Full Description
In the summer of 1927, nineteen bands gathered for a recording session in Bristol, on the Tennessee-Virginia border, including some of the most influential names in American music--the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Stoneman and more. Organized by Ralph Peer for Victor records to capitalize on the popularity of "hillbilly" music, the Bristol sessions were a key moment in country music's evolution. The musicians played a variety of styles largely endemic to the Appalachian region. Rather than attempting to record purely traditional sounds, however, Peer sought a combination of musical elements, an amalgam that would form the backbone of modern country music. The reverberations of the Bristol sessions are still felt today, yet their influence is widely misunderstood, and popular accounts of the event are more legend than history.
These 19 essays offer an examination and reevaluation of the Bristol sessions--from their germination, to the actual sessions, to their place in history and their continuing influence. The first section discusses technological advances that resulted in the unmatched quality of the Bristol recordings. The second section chronicles the people and musical acts involved in the event. The third section gives first-hand accounts of the Bristol sessions, while the fourth presents musicological studies of two of the prominent acts. The final section details subsequent recording sessions in Bristol and nearby Johnson City, and explores the lasting local musical legacy.
Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction by Ted Olson
Part I: Before the Bristol Sessions
1. Early Sound Recording Technology and the Bristol Sessions
Eric Morritt
Part II: The Bristol Sessions
2. The Legend That Peer Built: Reappraising the Bristol Sessions
Charles K. Wolfe
3. The Bristol Sessions: The Cast of Characters
Charles K. Wolfe
4. Jimmie Rodgers and the Bristol Sessions
John Lilly
5. Something Old, Something New: The Carter Family's Bristol Sessions Recordings
Katie Doman
6. The Blackard-Shelor Story: Biography of a Hillbilly String Band
Tom Carter
7. Gospel According to Bristol: The Life, Music and Ministry of Ernest Phipps
Brandon Story
8. The Life of Alfred G. Karnes
Donald Lee Nelson
9. The Life of Blind Alfred Reed
The Rounder Collective
10. The West Virginia Coon Hunters: On the Trail of a Lost Mountain State String Band
John Lilly
Part III: Remembering the Bristol Sessions
11. Discovery of the First Hillbilly Great
Ralph Peer
12. My Husband, Jimmie Rodgers
Carrie Rodgers
13. Before the Myth Was Born: Claude Grant of the Tenneva Ramblers Remembers Jimmie Rodgers
Richard Blaustein
14. I Remember Daddy
Gladys Carter Millard
15. My Memories of the Bristol Sessions
Mabel Phelps Morrell
Part IV: Musicological Studies of the Bristol Sessions
16. Ernest Stoneman's 1927 Session: Hillbilly Recordings of Gospel Hymns
Jocelyn Neal
17. On the Vanguard of Change: Jimmie Rodgers and Alfred G. Karnes in Bristol, 1927
Thomas Townsend
Part V: After the Bristol Sessions
18. The Rest of the Story: Other Early Recording Sessions in the Tri-Cities Area
Charles K. Wolfe
19. The Birthplace of Country Music, 75 Years Later: The Cradle Still Rocks
Ted Olson and Ajay Kalra
Contributors
Index
