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Virginia Roots :The 1929 Richmond Sessions
$23.99

I don't carry a lot of American music, but this set really tickled my fancy. This is a wondeful collection of American roots music in all its facets, compiled from 1929 sessions held by Okeh Records in Richmond, Virginia. Rather than a stylistic look at the music, Okeh sought out any and all kinds of music from the region, and as a result this collection includes country and urban blues, early jazz styles, gospel, popular song, even Hawaiian, performed by soloitsts and ensembles in rich variety.

Listen:
The Sparling Four
The Bubbling Over Five
Tubize Royal Hawaiian Orchestra
Spangler and Pearson

The record label says:
For five days in October 1929, musicians from across Virginia played their songs for engineers of the Okeh Record Company. The Richmond recording session was a microcosm of Virginia and American music, capturing the music of old-time bands, African American quartets, harmonica players, jazz acts and even a Hawaiian orchestra.

This two-CD set brings together for the first time all of the released 1929 recordings in a 33-song compilation. The 48-page booklet that accompanies the set includes extensive notes by veteran music researchers and provides new biographies of previously undocumented artist such as The Tubize Hawaiian Orchestra and Otis and Tom Mote. More than 20 images, several previously unpublished, illustrate the text. Also includes lyric transcriptions. From the old-time music of Wade Ward’s Buck Mountain Band to the masterful harmonies of The Monarch Jazz Quartet of Norfolk, Virginia Roots is a must-buy for anyone interested in early American music and culture. Audio Restoration and Mastering of the project was done by Airshow Mastering , who received a Grammy for their work on the acclaimed “Anthology of American Folk Music".

" I've never been to Richmond, Virginia, and I certainly wasn't around in the 1920s, but this is the nearest thing to a time machine that will take me to that place and time, and it will keep me entertained royally while I'm there." - Ray Templeton, Musical Traditions, UK "It was recorded by Okeh Records, who like many others - Peer and RCA Victor in particular - set up location recordings around the south to capture on record the local talent. From this part of Virginia came old-time string bands, gospel quartets, a harmonica player and even a Hawaiian group all seeking to make their mark in recorded music. Almost without exception they did not, but some of the fiddle-led instrumental music from the likes of Spangler & Pearson, the Salem Highballers and the outstanding Roanoke Jug Band have deserved greater attention by chroniclers of old-time country music. The transfer quality respects the rarity of many of the originals, but with the presentation and notes this is a valuable and entertaining historical document." - John Atkins, fRoots

Tracks info:
All biographies of the artist have been researched and written by Kip Lornell, African Studies Program, George Washington University, Greg D. Kimball, Library of Virginia, Vaughan Webb, Blue Ridge Institute, Timothy A. Thompson, Ron T. Curry, Dave Nealon, and Nate Layne.

The Sparkling Four
When the Sparkling Four Quartette formed around 1912, the Tidewater area of Virginia (and especially Norfolk) was well on its way to becoming a hotbed for African-American unaccompanied four-part singing. Judging from their recorded repertoire, the Sparkling Four reflected the male a capella tradition of the era and region, a tradition founded upon tight harmonies, a controlled straight-forward delivery, and slow or moderately paced gospel songs. The Sparkling Four is thought to have been a Norfolk quartet because the Okeh Record Company listed a Norfolk address for the group’s manager.
Tracks 1 & 2: Sparkling Four, “They Won’t Believe in Me” and “Hold The Wind,”
Recorded October 13, 1929, issued as Okeh 8741

The Bubbling Over Five
By today's standards the lineup of The Bubbling Over Five seems unusual with piano, soprano saxophone, violin, tenor banjo, harmonica and vocals. However, during their time this was not all that odd. The sensibility of making a group out of what you had available goes right back to the birthplace of Jazz - New Orleans - where finding eclectic instruments such as mandolin-banjo, zither, and tenor guitar beside such staples as the cornet, saxophone and piano was quite common. The Bubbling Over Five was likely a Tidewater-based group.
Tracks 3&4: “Don’t Mistreat Your Good Boyfriend” and “Get Up Off That Jazzophone,”
Recorded October 13, 1929, issued as Okeh 8737

