Tommy Jarrell re-release
THE CDS: “Down to the Cider Mill” and “Stay All Night and Don’t go Home,” County Records 2734 and 2735
THE ARTISTS: Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Oscar Jenkins
These are the recordings that first brought the late (and much revered) North Carolina fiddle and banjo players Tommy Jarrell and Fred Cockerham to a wider audience. The recordings also feature the fiddling and unorthodox banjo playing of Oscar Jenkins.
“Cider Mill” was an effort to recreate DaCosta Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters, a string band from the 1920s, which featured the fathers of Jarrell and Jenkins. This late 1960s incarnation was an unusual pairing. Jenkins’ 5-string Mastertone banjo sounds a little like a banjo uke, with some unusul chords thrown in on “Ground Hog.” Jenkins was also a pretty good fiddler, as on “Honeysuckle Blues.”
The best cuts are the Jarrell/Cockerham banjo fiddle duets — listen to “John Brown’s Dream.” This is Old-time Music 101. Head to Clifftop next August and you can listen to hundreds of people play these very tunes in this very North Carolina style. Many are festival standards today, known nationwide, and around the world: “Suzanna Gal,” Reuben,” “Fall on my Knees” and “Cider Mill.”
“Stay All Night” holds more good music, especially “Breakin’ Up Christmas,” and “Old Bunch of Keys.”
You can hear why: a lazy bow, an irresistible pull and decidely homemade singing and playing, all wrapped in layers of slippery subtlety it takes a lifetime to unravel. And that is half of the fun. This is must-hear music for traditional music fans.
Available on the Web at www.countysales.com, or from County records, P.O. Box 7405, Charlottesville, VA 22906
