing
morons who constantly bombard us with
products they want us to buy and via such
marketing ploys, seek to entice us into their
sticky fly paper world.
It wasn't just about blues for Lonnie, he
recorded in 1927 with jazz great Louis
Armstrong and a year later, he recorded with
Duke Ellington. He is widely accredited with
pioneering the guitar solo on the 1927 track
"6/88 Glide"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pV9nO6r
YN4 You can hear this solo lies more in the
jazz vein than blues and contains note clarity,
melody and improvisation, that in terms of
records at the time, was indeed a pioneering
fact. Lonnie in the early days, played quite a
few tunes using a 12 string guit ar and
influenced other greats like Charlie Christian
and French guitarist, Django Reinhardt. He
MUSIC
MAKER

also teamed up with jazz guitarist Eddie Lang
and history recalls that they were the first
black and white musicians to record together,
but because of the intense feeling and
hatred, towards mixing races, in whatever
form in White America back then. Eddie used
a stage name of Blind Willie Dunn to mask
his race and skin colour. Thankfully, this
fascist attitude has long since receded in the
population as a whole, although there are still
some areas of the States that one would
certainly hover a question mark over.
Musicians and music have always led the
way in building bridges between peoples and
nations and long may they continue. Even
way back in history, you can view from this
picture of a Christian musician, having a jam
session on lutes or Ouds, with a Muslim
musician.
It's a
shame
that all
politicians
aren't
musicians
as they
may find
far more
common
ground in
solving
the
world's problems than they currently do.
MUSIC
MAKER
I gather by now you have realised that
Lonnie was into improvisation, more than
the formatted blues structure. He was
leaning more towards jazz, yet with root s in
blues, which I think came more from his
songs than his instrumentals. His vocal
style was more sophisticated than most
blues singers, as you can tell by his smooth
delivery. Put the two together in
juxtaposition with the times in which he
plied his trade, and you have one of the
main pioneers of the cross over blues/jazz
genre, and certainly the most influential
guitarist of his generation and beyond.
Like all African Americans, he wrote
about the social conditions that he lived
and grew up in, and the subtle sentiment s
of love relationships. He recorded many
songs and instrumentals with Okeh and
played with many other artistes during his
fruitful career. In the late 1930's, he
switched labels and signed to Decca
Records. He used an electric guit ar for the
first time on a session with Joshua
Altheimer in 1939. With the end of WW11 in
1945, the guitar scene became more
electric and Lonnie moved into this genre
with ease and played more in the Rhythm
and Blues style with a group of other
notable musicians. In the late 40's he had a
huge hit with a song called "Tomorrow
Night" and although he didn't write the
song, he put his own interpret ation to it and
it topped the Billboard "Race Records"
chart for 7 weeks. Race Records was the
'box' that the record companies and media
put music by African Americans into and
thankfully, that racist philosophy has long
since been confined to the more shameful
part of musical history. He toured the UK in
the 50's and my old legendary bandleader
paid tribute to him by changing his name
from Tony to Lonnie. I am referring to the
man who started the British pop music
industry rolling, Lonnie Donegan, whom I
had the pleasure of playing with in the early
70's. As with all top musicians over time,
Lonnie Johnson's popularity waned and he
took a job as a hotel janitor. He was again
re-discovered and signed a deal with
Prestige Records. He continued recording
and touring into the late 60's until he was
hit by a car whilst walking in Toronto,
Canada. He suffered serious injuries and
never fully recovered from these. He died in
1970 and was inducted into the Louisiana
Blues Hall of Fame in 1997. In my opinion,
he should have been honoured with every
accolade possible for the massive
contribution he gave to guitar playing. A
true legend if ever there was one.
Paul Brett
21

CD Reviews By Peter Stevenson
Winklepickin -
22 Records TT-2204
Pete Miller has been a feature of
the music scene since the late 50s
and yet I suspect that his name will
mean little. Pete and his band
emerged on the back of the brief
skiffle boom of the mid-1950s -
some musical genres endure, some
evolve but others sink largely
without trace and apart from a brief
hybrid revival in the form of
cowpunk in the early 80s, skiffle
firmly belongs in the later category.
It probably has much to do with
archive images of quiffed-up
youths, hammering out tunes at
over 100mph, all rough-around-theedges
via worn out guitars, makeshift
tea-chest bass and scratchy
washboard rhythms. Nevertheless,
as a stepping stone to rock and
roll, skiffle had its place and was to
prove a major influence on many of
the top musicians who were to
emerge during the music boom of
the late 50s and early 60s.
Publicity accompanying this CD
suggested that Winklepickin was
“the first real skiffle album in over
50 years”. Inducing a mix of worry
and intrigue, the reality is that Big
Boy Pete and two of his original
Offbeats are far too long in the
tooth to engage in such nonsense.
Yes, there’s a respect for the past -
an era in which they played their
part - but what they have contrived
to deliver afresh is actually rather
good, twelve original songs which
display much of the original spirit
but with an accomplished
musicianship, lyrical dexterity
(S.H.I.T.E. For Brains) and the
cleanest of production values. It
could only come with the passing of
time and accumulation of
experience - no angry young men
here and with tongues firmly but
lovingly in cheek, this homage to
the past is a triumph of both sound
and vision.
For further information visit
www.bigboypete.com
The Early Widows -
Six Shooter Records Six053
Plaudits abounded for the early
releases of Justin Rutledge, a
Toronto based alt-country singersongwriter,
who returns to the
spotlight with The Early Widows, a
rather oddly titled affair and his
fourth release to date.
This time around a fuller and more
electrified sound is offered and yet
it’s still an emotional experience
throughout, a shimmering work of
moving songs, shaped largely by
the singer’s delicate and fragile
vocal style and his understated
electric guitar. Wistful and moody,
these songs would clearly work in
the solo setting but for The Early
Widows, Rutledge has added
plenty of weight and depth. It’s the
band around him and in particular
the pedal steel which help to create
the atmosphere - a natural shade
and light, embellishment and
decoration but never detracting
from the song and its message.
Raison D’Etre -
Shirty 1
There’s an absolute deluge of
“new” Swarbrick material around at
the moment - a couple of archive
live releases emerging from the
vaults over the summer and now
comes Raison D’Etre, eight years
in the making and Swarbs’ first
true new album of studio material
since time began … or so it
seems.
A national treasure and undoubted
master of the fiddle, Raison D’Etre
involves some of the finest names
from the tradition, including Beryl
Marriott, Martin Carthy, John
Kirkpatrick, Kevin Dempsey,
Maartin Alcock and Simon Mayor.
With the Jason Wilson Band also
on board and adding opening
weight to a sprightly reappearance
of the Spanish Ladies Medley, it’s
a reassuring visit to old territory
and sets the tone for much that
follows.
The approach is traditional and
instrumental throughout and when
the tunes are delivered at a fair
old lick, the years just seem to roll
away and the interplay between
fiddle and Kevin Dempsey’s guitar
is quite inspired. Diversions
towards slower and more
thoughtful pieces are only to be
expected but serve to display the
man’s all-round mastery.
22 MUSIC
MAKER
Ivy
Cupola are a Derbyshire based
trio, Oli and Sarah Matthews,
together with Doug Eunson,
whose varied traditional approach
is imbued with such a warmth that
it’s hard not to be attracted,
particularly when the autumn chills
appear and the nights close in.
This no doubt has much to do with
their thoughtful choice of material
and combination of instruments -
melodeon and hurdy gurdy, sax or
clarinet, with fiddle and viola. It’s a
combination which has been used
before in other quarters but the
instrumentation helps to create
rich layers of sound and gives
excellent depth to what is an
acoustic set-up.
A mix of dance tunes and song,
traditional and covers, with just the
one self-penned offering, Cupola
is also blessed with three fine
singers, whose voices blend in
harmony and due justice is served
on well-known songs such as Sing
Ivy, Spencer The Rover, as well as
a couple of seasonal wassails.
With such diverse material and
style, I could well imagine that
they would work well both in the
live setting or folk-club and it’s a
name I shall be looking out for in
the future.
For more info, samples and
availability -
www.myspace.com/cupolafolk
Nothing Lasts Forever -
Edsel EDSH 7001
It seems as if Charlie
Landsborough has been treading
a familiar and reassuring path
since time began and he returns
here with Nothing Lasts Forever.
His twentieth offering to date, it’s
an eighteen-track album which
features twelve self-penned songs
and six covers. With music ranging
from inspirational to country, from
ballad to anthem, it’s no deviation
from the standard he’s been
forging down the years and I can’t
believe that his band of faithful
followers will be disappointed.
Not sure if this is a regular release
but fans should ensure that the
version that they snap up includes
a bonus DVD with double valuefor-money
entertainment - An
Evening With Charlie
Landsborough (live in 1995 at
Limerick University) and Shine
Your Light (part
documentary/interviews and with
concert footage from The Rialto in
Derry during 1997). A total of 34
favourites and Charlie keeping
concert-goers enthralled and
captivated with his warm songs
and amusing or engaging
anecdotes.

CD Reviews
Greasy Rails -
Grant Road Records
I like to think that my musical
tastes are reasonably broad but
every so often something is
pushed in this direction for review
which is so far off the scale of
personal taste that I’m in danger of
drowning in a sea of ignorance.
Greasy Rails is one such example
and yet appropriately named, such
is the difficulty of the task
presented.