Blues Birdhead AKA James Simons
In 1931 the Norfolk Journal and Guide states that “James Simons, known around and about as ‘Birdhead’ had made a name for himself with his performance on the harmonica. He makes it laugh, cry, smile or sigh.” The moniker “Blues Birdhead” was most likely created by someone involved with Okeh Records as an aid to market his record. Tracks 5 & 6: Blues Birdhead, “Mean Low Blues” and “Harmonica Blues,” recorded October 13, 1929, released as Okeh 8824

The Golden Crown Quartet
Unaccompanied four-part gospel harmony singing was remarkably popular in African-American communities throughout the first half of the 20th century, and scores of black quartets have been documented in Virginia. Such groups often formed and disbanded relatively quickly as jobs, families, and personalities all vied for attention, but the members of Norfolk’s Golden Crown Quartet were able to juggle all those factors to build a musical career spanning nearly four decades. Deacon William White formed the Golden Crown Quartet in 1919. Like their contemporaries, the golden Crowns took part in church and theater contests where the singers were judged on time, harmony, articulation, and appearance.
Tracks 7 & 8: “The Sign of Judgment” and “Scandalize My Name,” recorded Oct. 13, 1929. released as Okeh 8739.

Tubize Royal Hawaiian Orchestra
The Tubize Royal Hawaiians were the house band at a rayon factory in Hopewell, Virginia. The Tubize Artificial Silk Company was the largest employer in Hopewell. The factory sponsored a number of musical and sports groups, and in this environment the Tubize Royal Hawaiian Orchestra was born. The band began appearing on radio around 1926. The band appeared regularly on Richmond, Virginia’s WRVA radio station until at least 1933. Okeh Records released one record from the October, 1929 Richmond Session and two records from the April, 1929 New York session. Mr. Elbert A. Coley was the musical director of the Tubize Hawaiians and its main Hawaiian guitarist. Discographical evidence of Mr. Coley's influences is contained in a collection of nineteen 78-rpm records that were owned by him and are still in the possession of family members today. Most of the records in the collection are Hawaiian and the three records the Tubize Hawaiians recorded for Okeh. Their music highlighted the craze for Hawaiian music in America that began in the 1890’s.
Tracks 9 & 10 “Sweetheart of Manually” and “Whispering hope,”
Recorded October 14, 1929 , released Okeh 45394

Spangler and Pearson
Babe Spangler was born on November 15, 1882 in Patrick County, Virginia. His father was a widely known fiddle player in the region. Babe moved to Richmond in 1906 and worked as a guard at the state penitentiary until 1920. It was around this time that Babe began to suffer from congenital glaucoma; he then ran a grocery store, and eventually got into the lumber business. He became more and more involved with his music, and by 1926 or '27, he was known as “The Old Virginia Fiddler” on the Corn Cob Pipe Show on Richmond’s WRVA. His music reached much of the Eastern U.S. In 1927 he won the Virginia Fiddlers Contest. In 1929 Babe Spangler and Dave Pearson, who accompanied him on guitar on his radio broadcast, recorded 4 songs at the Richmond Sessions. Two of the songs were un-released. Spangler died in 1970.
Tracks 11 & 12: “Patrick County Blues” and “Midnight Serenade”
Recorded Oct. 14, 1929 issued Okeh 403122 and Okeh 403123

