String band music

String band music was popular in the 1920s and early '30s. Several groups, usually made up of three or four different stringed instruments (banjo. fiddle. guitar, and sometimes something else) had careers touring (mostly) the regional South of the United States. It was called "mountain music" and much of it seemed to originate from the mountains of North Carolina. Popular among these groups were Charlie Poole and his North Carolina Ramblers. Charlie and the band attracted the attention of a Columbia Records scout who invited them to New York to record in studio. They recorded four tracks, were payed $75 for the session, and sent on their way. In those days (1925), if a record sold 5000 copies, it was a success; 30,000 sales was a smash. The first Charlie Poole record sold over 100,000; the second, over 30,000. Columbia was pretty happy. Charlie, not so much. When Columbia wanted him back in the studio, Charlie wisely negotiated a royalties agreement for anything else they recorded.

The Red Fox Chasers were another of those "mountain" bands. Their first recording was released in 1928 and they enjoyed several moderate hits. Their biggest claim to fame may be that they wrote the first car wreck song, "The Wreck on the Old Mountain Road", a reworking of "The Wreck of the Old 97".

Contemporary music of the late 1920s and early 1930s, these recordings told both traditional and contemporary stories to a modern rhythm, but where did it come from? (You might ask) Well, the coolest part of the South has long been New Orleans. The Six and Seven-Eight String Band began playing the streets of New Orleans together in 1913.

For the record collectors - COUNTRY Records was in business from 1964 until January, 2018. They have an impressive catalog of old-timey music. The first three pictures show albums released in the mid-1960s. Though most of the material is repeated on other albums, these early Country label discs are nice pressings. The final album is Folkways Records (FA2671) released in 1956.