Let’s start with categorisation - the
reality is that a diversity of musical
styles are covered - a hotchpotch
of energetic rock and commercial
pop, where melodramatic ballads
jostle with funky soul … and all
this from an Indian resident in San
Francsco. I fear there’s a danger
that such eclecticism and disparity
of style might deflect the listener
and yet one has to applaud
Ammet Kamath for the
demonstration of his vocal powers
and limitless adaptability.
Thoughtful arrangements
showcase an impressive vocal
range and it should also be noted
that the material features selfpenned
original work and not a
cover in sight.
Whether the greater whole
satisfies remains to be seen but
chances are that the adventurous
will find something to their liking.
Temporary Identity
Tom Martin has been a stalwart of
MUSIC
MAKER
By Peter Stevenson
the Birmingham music scene for
quite a number of years,
performing solo or as the Tom
Martin Band. Which makes for
something of a conundrum - whilst
Temporary Identity displays Tom
Martin’s name alone on the cover,
his regular associates are very
much a feature and the album
which comes across musically as
a collaborative band effort.
Perhaps it’s all a question of trust
and with minor gripes aside, it’s
clear that Tom is the principle
director, the band a platform for his
voice and message. Yet such is
the comfort of the musical zone,
it’s clear that all of the performers
are happy … but it’s also a sound
that is difficult to pigeonhole.
Perhaps that’s how it’s meant to
be - the laid-back deftness of
touch, the music embracing all of
the sub-strata of roots music, from
folk and blues, country and rock,
might invite certain comparisons at
times but I’ll leave that game for
other listeners. The lightness of
tone belies the angst and
tribulations of life which Tom has
captured through a collection of
well-written, original songs.
For further information check out -
www.myspace.com/tommartinmusi
c and
www.myspace.com/tommartinsolo
Better Late Than Never -
Angel Air Records SJPCD324
The story of Cold River Lady is a
story of what might have been …
and in the case of the apposite
Better Late Than Never, a tale of
what should have been.
Discovered by Pete Brown (who
wrote the lyrics for three of
Cream’s major hits in the 60s) the
band spent a good part of the
early 1970s gigging widely but that
elusive record deal never quite
materialised and they disbanded in
1976.
In the early 90s Pete formed his
own production company and the
outfit reformed for the recording of
Better Late Than Never. That it
should only now be making an
appearance is quite bizarre, as it
is clearly an album of
sophisticated and accomplished
musicianship and of well-crafted
tunes with a varied vocal
approach.
Publicity suggestions are keen to
cite three areas of influence but I’d
be more than happy to argue
against the notion that flavours of
Arthur Lee and Tim Buckley touch
the music. However, with Phil
Weaver’s lightish vocal delivery to
the fore on songs such as
Hereford Girls and Sauna Bath
Blues, the overall airy musicality
does indeed resonate with echoes
of Canterbury’s finest … Caravan.
A neat vocal contrast is achieved
when Helen Hardy steps up to the
fore and her beautiful and
expressive voice provides
necessary weight for the more
rocking or soulful songs.
A pleasant mix of floating pop and
rock, it’s easy on the ear but an
excellent recording nonetheless
and a recording to which I will be
returning in the months ahead.
A Shaded Spot -
Note Music NCD 20222
Swung Drawn & Altered -
Note Music NCD 10212
Bob Haddrell and Dino Coccia go
back a long way - they’re also
both members of a band called
The Barcodes, so it’s no surprise
to find them teaming up for the
first of these projects, A Shaded
Spot. Piano player and drummer
respectively, the music is
something of a departure from the
band’s normal bluesier stylings
with a diversion into more jazzy
based piano territory. However,
there is still much to enjoy on this
collection of original tunes and
songs and Bob’s vocals seem
particularly well suited to the task
in hand. The lion’s share of the
material was penned by the
collaborative pairing but fellow
Bardode Alan Glen also puts in a
harmonica appearance, copenning
the errant piece with bass
player Jim Mercer and keeping the
whole concoction largely in-house.
Less incestuous is Swung Drawn
& Altered and although Alan Glen
pops up once more to blow
through the reeds, it’s an
instrumental breeze, where Dino
Coccia is accompanied by guitar
maestro Nigel Price, with the
organ player Pete Whittaker much
to the fore. It’s still jazzy in that
bluesy crossover sort of way - a
laid back and easy fusion that
should entice fans of either genre
into a relaxed cross-over late night
world.
Independent
musicians,
studios and
record labels
Sell you
music at
www.tradmusic.net
23

Electric Guitar Pickups
The job of a pickup is to convert
the vibration of a string into an
electrical signal. The basic
design consisting of a magnet and
coil arrangement where the strings
interact with the magnetic field to
induce a voltage in the coil. Even
with this simple concept, there are
quite a few variables and trade-offs.
A common misunderstanding is that the
pickups on your guitar sound different
because they are made differently. Maybe
they are different, but there is also a huge
difference in sound caused by the pickup's
position on the guitar.
Most electric guitars up to around the 70's
(including Fender and Gibson) generally
used the same pickups in all positions, so it
was the pickup's position alone that caused
different sounds. These days, it is more
common to combine different pickup types,
and use hotter pickups in the bridge position.
Stronger magnets (or placing pickups closer
to the strings) gives a higher output but also
damps string vibration by pulling the strings
towards the pickup. In severe cases, this can
cause "false harmonics" or "double notes".
Providing additional windings on the coil
increases the output, particularly midrange.
Manufacturers can only take this so far,
because eventually the loss of highs gives a
very muddy sound. Also the high output can
overload the input of some preamps, making a
"clean" sound impossible without reducing the
guitar volume setting (this may be desirable by
some players). Additional coil windings produce
a higher impedance which pose problems
with treble loss when
used with long cables.
There are similar options
and compromises with
coil wire gauge.
"Active" pickups typically
have a lower number of
coil windings, giving a low
output, low impedance,
and very clean and clear,
uncoloured sound. The low
output is boosted by an onboard
active preamp
which maintains the low
impedance. Low
impedance pickups
(on their own, or
with a preamp)
can drive long
cables without
noticeable treble
loss.
Probably the
most obvious
difference in
pickup
designs is the
single pickup
versus humbuckingpickup.
A humbuckingpickup
contains
two single coils
placed side by
side, with a common
magnet
24
arrangement. The sound is typically "fatter"
(more midrange) due partly to the larger number
of coil windings and partly because the
sound of the string is "read" over a longer portion
of the string.
The shape of the magnetic field af fects how
much of the string is read. The pole-pieces
you see on strat single coil pickup s are individual
magnets and give a very focused magnetic
field, reading a
small section of
the string vibration.
On the
other hand,
screws in a humbucking
pickup are just
screws, but conduct the magnetic
field from a magnet placed
underneath the pickup. There is another set of
magnetically conductive slugs in the other coil,
so the combined humbucker reads a larger
length of string vibration.
Magnetic material also affects tone. Popular
opinion is that Alnico II produces a sweet, vintage
sound, while Alnico V is a little stronger,
and gives a brighter, more attacking tone (ideal
for rock). Ceramic magnets have a slightly
harder edge, and are favoured by met al players.
With so many variables it's easy to see why
there are many different choices. There are a
few established standards, notably the original
Fender Stratocaster, Gibson PAF, along with
some popular models from retrofit manufacturers
like DiMarzio, EMG and Seymour Duncan.
Even before you plug your guitar in, its character
is determined greatly by the type of guit ar
woods used, construction methods, string
gauges, etc. It is this basic character that the
pickup picks up, adding its own colouration.
Other Pickup Types
All of the above desribe magnetic pickup s
which are by far the most common pickup s
used on electric guitars. They are designed to
work with strings that interact with a magnetic
field, so they are not normally subject to
acoustic feedback (you can't talk into one!).
These magnetic pickups CAN be microphonic if
anything metallic in or around them is loose
and vibrates with the sound. This is common in
old and cheap pickups that have loose coil
windings or fittings. It is rarely a problem with
modern pickups that are wax potted to make
sure everything is secure.
Magnetic pickups are not suitable for nylon
acoustic guitars, because nylon strings connot
interact with a magnetic field. Even for steelstring
acoustic guitars, magnetic pickups are
raraely favoured, because of their limited frequency
range, and the fact that they read only
a small portion of the string length. For
acoustic guitars, it is essential to capture the
vibration of the top, and this is most commonly
done with a piezo pickup mounted underneath
Piezo
the bridge saddle.
Piezo pickups use crytals to detect pressure
changes, and provide a very wide frequency
response. They also have a very high impedance
(typically over 5 Meg), and therefore need
to be buffered with a preamp. This is usually
provided in the acoustic guitar itself, often with
extra tone control options, such as bass, middle
and treble.
Opinions vary, but these piezo pickups convey
about half of the sound of an acoustic guit ar.
Acoustic guitars are just about always recorded
with one or more very high quality microphones,
but this is difficult to do effectifely in a
live environment.
Many guitar makers, such as Parker (with their
revolutionary Fly series), Godin, and others
have added piezo bridges to solid body electric
guitars. These guitars offer standard electric
sounds, acoustic sounds, and even the ability
to mix both! Their acoustic sounds can be quite
convincing in a band setting, mainly because of
the wide frequency response, and partly by the
conditioning we listeners have had from piezo
equipped acoustic guitars.