Bela Lam and The Greene County Singers
Zanddervon Beliah Lamb was born in Page County, Virginia. He as known as “Bealy” or “Belie” (pronounced Bee-Lee), but Okeh Records gave his name as Bela Lam, a surname spelling now in use by his descendents. He married Rose Meadows, also a county native, and they lived in Jollet Hollow on Naked Mountain where they reared a son, Alva. After the mill where Bealy worked closed, the family moved over the Blue Ridge Mountains into neighboring Greene County. It was there, with Rose’s brother Paul, that they would remain, farming and raising livestock. Bealy organized the family into a quartet and eventually the family began playing various public occasions: Sunday schools, church gatherings, revivals and other local events. Around 1925, John Evans of Elkton, Virginia, noticed Bela Lam and his Family. He informed Okeh Records of their unique talent and the company contracted the singers to make six recordings. Okeh brought them up to New York in 1927 and paid all their expenses, plus fifty dollars for each of the six recordings. Okeh dubbed them “Bela Lam and the Greene County Singers.” Although Lam would not become a household name like Carter or Stoneman, the Greene County Singers were popular in their area of the state. In fact , they would record again with Okeh Records in the 1929 Richmond Sessions. Bela Lam and The Greene County Singers sang four-part harmony. Bela played banjo and Alva the Guitar; all four members sang. Alva sang the tenor melody while Rose sang a higher alto harmony. Bela and Paul sang bass. Both harmonies and lyrical content of the Lam’s music came out of local religious traditions. The shape-note system of harmony of the valley was highly influential; many of the churches in the surrounding area used shape-note hymnals.
Tracks 13 & 14: ”Tell it again,” and “If Tonight the World Should End,”
Recorded Oct. 15, 1929 , released by Okeh 45456
Tracks 15 & 16: “Glory Bye And Bye,” and “Crown Him,”
Recorded Oct. 15, 1929, released by Okeh 45407

Monarch Jazz Quartet / Monarch Jubilee Quartet of Norfolk
The seven songs recorded in Richmond were all secular, while the six New York session songs included four sacred performances. Like several other groups, the Monarch Jazz Quartet/Monarch Jubilee Quartet of Norfolk issued recordings under their alternate name, depending on the material being sung. Some researchers have speculated that the Monarch Jazz Quartet / Monarch Jubilee Quartet might have been a pseudonym for the prolific Norfolk Jazz Quartet / Norfolk Jubilee Quartet, who issued nearly 150 sides on Okeh, Paramount, and Decca from 1921 to 1940.
Tracks 17 & 18: “ What's the matter now?” and “Four or Five Times,” recorded Oct. 15, 16, 1929, issued as Okeh 8736
Tracks 19 & 20: “”Pleading Blues,” and “Just To Late,” recorded Oct. 15, 1929, released As Okeh 893

Buck Mountain Band featuring “ Uncle Wade” Ward
The Buck Mountain Band’s members lived in an area of Virginia that was largely rural but also the location of mill villages, towns and railroads. They certainly had a thorough familiarity with the recording industry, having already recorded in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1925. Likewise, they all knew musicians who had recorded at the Victor sessions in Bristol, on the Tennessee/Virginia state line, in 1927.
Wade Ward was a well known performer in the Folk Revival era and a member of the musically prolific Ward Family of the area around Independence, Virginia. He was Born in Saddle Creek, Virginia, and played with various combinations of family members and others in local bands. His older brother Crockett Ward was most known as a musician, and Ward said he learned much music from him. Wade learned to play banjo at age 11 and fiddle at the age of 16. In 1919 he formed the first of several incarnations of the “Buck Mountain Band”, composed of himself, Crockett Ward, fiddler Van Edwards and Edwards' son, Earl, playing guitar. Although he was never a full-time professional musician, he remained an active performer throughout his life. He made four test-pressings for Okeh in 1925 in Asheville, but apparently none of these were released. The Richmond, Virginia, session in 1929 was his only other attempt at any commercial recording. In 1937 and 1939, Alan Lomax visited Galax, Virginia, and recorded numerous tunes, songs, and ballads by various members of the Ward Family and their musical associates, individually and in different combinations, including the famous “Bog Trotters Band.”
Wade Ward was re-discovered during the folk revival of the 1960’s and performed at numerous festivals around the country. Wade Ward passed away in May of 1971.
Tracks 21 & 22: Buck Mountain Band,“ Don’t let the blues get you down,” “Yodeling Blues,” Recorded October, 1929 Issued as Okeh 455428

