Description:
With a voice that could crack the same cement he worked all his adult life, Roscoe Holcomb, along with Dock Boggs, Wade Ward, and Banjo Bill Cornett, was one of the most searing singers and pickers of the Appalachian banjo style. He performed mostly in Holiness Church services and impromptu square dances, and his style was never polished by an extensive professional career. His banjo playing is distinguished by speedy, irregular meter, and seems to mimic his vocal approach (or vice versa). First released in 1965, this John Cohen edited collection includes the well-known traditional cuts "Moonshiner" and "House o
With a voice that could crack the same cement he worked all his adult life, Roscoe Holcomb, along with Dock Boggs, Wade Ward, and Banjo Bill Cornett, was one of the most searing singers and pickers of the Appalachian banjo style. He performed mostly in Holiness Church services and impromptu square dances, and his style was never polished by an extensive professional career. His banjo playing is distinguished by speedy, irregular meter, and seems to mimic his vocal approach (or vice versa). First released in 1965, this John Cohen edited collection includes the well-known traditional cuts "Moonshiner" and "House of the Rising Sun," and is fleshed out by the guitar playing of Mike Seeger. --Roy Francis Kasten
Album Description
The legendary Roscoe Holcomb performs 21 powerful songs shaped by the hard times and conflict between old and new that marked his life in the Kentucky mountains. A hard-hitting singer and banjo-player, he also performs unaccompanied ballads, banjo and harmonica solos, and with a guitar. These recordings from 1961, 1964, and 1974 were previously released on three different Folkways LP records and had a powerful influence on the folk music revival. Accompanied by extensive new notes and photographs by John Cohen. 71 minutes. "Roscoe Holcomb is a true genius." -San Francisco Chronicle
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Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways
Release date: 20 January 1998
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 0093074010426 UPC: 093074010426
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