Classic Cuts, Vol. 2: 1924-38

RELEASE
March 14, 2006
LABEL
JSP
GENRES
Country, Old-Timey, Traditional Country

Album Review

This is the second four-disc box set JSP Records has issued of Uncle Dave Macon, which means close to 200 tracks of old-time folk pieces, vaudeville standards, restructured minstrel songs, and more cornball humor than you can shake a banjo at (Macon had a habit of stopping a song in the middle, telling a short joke, then moving on back to the song). Not bad for a musician who didn't begin recording until he was 50. Before 1924 he owned and operated a mule-driven hauling service, but eventually similar businesses using trucks cornered the hauling market, and Macon became a professional musician -- and he never missed a chance to slam the virtue of trucks and praise mules in his routines. Macon didn't really understand the recording studio, and these tracks sound very much like a performer in front of a live audience as he introduces and explains songs, stomps his feet, and moves all about the microphone exactly as he would on stage -- which made him a nightmare for recording engineers. Past all the cornball bluster, though, was an energetic and charismatic performer who was a more than capable banjo player, and he single-handedly saved countless folk and string band songs from extinction by tracking them before they vanished into America's musical past. Most of Macon's more famous pieces are in JSP's first set, but there are some scattered gems here, including the intricate waltz called "He Won the Heart of My Sarah Jane," the bluesy "Oh Lovin' Babe," some kinetic banjo on "Come on Buddie, Don't You Want to Go," and a pair of lovely fiddle and banjo instrumentals (with Sid Harkreader on fiddle), "Bile Them Cabbage Down" and "Arkansas Travelers." Most of the fourth disc is made up of sides by brothers Sam & Kirk McGee (with Macon occasionally sitting in on banjo), and these are a special delight, especially Sam's breathtaking acoustic guitar lines. Four discs are a lot of Macon, and most casual listeners would be better served by picking up a single-disc collection, but archivists and collectors will treasure this set of his lesser-known sides.
Steve Leggett, Rovi

Track Listing

  1. Hill Billie Blues
  2. The Old Maid's Last Hope
  3. All I've Got's Gone
  4. The Fox Chase
  5. Papa's Billie Goat
  6. The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane
  7. (She Was Always) Chewing Gum
  8. Jonah and the Whale
  9. I'm Going Away to Leave You Love
  10. Love Somebody
  11. Soldier's Joy
  12. Bile Them Cabbage Down
  13. Rooster Crow Medley
  14. Just from Tennessee
  15. From Jerusalem to Jericho
  16. I Tickled Nancy
  17. Arkansas Travelers
  18. The Girl I Left Behind Me
  19. Muskrat Medley
  20. Down in Arkansas
  21. Down by the Old Mill Stream
  22. I Don't Reckon It'll Happen Again
  23. Save My Mother's Picture from the Sale
  24. He Won the Heart of My Sarah Jane
  25. Just Tell Them That You Saw Me
  26. I Ain't Got Long to Stay
  27. Ain't It a Shame to Keep Your Honey Out in the Rain
  28. Shout Mourner, You Shall Be Free
  29. I Don't Care If I Never Wake Up
  30. In the Good Old Summer Time
  31. Something's Always Sure to Tickle Me
  32. In the Good Old Days of Long Ago
  33. My Girl's a High Born Lady
  34. In the Old Carolina State (Where the Sweet Magnolias Bloom)
  35. Never Make Love No More
  36. Them Two Gals of Mine
  37. Tossing the Baby So High
  38. Uncle Ned
  39. Braying Mule
  40. Take Me Home Poor Julia
  41. Lullaby Song
  42. Poor Old Dad
  43. Oh Bear Me Away on Your Snowy Wings
  44. The Mockingbird Song Medley
  45. In the Sweet Bye and Bye
  46. In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree
  47. Got No Silver Nor No Gold Blues
  48. Heartaching Blues
  49. Roe Rire Poor Girl
  50. Backwater Blues
  51. Jesus Lover of My Soul
  52. Had the Razor
  53. Put Me in My Little Bed
  54. New in Town
  55. We Need a Change in Business All Around
  56. Mister Johnson
  57. Hush Little Baby Don't You Cry
  58. Oh Lovin' Babe
  59. Come on Buddie, Don't You Want to Go
  60. Go on Nora Lee
  61. Was You There When They Took My Lord Away
  62. Thank God for Everything
  63. When the Train Comes Along
  64. Tennessee Tornado
  65. Don't Get Weary Children
  66. Over the Mountain
  67. One More River to Cross
  68. Just One Way to the Pearly Gates
  69. Fame Apart from God's Approval
  70. From Jerusalem to Jericho
  71. Travelin' Down the Road
  72. He Won the Heart of Sarah Jane
  73. Working for My Lord
  74. She's Got the Money Too
  75. Wait Till the Clouds Roll By
  76. Things I Don't Like to See
  77. They're After Me
  78. Beautiful Love
  79. Give Me Back My Five Dollars
  80. Railroadin' and Gamblin'
  81. Johnny Brey
  82. Buck Dancer's Choice
  83. The Franklin Blues
  84. In a Cool Shady Nook
  85. If I Could Only Blot Out the Past
  86. Knoxville Blues
  87. Old Master's Run Away
  88. Charming Bill
  89. A Flower from My Angel Mother's Grave
  90. C-H-I-C-K-E-N Spells Chicken
  91. Salty Dog Blues
  92. Salt Lake City Blues
  93. Rufus Blossom
  94. Ragged Jim
  95. Someone Else May Be There While I'm Gone
  96. Hannah Won't You Open the Door
  97. My Family Has Been a Crooked Set
  98. The Tramp
  99. As Willie and Mary Strolled by the Seashore
  100. The Ship Without a Sail