It is the kind of music that needs to be saved and savored. It is America’s history written with guitar and banjo, and sung with the twang of truth.” — Jack Goodstein of BlogCritics.org
A new collection of songs by various artists on war, recorded from 1924 to 1939, has just been released. It was put together by Tompkins Square.
Basically a one-man operation, this NYC-based label continues to amaze with the high-quality material they are releasing, or in cases, re-releasing.”
Many of the songs are about World War I, others originate from the American Civil War and Spanish-American War.
These songs, many of which haven’t been heard since their original release in the 20s and 30s, create a musical and cultural tapestry of the U.S. at a very different time in history; however, they serve as a chilling reminder that war always results in casualties on two fronts, among soldiers, as well as their loved ones back home.
As we’ve come to expect from Tompkins Square, everything about this project is top-shelf, and the liner-notes courtesy of country music historian Tony Russell are worth the price of purchase alone.”
Jack Goodstein of BlogCritics.org says the liner-notes are “an invaluable little brochure . . . describing each of the individual songs and providing information on the artists.”
The songs reflect a variety of points of view towards war. There are laments by and for dying soldiers. . . .
. . . The song that gives the album its title, sung by Jimmy Yates’ Boll Weevils, takes comic aim at the warrior mentality. This version of the song deals with the First World War and describes the problems a naïve country lad has as he is drafted into the military. . . .
Patriotic give ’em hell songs are not neglected. Fiddlin’ John Carson and His Virginia Reelers’ ‘Dixie Division’ warns the enemy that the Southern Regiments are on their way to Europe, and ends with an instrumental medley introduced by ‘Are You from Dixie?’ and including ‘Dixie,’ ‘Yankee Doodle,’ ‘Swanee,’ and ‘There’s no Place Like Home.’”
A man named Peter Hund discusses the album more in depth.
The title song is an indication of the album as a whole, with its instrumentation of fiddle, guitar, Hawaiian-style steel guitar and ukulele; vague origin (folklorists have placed it during the Spanish-American War or the First World War — no printed record has been found); and irreverent lyrics, with this version describing the comic misfortunes of a country boy drafted to serve in WWI.
Slide guitar can also be found on three more songs. Early country music duo Darby and Tarlton had one of the best slide players in Jimmie Tarlton, represented on two selections, ‘The Rainbow Division’ and ‘Captain Won’t You Let Me Go Home.’ The Dixon Brothers’ Howard Dixon, a disciple of fellow millworker Tarlton, plays steel on ‘The Old Vacant Chair.’
Other highlights include ‘Long Way to Tipperary,’ featuring Frank Hutchison alone on guitar and rack harmonica; the pep song ‘Dixie Division,’ with Fiddlin’ John Carson, about Southern regiments in Europe during the First World War (made even more interesting when it segues into an instrumental medley of ‘Are You From Dixie?’ ‘Dixie,’ ‘Swanee River’ and other Southern favorites); and ‘Uncle Sam and the Kaiser,’ another one-man affair with Ernest V. Stoneman on autoharp and harmonica.”
A portion of the sales goes to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
AJH
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