Otis and Tom Mote
The Motes recorded four songs in the Okeh 1929 Richmond session. Otis recorded two secular songs as a solo performer and the brothers recorded together on two sacred tunes. According to Otis Mote’s Family, Mr. Mote was a vaudeville performer who played guitar, harmonica, and tap danced. Otis and Tom Mote both had wanderlust; Tom never drove and walked or hitchhiked everywhere he went. He never married, had no children, and was known for his religious zeal and would show up unannounced anytime, stay for a few days or weeks and then leave. He would preach on the streets to anyone who would listen. Tom Mote was not known for having performed music with Otis on a regular basis. Otis Mote performed all over the country, and loved to tell his children stories of his “show-biz days.” Among these are tales of playing with Bill Monroe, Cowboy Copas, and T. Texas Tyler.
Tracks 23 & 24: Otis Mote: “Tight like that” and “Railroad Bill,” recorded Oct. 17, 1929 Released as Okeh 45389
Tracks 25 & 26: Otis and Tom Mote, “Church of god is Right,” and “Home in the Rock,” recorded Oct. 17, 1929, released as Okeh 45429

Salem Highballers
One of two Roanoke Valley groups to participate in the 1929 Richmond session, The Salem Highballers remain all but obscure. Kip Lornell learned that the Salem Highballers were essentially the McCray Family Band, who broadcast over WDBJ between 1925 and 1930. Henry McCray came from a long line of musicians and most of them played stringband music. Urged on by their father, the McCrays (Fred - Guitar, Robert - Banjo, and Carl - guitar) often provided entertainment for their neighbors in the Catawba area of Virginia, located just west of Salem, Virginia
Tracks 27 & 28: “Snowbird on the Ash Bank,” and “Going on to Town,”
Recorded Oct. 18, 1929, released as Okeh 45455.

Roanoke Jug Band
Formed primarily by employees of the American Viscoe Company plant in Vinton, Virginia, the Roanoke Jug Band was a string band that played throughout south-central Virginia. The group never used a jug among their many instruments; it was included in their name for novelty effect. The Roanoke jug band vied for top honors in fiddle contests, performed at local schoolhouses for dances, and broadcast over Roanoke radio station WDBJ. It was through their radio work that the Roanoke Jug band received the opportunity to record for Okeh Records in 1929. Other station performers, among them its house pianist, Herndon Slicer, were also invited to Richmond to audition. The Roanoke Jug Band did well and each of its four sides was issued by Okeh. The band continued to play well into the Great Depression. Marriages and the pressure of family forced most of its members to drop out of music, though they continue to live in or near Roanoke. Clyde Dooley died of a heart attack about 1938. Billy Altizer continued to lead another string band that played over WDBJ until his death in 1939. Banjo player Walter Keith also died of a heart attack about 1947. In July of 1984 Ray Barger passed away. Mahlon Overstreet and Richard Mitchell continue to live in Roanoke.
Tracks 29 & 30: “Johnny Lover,” and “Stone Mountain Rag,” recorded Oct. 18, 1929, release as OKeh 45423.
The bio for the Roanoke Jug band was written by Kip Lornell.

Richmond Starlight (Jazz) Quartet
In 1928 the Richmond Starlight Quartette/Richmond Jazz Quartette recorded four songs in Long Island, New York for the QRS label. They recorded two secular songs and two religious tunes. In 1929 at the Okeh Richmond Session they also recorded two secular and two gospel songs. The Richmond session material was never released by Okeh. There is no record of the quartet after 1929. Richmond, Virginia ; Oct. 18, 1929 , Richmond Starlight Quartette recorded: “Jazz Crazy Blues,” “Gone Pretty Mama,” “Mary don’t You Weep,” and “Mother, You’ll Surely Be Too Late,”
Track 33: “Gone Jazz Crazy” , Proxy track from the quartet’s Long Island session.
Recorded Dec. 1928, released as QRS 7028