Seminary South Contest 1987

Seminary South Fiddle Contest, held in Fort Worth, Texas, 1987. Soooo many great fiddlers on this recording: Matt Hartz, Joey McKenzie, Terry Morris, Ricky Turpin, Marilyn Trotter, Jason Crisp, Carl Hopkins, Randy Elmore, Wes Westmoreland III, Bart Trotter, Wade Stockton, and Jimmie Don Bates. I really love how these old contest recordings capture the energy and camaraderie of the moment. This is a really fun one!

Download Link: Seminary South Contest 1987 (152 MB)

Texas Fiddle Favorites - Major Franklin, Louis Franklin, Norman Solomon

Essential of the essential. This out-of-print 1966 recording from County Records features Major Franklin, Louis Franklin, and Norman Solomon--three of my favorite fiddlers. Accompanists include: Omega Burden (guitar), Betty Solomon (piano), and Mike Solomon (guitar). If you like this, you should also head over to County Records and purchase Texas Hoedown Revisited. Together, Texas Fiddle Favorites (County 707) and Texas Hoedown (County 703) are like having the Old and New Testaments of Texas fiddle...or maybe it's the Old Testament and the other Old Testament!

Download Link: Texas Fiddle Favorites (55MB)

Terry Morris - Jam at Terry's July 1986

Well, that was quite a hiatus. So, finally, here is the recording of Terry Morris featuring the same crew as the Jimmie Don Bates jam session posted last October: Bobby Christman, Anthony Mature, Joey McKenzie, and Matt Hartz. I really like this particular setup of two guitars, one tenor guitar, and a bass.There's a lot to listen to in addition to the fiddling!

Download Link: Terry Morris - Jam at Terry's July 1986 (64 MB)

Jimmie Don Bates and Friends July 1986

This is the first part of a jam session that also featured Terry Morris. I'll post Terry's part at a later date. The "friends" aren't listed anywhere on the tape, but at various times I can hear: Bobby Christman, Anthony Mature, Joey McKenzie, and Matt Hartz.

Download Link: Jimmie Don Bates and Friends July 1986 (18MB)

Orville Burns with John Hartford

Here's a playlist with over two hours of Orville Burns fiddling with John Hartford on the banjo and Bobby Christman on guitar. The banjo overwhelms the audio at times, but it's still a great watch and listen. Orville plays some tunes here that likely aren't recorded anywhere else. You can tell these guys were really enjoying the opportunity to play together.

Orville Burns - fiddle
John Hartford - banjo
Bobby Christman - guitar
Mark Ralph - fiddle

Direct YouTube Link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTtU3L7dFwuxMR7YhwLbmtBkcsFvoziLV

Eck Robertson - Radio Theme Song

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Here is an Eck Robertson song that has never been released digitally. This is the last track from the 1976 Sonyatone release, "Eck Robertson: Master Fiddler." Taken from a field recording in 1965, this track didn't make it onto to the 1920's Victor-era CD compilation that you can buy directly from County Sales. Be warned, this song gets stuck in your head!

Direct YouTube link (for a larger picture):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP169sO4hgk

Lyrics:
Well friends, we're on the air
Please listen everywhere
As I would like to please you
Don't think that I don't care

I've played my way to fame
Eck Robertson is my name
And if you like my program
Well, I'll come back again

Call if you will, and tell us who you are
And I will try to see you, no matter if it's near or far
Or drop me just a line, or see thee on your way
And I will always love you, until my dying day

Herman Johnson - Weiser Jam Session 1968

Guest Blogger: Grant Wheeler

Originally recorded by Robin Shaylor in 1968 on the street corner just outside the Hospitality Center in downtown Weiser, Idaho, on a Sony TC-800. This was Herman’s very first year at the National Old-time Fiddlers’ Contest, all the way from his home in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He was 48 years old and it was the first of five times that he would win the National Champion title.

Backing Herman up on this recording was one of his best friends, favorite pickers, and fellow ‘Okie’ Ralph McGraw.

All the tunes have been edited into individual mp3 tracks. But for those interested in soaking up the full atmosphere of what was documented that day, included here is a “master” mp3 file where you can listen to the entire jam session from start to finish which includes all the dialogue, jokes, and banter between Herman, Ralph, and the growing number of people gathering around to listen and request tunes. One gets a sense from the crowd reaction that something a little new and a little different had come to Weiser that year. As one bystander calls out at the end of the recording..."Play some more! Play some more!"

Download Link: Herman Johnson - Weiser Jam Session 1968 (57MB)

(additional audio sweetening by Stephen Schauer)

Eck Robertson - Famous Cowboy Fiddler

Most viewers here will already have the excellent compilation CD of Eck's recordings for Victor, available from County Sales. Here is a hard to find and out-of-print field recording, recorded in 1963 by Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tracy Schwarz (The New Lost City Ramblers) in Eck's living room and officially released by County Records as "Eck Robertson: Famous Cowboy Fiddler" on LP in 1991 as County 202. Eck was 76 years old at the time. It isn't modern-sounding Texas fiddle music as we know it today, but unaccompanied old-time roots music that helped form the current genre. Thanks to the Down Home Radio Show blog for sharing!

Download Link: Eck Robertson - Famous Cowboy Fiddler (34MB)

Colorado OTFA Jam 2013

Many thanks to Stephen Schauer for offering up this next recording that he both recorded and mixed. It's obvious that Stephen knows exactly what he's doing, so I'll let him describe the tape:

"Daniel Carwile, Aarun Carter, and mostly Luke Price played with really great accompanists...
There was incredible jamming each night, but this one was from the night after the contest - the last night before everyone went back home. The tracks are listed with the names of the folks who play on them but here is a list, in no particular order.

Aarun Carter - fiddle
Jonathan Trawick - guitar
Luke Price - fiddle and guitar
Daniel Carwile - fiddle, guitar, and tenor
Scott Sumner - guitar
Stephen Schauer - tenor
Cuhck Onofrio - bass
Yaniv Saltzberg - bass

Location was in the lobby of the Quality Inn in Denver. January 13, 2013"

Back to Dan: 
You're in for a treat. The sound quality is outstanding--simply, a pleasure. Thank you, Stephen!

Download Link: COTFA 2013 (182 MB)

Terry Morris - Shelley, Idaho

Thank you Joe Sites for posting the videos of Terry Morris at Shelley, Idaho. This is the tape recording of that same jam session from 1987. It was recorded onto cassette by Chad Manning. Guitar players are Joey McKenzie, Darin Meeks, and Joe Sites. These guys overwhelm the cheap boombox mics at the beginning of a lot of the songs. But hey, that's kind of what it's like in real life when your awesome rhythm players jump in. I like how Terry closes the session (his last to the NW) with a simple, "I enjoyed it, fellas."

Download Link: Terry Morris at Shelley Idaho (188 MB)