John Work III – Recording Black Culture

When I was very young, maybe five or six years old, I clearly remember visiting an "Uncle" in Maury County Tennessee. I say "Uncle" because he wasn’t my uncle and probably wasn’t my Mom or Dad’s uncle. He was, instead, a person of blood relation who was related in a way that, for me, was not clearly understood. But, for sure, he was an uncle to somebody who was kin to me.

I remember the visit clearly because we drove the car across a field to get to the house. My uncle rode a horse or mule everywhere he went and didn’t want an automobile. The house was not clap-boarded, fancied up so to speak, but was the bare log structure that the earliest of the non-native settlers built. I also remember clearly, even though this was the only visit we made, because of the banjo and fiddle that hung on the wall inside.

Looking back, my only regret regarding the visit was that no one played the instruments. A simple tune played by the aged hand of my farming kin would have stuck with me more than anything else. The grown ups did the talking. Oh, it was probably small talk, the weather, crops, who had babies, who was sick, who had died. I don’t remember. I would have remembered a fiddle tune.

So, the tunes that sprung from that fiddle and banjo are gone with the generation that played them. I cannot recover them and it is a loss that is difficult to define or quantify. I just know I missed something that I shouldn’t have. Taken for granted at the time, things that are of enormous value can be lost through inattention.

I’ll tell you right now that I’m recommended to you, a person who has some kind of interest in music, to buy "Recording Black Culture", by John Work III. I’ll give you the link now to help you do that.

Buy the CD

I will explain, now that I’ve got the point out of the way. But, I’m just one person with a point of view. To read an excellent article on the CD in the New York Times:

New York Times Article

I’m neither expert nor academic as Dr. Work was. Being a classically trained musician and from a long line of academics, I think he spent a good deal of time analyzing this music. But the well worn recordings indicate something else. He loved this music and it transported him in a way that defies analysis. This is, to me, the magic of music. Humans seem to create music in a response to their lives, their experiences, hopes and dreams. The music isn’t the dream but the expression of it. As I said, this defies analysis.

So, to the point, here is my reaction to the CD according to the categories:

Social Songs:

I guess it was Steve Martin that said you couldn’t frown and play a banjo at the same time. These fiddle and banjo tunes make you smile no matter what. I’m amazed at the skill of the players. These guys livened up every place they happened to be.

The Quartets

The pieces I think of as "Shape Note" singing. That means the individual parts, Alto, Tenor, Base, Soprano are sung as complete individual parts of the whole. The "Shape Notes" are the "do –re –me.." notation for singers. Church services, funerals, weddings; in my experience these are the home of Quartet singing.

Work Song

I have done my share of manual labor having grown up farming with my Mom, Dad and Brother. I could have used a song to help me with the hay hauling, tobacco hoeing, cow milking…a long list it is. But, here is a cultural thing. I likely sprung from Germanic stock of the Alsace-Lorraine area of Europe. I didn’t get any work songs to help me deal with the daily work in the fields. In fact, nowhere did I experience this. I think I missed something good. Much later I did. A friend’s father ran a roofing business, so I got him to shingle my roof. He was pretty old at the time and took it on as something of a favor. The job took about two months as he worked when he had the time.

He walked two skids of asphalt shingles up an ordinary ladder and onto the roof and laid them perfectly. He was always singing has he worked. I don’t remember the tunes exactly but they were Gospel Songs that I was familiar with for the most part. He was pretty old then. Too old by my way of thinking. But, you know, slowly, singing, and always in a good mood, that old man laid a perfect roof.

Congregational Singing

My upbringing was, and still is I suppose, a cappella. The only instrument in Church services was the human voice and everyone made an effort to participate. Some were pretty good, some less so. But I think everyone benefited. The music seemed to infuse with some joy and the message. There was so much that separated the "white" and "black" cultures, but here the fundamental at church was the same, unchangeable. That has been and truly is a blessing.

Thinking on this clearly bring out another childhood memory. I suppose my Mom and Dad felt that the world would chase us boys pretty hard, so they took us to practically every "Gospel Meeting" within driving distance. The one that I clearly remember is a tent meeting where Marshall Keeble was preaching. I don’t remember whether or not I shook Brother Keeble’s hand although it is likely that I did.

This is a good time to remember and appreciate Brother Keeble.

Marshall Keeble

 

Blues

Perhaps it means something, maybe not, but I ended up buying a bright red Fender Telecaster like Muddy Waters’. I bought it because I liked it. I can only guess that he liked his too. The short interview is fascinating.

Official Muddy Waters Website

Joe Holmes. This is not the Ozzy Osbourne Joe Holmes. This is someone who may be lost to history except for this recording. Holmes has a very nice blues style that I have never heard before and I’m trying to learn it. Dr. Work probably knew exactly what made the style unique but it will take me a while. Knowing and doing with a guitar are two completely different things the doing can be elusive sometimes. My opinion is that preserving this piece is, by itself, justifies an entire career.

Colored Sacred Harp

These songs are outside my experience, but the influence lives on in music today. The variety of vocal structures in many contemporary songs is, I believe derived from the Sacred Harp. I suspect that the recording cannot quite bring across the power and intensity of the experience. I sense a powerful religious moment that is, perhaps, beyond description.

I keep thinking about the banjo and fiddle on the wall of my "Uncle’s" house. That music is lost forever. Thankfully, these recordings are preserved.

Andy Derryberry

2/10/2008