Fishman, L R Baggs and other manufacturers
offer bridge piezo pickups that can be added to
many guitars.
Fishman offer an
interesting pickup
for acoustic guitars
presently,
called the Rare
Earth pickup. It
is a slim magnetic
pickup that
clamps
into the
soundhole
Apparently,
the rare earth
magnetic material
provides a wider frequency
response than typical
electric guitar magnets. Also, a
"deluxe" model includes a microphone
that you can
bend underneath
inside the guitar, providing
you with a
blended acoustic and magnetic sound.
MUSIC
MAKER

Guitar Pickups - Variety
Most guitarists have at least some idea of their
ultimate sound. Even though the effects, amplifier,
overdrive level and speakers all have a
large impact on the final sound, it all st arts with
the pickup, and like wines, players usually
acquire an appreciation of the subtleties in pickup
sounds over time.
Also, as you upgrade your amplifiers and
speakers, you will hear more clearly the special
sound of your own guitar and its pickups.
For example, pickups which sound characterless
(clear but un-coloured) with clean settings
generally maintain their clarity at very high
overdrive levels, while pickups with their own
unique sound maintain a strong character at
low to medium levels of overdrive, but lose
some clarity at high overdrive levels.
It has to be said that if you use a lot of overdrive,
you will miss the subtleties of dif ferent
pickups. Instead, you're more likely to notice
other factors in different guitars such as pick
attack, sustain, even-ness of response, and so
on.
Probably one of the main traps to avoid is going
for too much variety on the same instrument,
particularly if you play live. I've heard many
times of respected players who have problems
with the difference in sounds between the neck
and bridge pickups. If you set your amplifier for
the ultimate sound on one pickup, it can make
the other sound very ordinary, so you either
accept it, or go with a compromise where both
pickups sound reasonable.
One option on two pickup guitars is to go with a
stereo set-up, so you can optimise the sound of
each pickup. There have been many other
attempts to match the tone between pickup s
more evenly, while still retaining the timbre
(that's the sound unique to the pickup, and it's
position on the guitar). A popular option with
companies like Seymour Duncan is to of fer a
neck/bridge set of pickups, where the bridge
pickup has a few extra coil windings to give it a
slightly hotter output (to compensate for less
string vibration over the bridge pickup) and a little
more middle (to more evenly match the tone
of the neck pickup). The only downside is that
the combined pickup sound is marginally compromised
(explanation later!).
Another common solution along similar lines,
and even more extreme, is to use a single coil
in the neck position and a humbucker in the
bridge position. There can be good reasons for
doing this, such as using the pickup s, and
associated controls for switching between good
rhythm and lead sounds. This approach has the
advantage of simplicity, but deprives you of
worthwhile variety in a combined pickup sound.
The answer is to use the pickup s alone and in
combination to provide a palette of useful
sounds, and find another means to change
between rhythm and lead settings. Channel
switching amplifiers are ideal, of course, but
other possibilities are volume pedals, equaliser
stomp boxes, a master guitar volume control,
overdrive pedals, and so on.
Guitar Pickups - Different Positions
how to work out which pickups go in which
position. It is a reasonable question, because
everyone knows they each sound different.
The answer though is that it doesn't matter ,
because the (original) strat pickups are identical.
Even recent single-coil pickups are
"reverse-wound & reverse-polarity" in the middle
position to cancel hum, but this doesn't
affect the tone at all.
Guitar Pickups and Harmonic Content
The three sets of pickups shown for an electric guit ar such as the Fender Stratocaster allow the player to
adjust the quality of the sound by choosing the amount s of signal used from each pickup. The knobs shown
are volume controls for the three set s.
Of the string modes shown, the fundament al will actually be much larger than the others, and the others
diminish progressively. Using the pickup set to the right gives much more fundament al and a mellower
sound.
MUSIC
MAKER
The sound of identical pickups vary in different
positions on the guitar because the sound of
the string changes along its length. There are
variations in tone (the ratio of higher harmonics
compared to low), the timbre (the relative
strength of different harmonics caused by the
position of the nodes of each harmonic) and in
the overall level.
The closer the pickup is to the bridge, the
sharper the tone (stronger higher harmonics),
and the overall level is lower (because there is
less string vibration closer to the bridge). The
timbre is simply different, and depends upon all
the things mentioned in the previous topics.
It is also important to realise that this change of
sound along the string is exponential. That is,
changes near the bridge are far more dramatic
than those near the neck position.
You can verify this for yourself by picking the
string at different positions. This is best done
acoustically, so you can hear the whole string
sound rather than the small portion heard by a
pickup.
First, pick a string right next to the bridge and
notice how bright and "twangy" it sounds, then
pick the string at 1 centimetre intervals towards
the neck. You will find that the changes at first
are quite dramatic, but become
less noticeable as you pick closer
to the neck.
This illustrates why on a strat,
there is less change in tone
between the middle and neck pickups
compared to the sharp sound
of the bridge pickup. Granted, the
pickup is angled back on the lower
string side to partly offset this
effect, but it still remains difficult to
get a great sound out of identical
pickups with the same EQ settings.
That's not to say that
there's anything wrong with the
design, it is useful for various
music and playing styles. A common
modification is to simply
replace the bridge pickup with a
hotter and warmer sounding pickup.
There's one other point to note
about the changing timbre of a
string along its length. When fretting
notes right at the top of the
fretboard, next to the neck pickup,
it effectively makes the neck pickup
sound brighter because it is
closer to one end of the string's
vibrations. There are compensating
factors here also, such as
reduced brightness and sustain
due to the shorter vibrating string
length.
To be continued.................
25

MICROVOX
microphone products update
Many readers will already be familiar with the
excellent range of microphones for accordion,
guitar, and resonator guitars from this long
established Yorkshire manufacturer. However
violin and harmonica playing readers of may
not be aware of the recent development of a
new miniature microphone system for the violin
and harmonica.
Violin Microphones
Although the existing
swan neck microphone
continues to be very popular, the new microphone
has many features to recommend it to
violinists of all styles who value a true and
accurate sound.
It is very small and unobtrusive and does not
impair the natural sound of the instrument,
being attached via a cork faced clamp similar to
the chinrest mounting method familiar to most
violists This facilitates an ideal positioning of
the 9mm microphone to capture the full and
true subtle acoustic tones of the violin without
the need of extensive corrective EQ. Unlike
most contact or bridge mounted transducers,
which tend to dampen the vibrations transmitted
to the soundboard and also emphasize a
rather harsh tone, the Microvox responds to
airborne sounds (as does the human ear), and
not to structural vibration and thus transmit s an
accurate acoustic sound.
The Microvox microphone does not require
any modification to the instrument and is easily
transferred to another violin if required. This is
a professional quality microphone at the very
affordable price of £63.74 plus psu and is available
direct from Microvox distributors Westfield
Music.
26
Harmonica Microphones
Also available from Westfield Music is the new
Microvox harmonica microphone.
For more than seventy years, harmonica
players have searched for “that
sound” The Holy Grail of the
Blues, that melancholy sob, that
lonesome train, the purity of a
Heifetz violin,. but like the Da
Vinci Code it is all something of
a myth. There is no magic
microphone, no magic bullet (of
any colour) that will conjure the
sound of Little Walter, Sonny Terry,
or even Larry Adler. This takes talent,
NOT technology.
Microvox cannot provide the ability but it can
provide the means to accurately reproduce your
harmonica sound no matter what style of music
you are playing.
This ultra lightweight microphone is easily held
between the second and third,
or third and fourth fingers as shown. You will
need to experiment a little in order to obt ain the
sound you require. The microphone is designed
to reproduce accurately the sound that arrives
at its diaphragm and this will vary according to
the position of your hands and the volume at
which you play. An added advantage of the
small size of the Microvox harmonica microphone
is that it will respond to the ‘wah-wah’
and vibrato effects of the hands.
Costing only £30 64 plus psu, the Microvox
harmonica microphone represents outstanding
value.
All Microvox products are available mail order
from Westfield Music
www.westf.demon.co.uk
Westfield Music
tel. 01924 361550
Belgrave Mount
Wakefield WF1 3SB
THE UKULELE ORCHESTRA
OF GREAT BRITAIN
The Ukulele Orchestra is a group of all-singing,
all-strumming Ukulele players, who use instruments
bought with loose change, and who
believe that all genres of music are available for
reinterpretation, as long as they are played on
the Ukulele. A concert by the Ukulele Orchestra
is a funny, virtuosic, twanging, singing, awesome,
foot-stomping obituary of rock-n-roll and
melodious light entertainment featuring only the
“bonsai guitar” and a menagerie of voices; no
drums, no pianos, no backing tracks, and no
banjos. A collision of post-punk performance
and toe-tapping oldies. See the universe in the
grain of a Ukulele. You may never think about
music in the same way once you’ve been
exposed to the Ukes’ depraved musicology.
The Orchestra use the limitations of the instrument
to create a musical freedom with
Ukuleles, (little ones, big ones, high ones, low
ones) revealing unsuspected insights into popular
music. From Tchaikovsky to Nirvana via Otis
Reading, the Orchestra takes you on a world
tour with only hand luggage and gives the listener
“One Plucking Thing After Another”.
