I Can't Be Satisfied: Early American Women Blues Singers—Town & Country (vols. 1 and 2) (review)

Dock Boggs, His Folkways Years, 1963-1968 Smithsonian Folkways, 1998 cd 40108 Born in southwestern Virginia in 1898, Dock Boggs entered the coal mines at age twelve. Anxious to pursue a career in music, he made several recordings in the late 1920s, but the Depression submerged his hopes and body back in the mines. He pawned his banjo and would not take it up again for over twenty-five years. His early recordings resurfaced on Harry Smith's 1952 Anthology ofAmerican Folk Music and revived interest in his music; not long after, the folksinger Mike Seeger located the sixty-five year-old Boggs, who in his retirement had taken up the banjo again. The result was numerous appearances at folk festivals across the country and a slate of new recordings, including three albums for Folkways. These albums have been combined into a two-CD set with fifty performances ofthe beautifully spare sound ofBoggs's voice and banjo. The songs wash alternately between heaven and hell. Violence, alcohol, and gambling josde with salvation , golden streets, and angels. "Oh Deadi" is a moving and stark dialogue in which the victim pleads widi Death to stay his "icy hand," while "No Disappointment in Heaven" anticipates the "glory around the white throne." Through it all Boggs drives the music forward with his distinctive banjo picking and raw singing. A hefty booklet (though written in minuscule type) frames the material and provides information both about Boggs and the context of his music. This music cannot reside in die background. Boggs demands thoughtful attention and will repay repeated listening. I Can't Be Satisfied: Early American Women Blues Singers—Town & Country (vols. 1 and 2) Yazoo, 1998 cd 2026 and cd 2027, $12.95 each For a time in the 1920s women ruled recorded blues. These two releases from Yazoo bring together recordings from this period both rare and familiar, spanning urban and country styles. VoI114 Reviews urne ? , "Country," features performances by eighteen different singers, including Memphis Minnie, Ruby Glaze, and Bertha Lee. The free-wheeling singing backed by guitars and the occasional jug band shines on Mae Glover's "I Ain't Givin' Nobody None" and Bessie Tucker's "Penitentiary." Volume 2, "Town," highlights standouts like Sippie Wallace, Ma Rainey, and Bertha "Chippie" Hill, who sing their sophisticated blues with piano or jazz combo backup. Particularly noteworthy is Chippie Hill's legendary performance of "Trouble in Mind." Each cd contains brief biographical information on the performers as well as a few pictures. Because the songs are taken from rare 78s, many of the cuts have small scratches, pops, and otiier minor interference that listeners in the cd generation might find distracting. Nevertheless, performers powerful enough to be heard unamplified over the din of shouting, shuffling audiences in the 1920s are certainly strong enough to overcome an occasional scratch. Bob Holt, Got a Little Home To Go To Rounder, 1998 cd 0432, $1 5.00 Anyone looking for good, old-time string band music to dance to will find much pleasure in this recording of the Ozark fiddler Bob Holt. Often fiddle music intended for dancing is taken out of context in a studio recording. Not in this case. Got aLittleHome ToGoTo features live performances that bring the music to the forefront without obscuring die rhythmic tapping and die frequent whoops from the dance floor. Consequendy, as Holt himself says, "as they get wound up, it winds me up some more and in turn I wind them up some more and back and forth until it creates a tremendous energy." Interspersed with the live performances are short pieces played in the studio that round out Holt's repertoire. The vitality in the music aside, the booklet accompanying die cd is almost worth the price alone. Holt's voice shines through as the liner notes are written entirely from his own words. He describes his family history, his own interest in music, and much about how and why he plays. He also explains where he learned each tune on the cd. Taken together, both music and liner notes provide an exciting introduction to old-time dance music in the Ozarks. Reviews 1 1 5 ...