Roscoe Holcomb - Untamed Sense of Control
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Free Music Notes for Untamed Sense of Control
Free Music Review: O Brother Here Art Thou
Hit: 5 Stars
A few years back, Smithsonian Folkways released ROSCOE HOLCOMB: HIGH LONESOME SOUND, complete with plugs from Dylan & Clapton to bolster sales. Yet, to the best of my "hillbility" the 9 minutes of keening at the end of the disk proved too much for my metropolitan ears. Call me a whimp or maybe I've been living in the city too long, but I found that record too much for common every day use. Regardless, I was floored by this guy. His voice haunted me in my sleep. Utterly unforgettable. It made the Stanely Bros. sound like top 40 & the crew behind O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU come across as posers. But like the previous release, this is Bluegrass in the raw. Hard-core. Only more listener friendly. Along with the Dock Boggs Reverent issue of COUNTRY BLUES & THE HARRY SMITH FOLK ANTHOLOGY I consider AN UNTAMED SENSE OF CONTROL an indespensible collection for those seeking further assistance in the world of Weird America.Finally, here's a record that captures Holcomb's wild, unvarnished "high lonesome sound" without overwhelming the casually interested. In fact, the pain & spirituality laid down here is likely to make you seek out the aformentioned.
For starters, his acapella version of "Man Of Constant Sorrow" blows the Stanley Bros. away. The same goes for his startling original take on "Little Maggie". Hear them here & the Stanley's definative versions seem watered down by comparison. That's not to say they're bad, but when played by a man without a recording contract, they defy expectation. When Roscoe takes a knife to his guitar, you won't miss the lack of words. His harp playing is an intense as his singing on "Barbara Allen Blues". His fiddle playing on ROCK ISLAND PRISON is flawed but therein lies it's charm.
Often criticised for not doing more obscure numbers, Holcomb had a talent for a making the standards of his genre personal. He lived through these songs & the result is undeniable.
This is an invaluable collection. Complete rural satisfaction guaranteed(& no money back).
Free Music Review: From The HIlls And Hollows
Hit: 5 Stars
I mentioned in an earlier review of the music of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash that what really rekindled my, admittedly, marginal youthful interest in that pair and in the mountain music that drove my father's youth, was viewing their performances (via DVD series) on an old black and white Pete Seeger television folk show, "Rainbow Quest" from the mid-1960s when Johnny and June showed their stuff. As fate would have it one majestic mountain banjo player, Roscoe Holcomb, was featured on that same DVD.
In a review of that Holcomb performance I said, in part, the following:
"...Also included on this DVD is a performance by the legendary Kentucky mountain music man Roscoe Holcomb that John Cohen, a previously reviewed performer on this series with the New Lost City Ramblers, did great service to the folk revival by bringing out of the Kentucky hills in the early 1960s to the wilds of ..... Greenwich Village..."
And that only told part of the story. Although I, usually, can only take tinny-voiced mountain musicians in small doses I found that here, as sometimes happens when I listen to jazz, the thing builds up and you don't want to stop it after just a few selections (there are 24 here). Highlights here are the classic "Single Girl (Carter Family)," "Man Of Constant Sorrow," "Sitting On Top Of This World," and `Darling Cory.". Yes, this is all classic stuff. Can't you just feel that Appalachian mountain breeze coming down the line?
Free Music Review: The greatest exponent of American mountain music
Hit: 5 Stars
My wife gave an earlier Holcomb recording several years ago as a birthday gift. After listening to it once or twice (and reading the fascinating and impassioned liner notes), I set it aside as odd, strange, and most peculiar. Although Roscoe Holcomb is a fluid instrumentalist, his voice is so high and unusual that I did not see how his songs could bear repeated listening.I was wrong, about as wrong as a body could be. A couple of years later, I picked up "High Lonesome Sound" again and listened to it with care. The peculiar and high-pitched voice grew on me, and I found the powerful and honest delivery moving in the most compelling way. I now think that Roscoe Holcomb stands on a par with Blind Willie Johnson (in his time an equally obscure and strange singer) as one of the greatest exponents of American-born and bred music.
Imagine my surprise when this new recording of Holcomb's was released. To my amazement, the leftovers that were not included in Holcomb's earlier ("High Lonesome Sound") album are at least as good. This is a wonderful and astonishing set of recordings. Lovers of American mountain music should be grateful that this legacy of Holcomb's great artistry has been preserved.
Free Music Review: Dark Chords a Rollin, Lightnin Ever'where
Hit: 5 Stars
His playing is like a briar thicket of notes, his voice like the wind in the holler. This album actually tops his High Lonesome release. The closer to the bone, the sweeter the meat. These are fulltilt performances, but the art is impeccable. Listen to the subtlety of "Coney Isle," and compare it to the reckless headlong flight of "Across the Rocky Mountain." And let's make Holcomb's a capella version of "Man of Constant Sorrow" our national anthem. When he sings it, I believe this song. Finally. This is a National Treasure.Free Music Review: Harrowing
Hit: 5 Stars
Roscoe Holcomb must be one of America's most under-rated cultural treasures. This collection is consistently haunting, hair-raising and intense, with some of the most chilling banjo and guitar you'll ever hear. A far mountain cry from the slick, soulless pap of modern bluegrass. It all went wrong when we lost sight of Roscoe...
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