There have been sold out concerts in America,
Canada, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Ireland
and Japan, in venues as diverse as Ronnie
Scott’s world famous London jazz club, The
Royal Festival Hall, Glastonbury Festival,
Chicago Chamber Music Festival, The Big Chill,
Cropredy and The Edinburgh Festival.
The Orchestra has rhythm, bass, baritone,
tenor, soprano and lead Ukulele players, creating
a rich palate of orchestration possibilities
and registers. Sitting shoulder to shoulder, they
dress in formal evening wear like a symphony
orchestra, reworking classics of rock ‘n’ roll,
punk, jazz and classical music. In highlighting
both the beauty and vacuity of the material, the
Orchestra revel in the triviality and the self-reverence
of popular and highbrow music, while
being both serious and light-hearted.
Sometimes a foolish song can move an audience
more than high art. Audiences like to have
a good time with the Ukulele Orchestra, which
shows that musical intelligence and levity are
not incompatible with acoustic versions of
heavy metal, performance art techniques and
the homage of a live karaoke.
www.ukuleleorchestra.com
www.myspace.com/ukuleleorchestra
MUSIC
MAKER

MUSIC
MAKER
OLD TIME COUNTRY
27

Vol 1: Rare and Authentic Songs
MRCD001
Yodelling Boogie, You Broke My Heart Little Darling, In
Texas for the Round-up in the Spring, My Sunny Southern
Home, Barn Dance Polka, Bum Song, Yodelling Hobo, New
Waikiki Beach, Playin' Dominoes & Shootin' Dice, Salty
Dog Blues, Only One Step More, Covered Wagon Headed
West, Lonesome Yodel Blues, Little Log Cabin, Wyoming
Willie, Honky T onk Spree, Yodelling T eacher, Lay Down
Beside My Darling, After the Old Barn Dance, Don't Fetch
It
Vol 3: Railroad Songs
MRCD003
Freight Train Blues, There's a Little Box of Pine on the 7.29,
Jim Blake's Message, Lonesome Train Blues, Railroad Bill,
This Train Will Soon Be Leaving, Peanut Special, W ay Out
There, Pan American, Ridin' The Rails, Train Whistle Blues,
The Cannon Ball, Reckless Motorman, When The T rain
Comes Along, The Davis Unlimited, The T rain Song
Instrumental, I'm Leavin' On The Blue River T rain, Wreck
Of The Royal Palm Express, I Rode Southern, I Rode L &
N, Freight T rain, Railroad Blues, Fast Passenger ,
Lonesome, Riding On That Train, C & N.W Railroad Blues
Instrumental
Vol 5: Cowboy Songs
MRCD005
Zeb Turney's Girl, I've Hung My Chaps and Saddle, There's
a Good Girl in the Mount ains, Out Where the W est Says
Goodnight, The Old Chisholm T rail, Cool W ater, Yodelling
Cowboy, The T imber T rail, When It's Round-Up T ime in
Texas, I've Just Got to Be a Cowboy , One More River to
Cross, Twilight on the Trail, Cattle Call, The Oregon T rail,
Golden Lariat, Missouri, W agon Wheels, I've Got a Gal in
Laramie, Down the Trail of Aching Hearts, Oh, for the W ild
and Woolly West, Ragtime Cowboy Joe, Tying a Knot in the
Devil's Tail, Songs of the Hills, Forth Worth Jail,Who Shot
the Hole in My Sombrero?
Vol 7: Yodellin’ Gold
MRCD007
Just a Yodel for Me, The W eary Lonesome Blues, China
Doll, Yodelling My W ay Back Home, One More Ride,
Lovesick Blues, Shanghai Rooster Yodel, The Arizona
Yodeller, My Clinch Mount ain Home, Yodel Blues,
Anticipation Blues, The Dance at W illow Creek, She’ll Be
Comin’ Round the Mountain, The Cattle Call, My Mount ain
High Yodel, If I Could Only Learn to Yodel, Wild Cat Mama,
The S tory of Sleepy Hollow , Away Out on the Mount ain,
Mean Old Lonesome Blues, Yodellin’ Crazy, Rattlesnake
Daddy, Jealous Heart, Echoes of the Indian Princess,
Eephin’
Vol 9: Yodel-ay-de-2!
MRCD009
Little Swiss Chalet, I’m Saving Saturday Night for You, My
Heart is Like a T rain, Rye Whisky, Yodelling My Babies to
Sleep, Old Black Mount ain T rail, Cowpoke S tan Jones,
Long Gone Lonesome Blues, Yodel Your Blues Away,
Mockin’ Bird Hill, S treamlined Yodel Song, Ramblin’ Man,
Get Her by the T ail on a Down Hill Drag, Georgia Brown
Blues, Blue Yodel No.1, I Miss My Swiss Miss, Memphis
Yodel, Ridin’ Old Paint, Chime Bell, Mont ana Mount ain
Man, Rockin’ Chair Daddy , Yodellin’ Radio Joe, My Lulu,
Nobody’s Lonesome for Me, Rambling Yodeller, Hollerin’
Vol 11: Country Families
MRCD011
Columbus S tockade Blues, I’m Gonna Ride, Curley
Headed Baby, Gotta Travel On, Why Did I Ever Love You,
Kentucky, Sugar Cane Mama, Gott a Find Julie, God Gave
Noah the Rainbow Sign, Going Down the Road, Get Down
on Your Knees and Pray , On the Jericho Road, Mount ain
Dew, That Man of Galilee, I’m W atching the Trains Go By,
Don’t Let Them Take the Bible Out of the Schoolroom, New
Mule Skinner Blues, When My Blue Moon T urns to Gold
Again, I W ant My Lou, By the Grave of Nobody’ s Darling,
Rattlesnake Daddy, Blue Railroad T rain, Ace in the Hole,
Little Birdie, On a Hill Lone and Grey
Vol 13: Yodeller’s Paradise MRCD013
Where Did the Yodellers Go,Tennessee Houn’ Dog Yodel,
Yodeller’s Lullaby, How My Yodelling Days Began, Swiss
Lullaby, The Yodelling Cowboy , Cuckoo W altz Yodel,
Hawaiian Cowboy, The Idaho Yodeller, My Little Yoho Lady,
Cannonball Yodel, Goodbye Old Pal, Lorelei, I Wanna Be a
Cowboy’s Sweetheart, Gospel Yodel, Sweet Little
Cherokee, Rockin’ Blues, Red River Valley Blues, My Little
Lady, The Skater ’s Yodel, Back to Good Ol’ Idaho, In the
Jailhouse Now , Arizona Yodeller, Grandad’ s Yodelling
Song, 1982 Blues
28
TMM’s Traditional Country Music Makers
Each with an illustrated book profiling the music and artists
Vol 2: Hillbilly Hotshots
MRCD002
Texas Song, Have I Been Mean T o You, Broomstick
Buckaroo, T urn That Gun Around, My Home on the
Western Plains, You're Going T o Leave The Old Home,
Jim, 11 More Months & 10 More Days (p art 1& 2), I'll Have
The Last Laugh Yet, Little Feller Like Me, Selling What She
Used To Give Away, Promise To Be True While I'm Away,
No Mama Blues, My Bucket s Been Fixed, Hashin' Up The
Devil (Instrumental), Texas Sand, I Remember , Rosalinda,
Kansas City Kitty , Small T own Mama No.2, Mississippi
Valley Blues, Is There No Kiss For Me T onight, Love,
Boogie Woogie Cowboy, Gold On The Rainbow, The Cat
Vol 4: Mountain Hoedown
MRCD004
Wiggle, Worm, Wiggle, Girl From Champlain, I'm Knocking
at the Door of Your Heart, Fishin' Bait, Just Got Kids,
Married Life Blues, Rose Garden W altz, Just a Little Farm
Lad, Mountain Guitar, Honey, Where You Been So Long?
