Charlie Poole - You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music: MusicNear.com

Music CD 1

Shootin' Creek
Baltimore Fire
Leaving Home
There'll Come a Time
White House Blues
The Highwayman
Hungry Hash House
The Letter That Never Came
Take a Drink on Me
Husband and Wife Were Angry One Night
Ramblin' Blues
Took My Gal A-Walkin'
Old and Only in the Way
Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues
Bill Mason
A Kiss Waltz
Flop Eared Mule
A Trip to New York, Pt. 1
Sweet Sixteen
Write a Letter to My Mother
If the River Was Whiskey
Mother's Last Farewell Kiss
Milwaukee Blues
Where the Whippoorwill Is Whispering Good-Night

Music CD 2

The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee
Sunny Tennessee
Bulldog Down in Sunny Tennessee
Moving Day
It's Movin' Day
Home Sweet, Home
I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World
Man That Rode the Mule Around the World
Lynchburg Town
Going Down to Lynchburg Town/Don't Let Your Deal Go Down
Some One
Monkey on a String
Monkey on a String
Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister
May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister
Married Life Blues
The Infanta March
Sunset March
I'll Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms
Goodbye Eliza Jane
Good-Bye Sweet Liza Jane
Good-Bye Booze
Goodbye Booze
You Ain't Talking to Me
You Ain't Talkin' to Me

Music CD 3

If I Lose, I Don't Care
The Battleship of Maine
Budded Rose
Standing by a Window
Uncle Dave's Beloved Solo
Come Take a Trip in My Airship
I Once Loved a Sailor
Dixie Medley [From Spooning and Ballooning]
My Wife, She Has Gone and Left Me
My Wife Went Away and Left Me
Baby Rose
Just Keep Waiting Till the Good Time Comes
Shuffle Feet, Shuffle
Coon From Tennessee
Coon From Tennessee
On the Banks of the Kaney
Dixie Medley
Southern Medley
The Man That Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man
Sweet Sunny South
Take Me Back to the Sweet Sunny South
Oh! Didn't He Ramble
He Rambled

Free Music Notes for You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music

Free Music Review: Give Charlie Poole's music another shot in the arm
Hit: 5 Stars

You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music Poster

The cover illustration by R. Crumb and the photos enclosed within hardly hint at Poole's being one of country music's earliest outlaws--rather, they portray him as a coiffed businessman-cum-banjo. It is in the three discs and the 35-page booklet that we begin to see a true picture of Charlie Poole. Though he didn't write the songs, he sang his rough-and-tumble life in the ones he chose: "Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister?," "Husband and Wife Were Angry One Night," and "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World." These are songs of a simple and stubborn man in trying times. It's not all misery and strife though. The pure George Formby style of "Monkey on a String" hints at a lighter side. "Sunset March" (inspired by Fred van Eps's "Infanta March," also included in this set) may be the track that best gets at Poole's banjo style.

"Hellions both, the pair loved nothing more than traveling, raising Cain, playing music, and having a drink, and another tune, and another drink."
--Henry "Hank" Sapoznik on Poole and close friend Posey Wilson Rorrer (from the booklet)

It's not the lightning speed that the world would hear in the bluegrass greats, but a unique clawhammer arpeggio plucking style that comes across rough yet streetwise, like the player himself.

Not all the tracks in this set are performed by Poole, hence the subtitle ...and the Roots of Country Music. Also included are a couple dozen tracks recorded by Poole's mentors and contemporaries, giving excellent context to Poole's work. The term "bluegrass" was yet to be coined and the country outlaw profile was still a good 20 years away. It's surprising to learn that Charlie Poole only recorded and released records during a five-year period leading up to the hell-bent bender that led directly to his death at 39.

In terms of packaging, this box set is top-notch. The design, typography, and photographs are as genuine as the music. The booklet contains a brief introduction by Roanoke, Virginia, DJ Kinney Rorrer, whose father was close with Poole. Also included are accounts of Charlie's run-ins with hecklers, women, and the law, as well as an in-depth bio that surely contains the majority of what is known of his short life. Perhaps only Rorrer's out-of-print Rambling Blues: The Life and Songs of Charlie Poole reveals more about this grandfather of country music and godfather to country ruffians. --Peter Hilgendorf

You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music