Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers were an American string band that recorded many popular songs with banjo, fiddle and guitar from 1925 to 1930.
Of the founding fathers and mothers of country music and bluegrass, Charlie Poole has remained a shadowy figure -- until now. Born in rural North Carolina in 1892, Poole packed several lifetimes of hard and fast living into his 39 years. Textile mill worker, semi-pro ballplayer, and hell raiser supreme (he died in 1931 of alcoholism), Poole won his place among the giants of American roots music with his pathfinding work on the banjo and for heading the innovative North Carolina Ramblers.
Poole (born March 22, 1892 in Spray, North Carolina, died May 21, 1931) played the banjo. Guitar was played by Norman Woodlief, and later by Roy Harvey from West Virginia. Fiddlers in various recording sessions were Posey Rorer, Lonnie Austin and Odell Smith.
The North Carolina Ramblers, a banjo-guitar-fiddle trio with Poole's plain-spoken tenor voice in the lead, in great part created the musical templates for two giants: the bluegrass of Bill Monroe and, by extension, the lyrical aspects of the modern country music of Hank Williams.
Poole was essentially a cover artist, having composed few, if any, of his recordings. Nevertheless, his dynamic renditions were popular with a broad audience in the Southeast. He is considered a primary source for Old Timey revivalists and aficionados. Songs like "Bill Morgan And His Gal", "Milwaukee Blues", and "Leavin' Home", to name but three of dozens, have been resurrected by banjo players from all over. Poole developed a unique fingerpicking style, a blend of melody, arpeggio, and rhythm (as distinct from clawhammer/frailing and Scrugg's variations).
You Ain't Talking To Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music is the most comprehensive survey of Poole's recordings ever assembled. The three-disc set chronicles the stompin' sides made for Columbia by Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers between 1925 and 1931, including such important songs as "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" (the first country mega-hit), "Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight, Mister?," "Old and Only In the Way" (the title of which, slightly altered, was used by Jerry Garcia as the name of his '70s bluegrass band with David Grisman, Old and In the Way), and "White House Blues" (adapted by John Mellencamp, who in 2004 updated the politically-charged lyrics and changed the title to "To Washington"). In addition, the package also includes performances by the early roots music players and singers who either influenced Charlie Poole (such as Fred Van Eps, Arthur Collins, and Billy Murray) or were influenced by him (the Floyd Country Ramblers, Uncle Dave Macon & The Red Fox Chasers).