Way High, W ay Low , You Can Dish It Out, In a Little
Spanish Restaurant, Seven More Days, Haskell's Five, The
Picture at S t. Helene, The Covered W agon Rolled Right
Along, I'm Going Home, Whoopie, Liza, The Lamp Lighter's
Hornpipe, Little Brown Hand, Can't Live with 'Em, All
Around Your Heart, Where the Red Roses Grow , My West
Virginia Home
Vol 6: Country Classics
MRCD006
Bright Eyed Little Nell of Narraganset Bay , Ragged But
Right, Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (That Cigarette), NRA Blues,
Let's Elope, Baby, Methodist Pie, Chicken , Out on the Lone
Prairie, Do Right Daddy Blues, Fifty Years from Now, Polka,
Jole Blon, It Makes No Difference Now , Blue Ridge
Mountain Blues, Wolf, Living in the Promised Land, Hi
Falootin' Newton, Jake W alk Blues, What's the Matter ,
Joe?, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Howlin' at the Moon, Singing My
Hillbilly Song, Arkansas T raveller, On the Banks of the
Buffalo, Handy Man
Vol 8: The Gospel Way
MRCD008
The Gospel W ay, Hello, S tranger, Shall W e Gather at the
River, Shine, Hallelujah,Shine, He is Coming After Me,
Home of the Soul, In the House of the Lord, The Heart that
Was Broken for Me, When the Golden Train Comes Down,
Calling You, The Old Rugged, On the Jericho Road, When
Jesus Beckons Me Home, I’ll Be an Angel, Too, Crossing
Over Jordan, No Telephone in Heaven, On the Other Side
of Jordan, Walk in the Gospel Way, I Can’t Sit Down, Back
in the Old Sunday School, Lord, You Made the Cowboy
Happy, A Babe, A Star, A Manger, Great Speckle Bird, I’m
A-Goin’ Away in the Morn, Will I Meet Mother in Heaven
Vol 10: Hillbilly Swing
MRCD010
So Lovely Baby, You Are the One, I’ll Fly Away, Hot T ime
Mama, Honky T onkin’ Rhythm, Eatin’ Out of Your Hand,
Hand Holdin’, Mean and Wicked Boogie, Sippin’ Cider, Get
Along Home Cindy , Judy T iny Stokes, Daddy’ s Glad You
Came Home, Tennessee Boy, Indian Scout, I Must Leave
You, Dog Sled, What’ s the Matter , Joe?, Southern S teel
Guitar, Noel Boggs, Mr . Cotton Picker , Behind the Eight
Ball, Are You Waiting Just for Me?, When You’re Smiling,
Sourwood Mountain, Wheeling Back to Wheeling, Queen of
the Rodeo
Vol 12: Honky-Tonk Jukebox MRCD012
John W esley Harding, Who’ll Do the Cryin’, Crazy Arms,
Three W ays of Knowing, Boo Hoo, I Heard the Jukebox
Playing, Family Man, Married to a Friend, Long Long Train,
Dear Mama, I Got Blues on My Mind, San Antonio Rose,
Union Suit, Honky T onk Women, A Teardrop on a Rose,
Revenoor Man, Thunder Lightning S torm or Rain, How’ s It
Been Since Our Last Heartbreak, ‘Tater Raisin’ Man, Banjo
Twist, What Comes Next, Silver Ribbons, Country Boy
Rock ‘n’ Roll, Riverboat Gambler , Rambling Shoes,
Someone Sweet to Love
Vol 14: Hillbilly Jamboree MRCD014
I’m All W ashed Up with You, Railroad Boomer , Boogie
Blues, S weet Lip s (The Battle of King Mount ain), Love
Problems, Gooseball Brown, You Can’t T ake It with
You,The Night Old Dixie Rose Again, T rain 45, Devilish
Mary, Wreck of the Number 9, The Lights Are Growing Dim,
Rock and Roll Blues, A Good T ime Was Had by All, What
You’ve Learned to Become, Six King’ s Daughters, Hold
Everything, The Old Country Church, Going Back to Old
Kentucky, Rubberneck Blues, The Knoxville Girl, Charming
Betsy, My Gal’ s a High Born Lady , The Yodelling Hillbilly,
Window Shopping
All Single CDs are £10 (Add 50p per CD within UK, £1 per CD oustide UK for additional P&P). Overseas payments must be made by
International Money Order or cheques drawn on a UK Bank. Cheques payable to ‘Healey & Faulkner,’ 28 Grafton Terrace, London NW5 4JJ.
MUSIC
MAKER

TMM’s Traditional Country Music Makers
Vol 15: Canadian Yodeller
Each with an illustrated book profiling the music and artists
MRCD015
Rattlin’ Cannonball, My Nova Scotian Home, Away Out There,
The Little Shirt My Mother Made Me, Beautiful Texas, Red Wing,
Beautiful Brown Eyes, Rootin’ Tootin’ Cowboy, I Ain’t Gonna Be
a Hobo No More, I’m Hitting the T rail, Cowboy’ s High-Toned
Dance, May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister, One Golden
Curl, The Yodelling Swiss, Blue Canadian Rockies, My Swiss
Moonlight Lullaby, Mystery of No. 5, The Gangster ’s Warning,
Rye Whiskey, Dreaming of My Blue Eyes, Put My Little Shoes
Away, When It’ s Springtime in the Rockies, The Last Letter ,
Rockin’ Alone in an Old Rockin’ Chair, Waitin’ for a Train
Vol 17: That Awful Civil War MRCD017
That’s the way the War began, The Two Soldiers , No More
the Moon Shines on Lorena, Battle of Murfreesboro, Hang
John Brown, Off to War I’m Going, The New York Volunteer,
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, The Green Grass of Shiloh, General
Custer, Legend of the Johnson Boys, The Bonnie Blue Flag
The Battle Cry of Freedom, The Old Soldier , Marching
Through Georgia, Just Before the Battle, Mother , The
Army of the Free, Dixie, The Blue and the Grey , Old Abe
Lincoln, The Giant on the Thunderhead, Rebel Soldier , A
Life on the V icksburg Bluff, The Fall of Charleston,
Lynchburg Medley
Vol 19: The Cowboy Rides Again
MRCD019
You Can Bet Your Boots and Saddles, Dusty Trails, Cowboy’s Wild
Song to His Herd, The Hole In The W all , A Cowboy’s Dream, I’m
An Old Cowhand (from the Rio Grande), Pinto Pony , I’ll Go Ridin’
Down That Old T exas Trail, Memories Of My Little Grey-Haired
Mother in The West, Baby, I’m Still In Love With You, I’ll Ride Across
the Purple Sage, Yellow Rose of T exas, El Rancho Grande,
Buddies In The Saddle, Shot The Innocent Man, The Wheel Of The
Wagon Is Broken, Hold That Critter Down, Palomino Pal Of Mine,
Hung The Key On The Bunkhouse Door , The S trawberry Roan,
Round-Up T ime Out W est, A Cowboy’s Prayer , The Old Grey
Bustle, Black Jack David, Powder River, Let ‘Er Buck
Vol 21: Country Gals MRCD021
Ay-Round the Corner, What Makes Me Hang Around,
Remember Me (I’m As Close As the Phone), Rachel’s
Guitar, Two Fools in Love, Cheater, Cheater, Travellin’ the
Highway Home, Travellin’ the Highway Home, False
Hearted Woman, All the Time, There’s No Right Way to
Do Me Wrong, I Have an Aged Mother, Gambler’s Love,
Each Season Changes You, Don’t Let that Man Get You
Down, Searching, Have I Told You Lately that I Love You,
Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms), Our Love is
Gone, A Satisfied Mind, Jealous Heart, Old Black Choo
Choo, Mama Never Said a Word About Love, Amigo’s
Guitar, When the Bees are in the Hive, Not Worth the Paper
Vol 23: Heroes of Honky Tonk MRCD023
Misery Loves Company, Poppin' Johnny, I Never Can
Come Back To You , Orchids Of Love, Hard Working
Man,A Little South Of Memphis, South In New Orleans,
Mary Was A Little Lamb,The Story Of Bonnie & Clyde,
Rain, Rain, Frankie Miller, Shes Of Love, Christmas Doll,
Lonesome At Your Table ,True Blue , Wild And Wicked
World, Road Walked By Fools, It's Blowin' Away, The Cat
And The Mouse,Sailor Man, I'd Like To Be Your Darlin',
Dear Old Sunny South By The Sea The Money Side Of
Life, No One Dear But You, What's Time Matter With The
Mill Never No Mo' Blues
Vol 25: Ozark Symphony MRCD025
Ozark Symphony, The Jimmy Driftwood Barn, The Picture
at St. Helene, Jordan am a Hard Road to T ravel, The
Widders, The Nightingale Song, The Hero of the Ozarks,
The Baby - O - On the W ilderness Road, Eighth of
January, The Sylamore Hills, Razorback My Ozark
Mountain Home, The Old Walkin’ Plow, The Riggsville
Gambler, Raindrops Tennesse Stud Tragedy on the
M&NA, Grandma’s Piece of Driftwood, Oh, Florie, Mountain
View, I hear Your People Singing, Beautiful White River
Valley, The Kickapoo Trail
Vol 27: Black & White Blues MRCD027
CLIFF EDWARDS, SONNY TERRY 7 BROWNIE McGHEE,
WOODY GUTHRIE, BUKKA WHITE, HANK SNOW, ALLEN
SHAW,FRANK HUTCHISON, BILL COX, LIL JOHNSON &
BLACK BOB, RILEY PUCKETT, BARBECUE BOB, GENE
AUTRY, BIG BILL BROONZY,JIMMIE DAVIS, ALBERTA
HUNTER,FRANKIE MARVIN, ROBERT JOHNSON,
CLIFF CARLISLE, MEMPHIS JUG BAND,JIMMIE
RODGERS, BLIND BOY FULLER, DARBY &
TARLTON,MEMPHIS MINNIE, MILTON BROWN.
HEROES HEROES OF OF THE THE
HONKY HONKY TONK TONK
TRADITIONAL COUNTRY MUSIC MAKERS VOLUME 23
Vol 16: Rockabilly Roots
MRCD016
Freight T rain Boogie, Aggravatin’ Woman, Everybody’ s
Rockin’ But Me, Run Little Rabbit, Run, Pretty Little Girl,
There’s a Big Wheel, Roly Poly , Skinnie Minnie Fisht ail ,
They Took the Stars Out of Heaven, Dog House Boogie, Me
and My Juke Box, Cold Feet, Midnight Special, The Billy
Goat Boogie, I don’t Know , Yakety Yack, Dusty Blossom
Boogie, Sixty Days, Pan American, Smokey Mount ain
Moon, Ten Years, Curley’s Talkin’ Blues, Rhumba Boogie,
Sunny Tennesse, Log Cabin In the Lane
Vol 18: Mexi-Cajun
MRCD018
Adelita, Campanitas De Plat a, Prisionera De T us Brazos,
Big Texas, Echo Bonita, Spanish Darling, La Bonne Valse,
Ay V iva T equila, La Esp anola, Aux Bal Se T e Maurice,
When Mexican Joe Met Jole Blon, Mis Penas, T ondelay,
Tracks of my Buggy , La Paloma, Guadalajara, Juan
Colorado, Lake Arthur S tomp, Drinking T equila, La
Chicharonera, El Abandonado, Poor Hobo, Panamama, La
Valse De Guedan, El Golfo, Cajun Hop
Vol 20: Memphis Yodel
MRCD020
Memphis Yodel, Shanghai Rooster Yodel No 2, The Hobo’s
Fate, A Wild Cat Woman and A Tom Cat Man, T wo Little
Sweethearts, Ash Can Blues, Waiting For A Ride, I’m Sorry
Now, Rooster Blues, That Nasty Swing, My T ravelling
Night, Nevada Johnny, Shine On Me, You’ll Miss Me (Just
Because), Cowboy Johnny’ s Last Ride, Hobo Blues,
Trouble Minded Blues, Tom Cat Blues, Mouse’s Ear Blues,
It Ain’t No Fault of Mine, Pay Day Fight, Going Down The
Valley One By One, Gambling Dan, When The Evening
Sun Goes Down, Sp arkling Blue Eyes, Footprint s In The
Snow
Vol 22: Blues & Country Harp MRCD022
Wabash Cannonball A.P., Howlin' Tomcat Floyd, Lost John, Baby,
Let’s Have Some Fun, Cat Chase, Lonesome Boy, Careless
Love, Fault Jump!, Arthritis Blues, Arthritis Blues, Model-T And The
Train Race, Drop Down Mama, River of Cryst al, Wine, Women,
Whiskey , Would You Like to Wear a Crown, Chuc-a-Luck
(Chicken), Fault! Wrong Track!, I'm Grown, Mama Blues, Seattle
to Chicago, Rain Crow Bill, I Can Hear You Cluckin', Green Valley
Waltz, Chicago Breakdown, Huskin’ Bee, Goin’ Away Walkin',
Pastures of Plenty, Up Country Blues, Cripple Creek
Vol 24: Barn Dance USA
MRCD024Ragtime Annie, Solomon Levi, Hell among the
Yearlings, Buffalo Girls, Weeping illow Tree, The Girl
Behind Me, Une piastre ici, une piastre la-bas Hackberry
amblers Cluckin, Comin’ Round the Mountain, I Tickled
Nancy, Little Liza Jane Opelousas Waltz, Turkey in the
Straw, Oh! Susannah, Medley of Reels, Coming form the
Ball Paddy Dear, Sugar in the Gourd, Dixie
Mountaineers, Chinese Breakdown, Lost John. Soldier ’s
Joy, Captain Jinks, Apple Blossom Polka Golden Slippers
Liberty Bells
Vol 26: Big Band Western Swingers
MRCD026
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Bill
Boyd’s Cowboy Ramblers, Freddie Slack & His Orchestra,
Milton Brown & His Brownies, Bing Crosby , Billy Jack W ills
&His W estern Swing Lew S tone & His Band, Light Crust
Doughboys,Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Andy Doll & Band, Lew
Stone & His Orchestra, Hank Penny & His Radio Cowboys,
Oscar Rabin & His Band,T exas Jim Lewis & His Lone S tar,
Ken ‘Snakehips’ Johnson & His W est Indian Orchestra, Billy
Williams, Billy Merrin& His Commanders Jimmy Revard &
His Oklahoma Playboys, Blue Barron & His Orchestra, Gene
Autry & More
Vol 28: Sounds Like Country MRCD028
Mack Banks, Hylo Brown, Jimmy Driftwood, Webb Pierce, Carter
Family, Wayne Raney & Lonnie Glosson,Blue Sky Boys, J.E.
Mainer, Harvie June Van,Kenny Lee,Tex Ritter, Cousin Emmy,
Jimmie Rodgers, Tommy Hill Hank & Audrey Williams,
Hank Snow, Stu Phillips, Elton Britt, Jimmie Davis & Pat sy
Montana Doc Williams,Delmore Brothers
Paul Clayton & Jean Ritchie, Roy Hall, Bill Boyd’ s Cowboy
Ramblers, Harmonica Frank Floyd
BARN BARN DANCE DANCE USA USA
All Single CDs are £10 (Add 50p per CD within UK, £1 per CD oustide UK for additional P&P). Overseas payments must be made by
International Money Order or cheques drawn on a UK Bank. Cheques payable to ‘Healey & Faulkner,’ 28 Grafton Terrace, London NW5 4JJ.
MUSIC
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29

30
Traditional Country Music
Pickin on the Flat Top
Smiley Bates HCD4406
In the Mood • Charlie’s Boogie • My Wildwood Flower •
Twentieth Century • Wawa Special • Fast Fingers • Cotton
Candy • I’m Strollin’ Home • Flat Top Chimes • The Last
Sunrise • Ye Olde Grandfather Clock • John Hardy • Cryin’
Guitar • Jimmy Brown • Vanessa Delane • Mountain
Boogie
Heartbreak & Sorrow
Howard Vokes HCD4444
Willie Roy the Crippled Boy • Plastic Heart • Tomorrow is
My Last Day • Keep Cool but Don’t Freeze • Empty V ictory
• Break the News • West of the Yukon • It Takes Six Men
to Carry a Man to His Grave • Judge of Heart s • My
Weeping Heart • Born Without a Name • I W as a Fool
Forever • Your Kisses and Lies
No Place Like Home
Carroll Parham HCD4468
Swanee River • Wabash Blues • What a Friend W e Have
in Jesus • Ramblin’ Rose • Life’s Railway to Heaven • Just
a Closer Walk with Thee • The Old Spinning Wheel •
Where the Roses Never Fade • No Place Like Home • I
Love You a Thousand Ways • I Overlooked an Orchid •
Faded Love • A Fallen Star • I Love You Because • Little
Brown Jug • The Wild Side of Life • Born to Lose • Sail
Along Silvery Moon • Mansion on the Hill
Country Waltzes
24 Great Selections HCD4427
Crystal Waltz • Old Country Waltz • Waltz You Saved For
Me • Moonbeam Waltz • Country Waltz • Shenandoah
Waltz • Vienna Waltz • Neopolitan Nights • Blue Skirt Waltz
•I'll Wait For You • Tennessee Waltz • White Rose Waltz •
Old Man Kennedy • Debbie's Waltz • Silver Wedding Waltz
• Westphalia Waltz • Lievre River Waltz • Georgian Bay
Waltz • Old Satin Waltz • Artinia's Waltz • Poor Girl Waltz •
Sparta Waltz • Frisco Waltz
Canada’s Champion Fiddlers
Eleanor & Graham Townsend
HCD4402
Clear The Track • Liberty Two Step • Larry O’Gaffe • Father
O’Flynn • Newly W ed Reel • Rustic Rig • Peter ’s Favorite •
Operators Reel • Ste. Annes Reel • Angus Campbell • Moon
River Hornpipe • McDowells Breakdown • The Jewel Waltz •
Maggie Mawhinney’s Jig • Little Bob River • Cowboy’ s Reel
• Wildwood Waltz • Forester’s Hornpipe
Mountain Bluegrass
Leon Morris HCD4442
I'm W ondering If You're Ever Coming Back • Winds That
Blew Across The Wild Moor • The Pain Of Loving You • Born
To Lose • Fox On The Run • Sweet Allifair • Rebel Soldier •
Nellie's Tune • I'm Going Back To See The Old Home •
Tennessee Waltz • Salty Dog • Foggy Mount ain Breakdown
• Bringing Mary Home • Cat fish John • Banks of the Ohio •
Deadly Medley: Salt Creek/Cripple Creek/Black Mount ain/
Orange BlossomSpecial/Train
20 American Classics
Bob & Sheila Everhart HCD4458
Columbus • Stockade Blues • Jambalaya • No One Comes
Near • Train Whistle Blues • The Roving Gambler •Gotta
Travel On • Wolverton Mountain • Midnight Special •
Wayfarin’ Stranger • Lonesome Road Blues • Miller ’s Cave
• Streets of Laredo • Git Along Little Doggies • Buffalo Gals
• Home on the Range • The Old Chisholm Trail • Oklahoma
Hills • Red River Valley • You Are My Sunshine • Sioux City
Sue
Songs of Life
Smiley Bates HCD4460
Ballad of Ira Hayes • Brown to Blue • Married by the Bible
• If This House Could Talk • Open Pit Mine • Must You
Throw Dirt in My Face • Cold Hard Fact s of Life • Stone
Wall Around Your Heart • Your Angel Steps Out of Heaven
• Close Up the Honky Tonks • How Far Down Can I Go •
Silver Sandals • Sorrow Overtakes • Your Mother’s Eyes •
A Little Guy Called Joe • Flowers for Mama • Poplar Bluf f •
Bottom of the Bottle • Black Sheep Eyes Don’t Come
Crying • My Mother • Say It’ s Not You
The Old Rugged Cross
Leon Morris HCD4450
Mountain Church • The Old Rugged Cross • There Is a
Place • S top and Smell the Roses • There’s a Light in the
River • Will the Circle Be Unbroken • I’m Going Home Sweet
Home • Take Heed to the Bible • Falling Leaves • Swing Low
Sweet Chariot • Crying Holy Unto The Lord • Heaven Is
Waiting • Dear God • What a Friend W e Have in Jesus
Yodelin’ Country
Donah Hyland HCD4451
Just Yodelin’ • Chime Bells • Happy Hill • Cattle Call •
Jesus Put a Yodel in My Soul • Cowboy Sweetheart • I
Bet You My Heart I Love You • He Taught Me to Yodel •
Yodelin’ Crazy • You Make Me Want to Yodel • Yodelin’
Bird • Second Fiddle to an Old Guit ar • Silver Haired
Daddy of Mine • I Feel Like a Song
Bluegrass Roads
The Country Rebels HCD4415
Rebels You Rest • Love Me Darlin' • Just Tonight • Walkin'
All Over My Mind • There's Nothing LikeThe Country • Once
More • Bringing Mary Home • Journey's End • Walkin' Shoes
• A Country Girl I'll Stay • Drunk Drunk Drunk • Don't Go • Let
Those Brown Eyes Smile At Me • Love Please Come Home
• White Dove • Big Midnight Special • Tall Pines • Hit Parade
Of Love • W e'll Meet Again • Swetheart • Bluegrass City •
Rocky Top • Hickory Holler (instrumental)
The Family Bible
Dick Nolan HCD4412
The Family Bible • Softly And Tenderly • One Day At A
Time • When God Comes Home And Gathers His Jewels
• Why Me Lord? • The Old Rugged Cross • Will There Be
Any Stars In My Crown? • Calling You • I Saw The Light •
Mom Can You Hear Me? • Just A Closer Walk With Thee
• What A Friend We Have In Jesus • Will The Circle Be
Unbroken • How Great Thou Art • He's Got The Whole
World In His Hands
Rootin Tootin Cowboy
Bill Snow HCD4403
Love Knot On My Lariat • Yodelin Ranger • I Miss My Swiss
Miss • Sailors Plea • Kentucky W altz • No Sweeter Love •
Wildwood Flower • She Taught Me How To Yodel • Cattle
Call • Chime Bells • Texas Cowboy • My Yo Ho V alley •
Rootin Tootin Cowboy • Columbus Blues • Yodel Blues
Southern Bluegrass Fiddle
Benny Martin HCD4465
Twinkle Little Star • Pig in the Pen • Fire on the Mount ain •
Back Up and Push • Bonaparte’s Retreat • Fiddler’s Dream
• Regina Lee W altz • Kay Hill • Crag Rock Tennessee •
Sweet Bunch of Daisies • Orange Blossom S pecial
Prices: All Single CDs are £9.99, All Double CDs are £14.99 (Add 50p per CD within UK, £1 per CD outside UK for additional
P&P) Overseas payments must be made by International Money Order or cheques drawn on a UK Bank.
Cheques Payable to: ‘Healey & Faulkner,’ 28 Grafton Terrace, London NW5 4JJ.
MUSIC
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Smoky Mountain Dobro
Lefty Gardner CD4406
Home Sweet Home, Long Haired Country Boy, My Tears
Don't Show, Black Mountain Rag, Candy Kisses, Dobro
Wipe Out, It Is No Secret, On Top Of The World, Silver
Bells, Back Home Again, Gathering Flowers From The
Hillside, Bugle Call Rag, Send Me The Pillow You Dream
On, Panhandle Country, In The Garden, Rawhide,The
Waltz You Saved For Me, Dear Ole Dixie, Making Believe,
Lefty's Waltz, Dobro Polka, Nobody's Darling, Dobro
Boogie, Amazing Grace, Dobro Chimes
Country Tears
Smiley Bates HCD4401
Don't Tell Jeannie I'm Blind, Teardrops At Midnight, The
Hour The Night Spots Die, Golden Guitar, How The Mind
Holds A Memory, Bottle Please Let Go Of Me, Swinging
Doors, Jeannie's Afraid Of The Dark, Is It Right Or W rong,
Life Turned Her That Way, Will You Love Me When I'm Old
And Feeble, All Our Love Is Gone, Married By The Bible,
Bottom Of The Bottle, Hall Of Shame, The Heart Still Feels
The Same
Finger Lickin' Good Pickin'
Smiley Bates & Eddie Poirier
HCD4440
EDDIE - Ste. Anne's Reel, Reel Mme. Renaud, Old Man
And Old Woman Maple Sugar, Survivor's Reel, Liberty Two
Step, Flap Jack, Beaumont Rag, Nothin' To It
SMILEY - Cryin' Guitar, Wawa Special, John Hardy Was A
Desperate Little Man, Jimmy Brown, Go Get The Wate,
French Reel, Sugarfoot Rag, Twentieth Century Drawing
Room, Last Sunrise
Lullabys & Legends
Smiley Bates HCD4428
Sea Shores Of Old Mexico, A Girl I Used To Know, The
Restless One, Haven't Seen Mary In Years, Don't Take Me
Back To School, I Dreamed About Momma Last Night, Tiny
Broken Heart, Don't Let Your Teardrops Show, Don't Drink
Anymore Whiskey, Lovin' On The Back Streets, Slow
Rider, I'm Doing This For Daddy, My Favorite Lies, I'm
Wasting Good Paper, I Haven't Got The Right
Places & Friends
Leon Morris HCD4461
The Last Thing On My Mind, Places And Friends, Rocky
Top, Good Hearted Woman, Don't This Road Look Rough
And Rocky Feudin' Grass, Green Rolling Hills Of W est
Virginia, The Door Is Always Open, No Love Have I, Help
Me Make It Through The Night, Old Joe Clark, Country
Roads, Roving Gambler, Walking Home to Pittsburgh,
Sugar Foot Rag
Golden Fiddles
25 Selections HCD4432
Angus Campbell (Graham Townsend), Rosebud Of
Avondale (Eleanor Townsend), Salt Water Jig (Bill Sawyer),
Maple Sugar (Bunty Petrie), St. Patrick's Jig/Golden
Wedding (Carl Elliott), Smash The Window (Bill Sawyer),
Siege Of Innis (Eddie Poirier), Belfast Reel (John Wilmot),
Fuddle Duddle Hornpipe (Chuck Joyce) Waylon's
Breakdown (Rick Cormier), High Level Hornpipe/Scottish
Medley (Eddie Poirier), McDowell's Breakdown (Graham
Townsend), Waltz You Saved For Me (Carl Elliott), Irish
Washerwoman /Cotton-Eyed Joe (Bill Sawyer) French Reel
(Smiley Bates), Concert Reel (Carl Elliott), Joys Of Ouebec (Bill Sawyer), Liverpool Hornpipe
(Gaetan Poirier) Heather On The Hill (Chuck Joyce), Down Yonder (Rick Cormier), Faded
Love (Bunty Petrie), Pat The Budgie (Bob Ranger)
The Best Of BIuegrass
Smiley Bates, Rose Poirier,
Eddie Poirier HCD4425
I Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow, Buffalo Gal, Before I Met
You, Little Maggie Milwaukee Here I Come, Buggy Ride,
Dim Lights, Weeping Willow, A Voice On High, Cripple
Creek, Some Day We'll Meet Again Sweetheart Plus
Smiley's Banjo Bonus tunes: Grandfather's Clock & Old
Joe Clark, Eddie's Vocal and Banjo Bonus tunes: French
Song & How The Old Folks Are
More Country Tears
Smiley Bates HCD4416
Shores Of Old Mexico, Rosie Is Blue, The First Mrs.
Jones, The Lonely Sounds Of Night, Rockin' Alone In An
Old Rockin' Chair, Old Tag, Sing Me A Song Papa, Big
RiverTrain, The Young Fisherwoman, Flowers For Mama,
Angie Say You Love Me, House Of Shame, Cumberland
Waltz, A Bad Seed Daddy Sowed, Snow White Dove
Ridin' Outta Town
Smiley Bates HCD4433
Home Sweet Home, Ridin' Outta Town, Whiskey Creek,
Patty On The Turnpike Bells Of Heaven, Blackberry
Blossom, Soldier's Joy, Turkey In The Straw Wabash,
Cannonball, Ground Hog, Distant Bells, Sundown, Faded
Love, Easy Pickin', Old Man And Old Woman
Sing Me A Sad Song
Smiley Bates MCD15501
Bringing Mary Home, Sing Me A Song Papa, Mom Can
You Hear Me? -Don't Let Your Teardrops Show The Image
Of Me, Cumberland Waltz, This Picture Of Me, May I
Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister? I'm Doing This For
Daddy, My Brother's Will, I Haven't Got The Right, She's
Mine, Tiny Broken Heart, My Daddy's Eyes, Heartbroken
Prisoner, Reveille Time In Heaven
McDonald Bluegrass Band
MCD15506
Ramblin' Fever, Won't You Love Me One More Time, (You
Will) Shine, The Day I Lose Your Memory, Gonna Be
Movin' -I'll Break Out Again Tonight, Wicked Path Of Sin,
Down To Dixie, Wings That Fly Me Home, I Cannot Find
The Way Alone, Love And Wealth, River Of Jordan, All
Alone, I Just Think I'll Stay Around Drifting Too Far From
Shore, Home Sweet Home Revisited, I'll Never Love
Anybody But You
A Musical Souvenir Of The
Maritimes HCD 4435
Nova Scotia Queen (Smiley Bates), Still A Nova Scotian At
Heart (Cliff Jewell), New Brunswick And Mary (Dick Nolan),
Cape Breton Colours (Norma Gale), Maritime County Jig
(Artie Jaye), Glace Bay Ollie (Shell Dalton ), My Nova
Scotia Home (Aggie), Shamrock Shore (Eddie Cof fey),
Atlantic Lullaby (Dick Nolan) Saga Of Stompin' Tom's Foot
(Mickey Andrews), P.E.I. Is Heaven To Me (Dick Nolan), Big
Wheel Cannonball (Johnny Gold), Good Old Nova Scotia
(Smiley Bates), Shores of P.E.I. (Norma Gale), Salute To
The Maritimes (Bill Sawyer), Bud The Spud (Rompin'
Stom), Albert County Soil (Marg Osburne) Cape Breton Island (Clif f Jewell), Will My Soul
Pass Through The Maritimes (Shell Dalton), Farewell To Nova Scotia (Ryan's Fancy)
Prices: All Single CDs are £9.99, All Double CDs are £14.99 (Add 50p per CD within UK, £1 per CD outside UK for additional
P&P) Overseas payments must be made by International Money Order or cheques drawn on a UK Bank.
Cheques Payable to: ‘Healey & Faulkner,’ 28 Grafton Terrace, London NW5 4JJ.
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MUSIC
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32
Members Compilation CD on Internet Radio
Listen at www.musicmaker-web.co.uk
Swinging’ Fiddles
Wir Waanderins
Reel Beatrice, Marquis of Huntly Farewell,
Pauline’s Country, Ferry Reel, Wizards Walk,
Diamond walk, Diamond Waltz, Orange Blossom
Special, Laird of Drumblair, Full Rigged Ship &
More...
Charliey Boston
Dogwood Place
Ten Long Nights, Archetypal Hero, Like Yesterday
Last Leaves of Autumn, Demons, Fairer than the
sunset, Oh My Saviour, Missing you again, In My
Dreams, No Writing on this wall, W ay Out of Time,
Fly like a Swallow.
Charlie Boston
Truths & Fantasies
A wing and a prayer, All you want to know, Don't
look back, Maybe I'm a dreamer, Blue skies, Cabin
on the hillside, Please don't turn me away, All
ablaze, Why (do I still love you in my dreams), In
Beaujolais, The way it used to be, Out of sight.
Dave Taylor
The Melodeon are coming...
Support your Neighbourhood Fanatic, Weary Old
Folk Tune, Sailing on my Morning Cloud, Not a
Morning Person, Company Men, BSA Bantam,
Easter Leaver, The Melodens are Coming!, Eridge
Valley Cowboy and more...
The Mays
Transition
Time’s up, Take me back, He could be mine, Coral
Reef, For Once, Sometimes I Remember, Crusing
Down the Dengie, Forever on my own, Heaven is
on the earth, Do the right thing, Shallow , Are we
one, You Gotta Believe.
Roli Hope Odeka
Roli Hope Odeka
Crackin’ truth (umba mix), Ghenghede’, Namina,
Beyond Jordan, Resoloution, Dimmi Chi Sono
Arthur Kitchener
Acoustic Warriors
Born in England, Bully from the Back S treet, King
of the Jungle, Running with the p ack, Limehouse
Lady, Romany Lee, Auguste Messiah, Down in
the Valley, Nazarene, Chords of Creation, The Isle
of Avalon.
Shawn Michael Perry
Run 2 U, Free, If I, Freedom, The Indian, Family,
Fight, Forever, Aboriginality, Liberated.
Ian Mairs
The Mermaid
Thats what i'd say, The Thorn of the rose, S till in
my heart, The sound of jimmy shand, Over the
top, Under my Skin, I'd Rather drown, Big yellow
blanket,. The Mermaid, I Wonder if i ever go to
nashville, Blue skies will come my way again, T ake
me in your UFO.
The Charlie Boston Band
Driftwood
Billy rode to town, Driftwood, In a mexican mood,
Little red dog, As the sun goes down, The bright
lights of the town, Memories, Black smoke risin',
That soft look in your eyes, Full circle, Open air ,
Aurora, Blue misty mountain.
Branco Stoysin Trio
Quiet Stream Breaks The Rocks
Quiet Stream breaks the rocks, where the river
meets the sea, Anica, The young shepherdess,
Once I was Loved by a woman from V ranje,
Shana Daeling, Mahogany won’t die, Amber, Miss
D, Calm before the storm.
Ced Thorose
Diamondback
Diamond Back, Only Our Rivers Run Free,
Owentocker, Another Night, N19, May Blossom,
Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore, Tennessee
Fluxedo, Fireglow, Summerfly, Muriel Heffernan,
Lakes of Pontchartrain, C Waltz, Gold Rush.
Jim Hightower
Arkansas Texas
Arkansas. Big Bertha. Cullen Baker. Rich
Mountian. Titus County. The Ballad Of Petit Jean.
Diamond Besse. Yell County Radio Station KIMP.
Rockin and Rollin in Nashville. If someone had
answered the phone. Marion County. My Uncle
joe. Snipe Hunt. Remember the alamo.
Perry Foster
Go Down Old Hannah
Three Women Blues Black, brown & white, Poor
boy blues, Shake 'em on down, Gallis pole, Sitting
on top of the world, Ham and eggs, Shake that
boogie, Police dog blues, Travellin' blues, Trouble
in mind, Stagolee, Deep river blues, The needed
time, Vigilante man, Go down old hannah.
Perry Foster
Bluesman
Catfish Blues, One kind favour, Wake up Mama,
Chocolate to the bone, Key to the Highway, Judge
Boushay, Payday, Brownsville Blues, Backwater
Blues, Crossroads, Crow Jane, Titanic, Feel like
going home, Walking Blues, Lost Lover Blues, You
Gotta Move
Perry Foster
Star-spangled Sidewalk
Kassie Jones, Louisiana Blues, Riley & Spencer,
Bye, bye, bird, Rattlesnakin' daddy, Come on in
my kitchen, Write me a few of your lines, Me and
the Devil, Bourgeois Blues, Beautiful City,
Parchman Farm, Viola Lee Blues, Georgia skin
game, Shake 'em on down, K. C. Moan
MUSIC
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MUSIC
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MUSIC
MAKER
Members Compilation CD on Internet Radio
Listen at www.musicmaker-web.co.uk
Eddie Blackstone
Songs Volume 1
Never Let a Dream Go By, Dolly McGraw, You
Never Left My Side, 1643 Pennsylvania Boulevard,
Don’t Shake Me Free, Lay My Feet Down On The
Street, Spencer Walker Rose After Dark, Turn
Back The Years, and more...
Bryan Chalker
Volume 2
Southern Queen; Goin' From The Cotton Fields;
Sally Sunshine; Cool Water; Little Joe; No One But
I; The Great Titanic; Down In Louisiana; Two Little
Orphans; and more...
Bryan Chalker
Volume 4
Remember the Alamo; I am Afraid to Go Back
Home; Darling Nellie Gray; Molly Darling; Legend
of the Irish Rebel; Thibodeaux and His Cajun
Band; Adios, My Love; The Maid Freed from the
Gallows; The Hanging of Samuel Hall; Old Country
Dance; and more...
Bryan Chalker
Volume 1
Close Enough For Lonesome ; Missing You,
Missing Me ; Blue Ridge Mount ain Blues); I Can't
Read The Thoughts In Your Mind; The Old Man
And His Horn; Daddy, Sing Me A Song; This
Morning, This Evening; Good'un; The W ayward
Wind; Texas When I Die; Sourwood Mountain;
Freight Train, Blow Your Whistle;and more...
Bryan Chalker
Volume 3
The Hobo, Mystery Train, How Many More Years -
Howlin'Wolf Tribute, 3 o'clock Blues - Don't Answer
the Door, I Can't Be Satisfied, That's All Right,
Mama, No More Doggin', Movie Magg, Rockin'
Chair Money, It Took Fifty Years in the Making,
That Rock'n'Roll
Bryan Chalker
Looking Back
Sourwood Mountain; Old Uncle Ned; The Maid
Freed From The Gallows; Ballad Of The Orphans;
Me And Bobby Mcgee; Prison Grey; Goin' From
The Cotton Fields; Legend Of The Black Sheep;
Irish Rebel Soldier; When I Swim The Golden
River; Ballad Of The Blue-Tail Fly; Four Little Girls
In The Town Of Boston; and more...
All CDs in this catalogue are £10 each for Single CDs - Please add £1 per CD for shipping
Please send me the following CDs:
Title Title
Or, if you are interested in listing your CDs in the cat alogue please tick this box:
I enclose a cheque/money order for £ p ayable to ‘Magnet Publishing Limited’
Name: Telephone:
Address:
Overseas payments: Due to high bank charges, we can only accept p ayment in
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stocking a variety
of new and
second-hand
pedal and lever
harps.
+44 (0)29 2070 9982
www.pencerdd.com

36
Recording
Services
MUSIC
MAKER

MUSIC
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Recording
Services
37

T el: 01992 703058
www.shuredistribution.co.uk
38
We are a specialist
harp shop,
stocking a
variety of new
and secondhand
pedal and
lever harps.
+44 (0)29 2070 9982
www.pencerdd.com
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MM 131
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