Year: 2014

Kudos to Red House Records for this three-CD set of rare and unreleased recordings by blues singer/guitarist Dave Ray. It probably won’t fly off shelves, but more people need to be exposed to the music of Ray, who has been largely overlooked in the various treatises on blues and the Folk Boom.

“Snaker,” as he was nicknamed, was barely out of high school when he began playing Leadbelly-inspired blues in bars and coffee houses in Minneapolis. It was usually in the company of blues harpist Tony “Little Sun” Glover and/or fellow 12-string guitarist “Spider” John Koerner – both a few years older than Ray, who was notably not a mere copyist. The “and/or” was somewhat of a running joke when the trio cut its first LP, Blues, Rags & Hollers, because it was rare for all three to perform together, live or on any given song on the album – which was picked up by Elektra Records.

Whites playing pure country blues were a rarity then, with John Hammond and Geoff Muldaur numbering among the few to record. They received their biggest exposure at folk festivals such as Newport and Philadelphia, acting as sort of a bridge between the white folk acts and older “rediscovered” blues musicians.

Lots More Blues, Rags & Hollers soon followed, and in ’66, Ray, by far the bluesiest singer and player of KR&G, cut his first solo album, Snaker’s Here! – producer Paul Nelson’s academic liner notes belying Ray’s passionate performances. For his follow-up, Fine Soft Land, Ray wrote most of the songs, and transformed Big Joe Williams’ “Baby Please Don’t Go” into sort of a Davy Graham-like raga.

Legacy is programmed chronologically, covering 40 years, beginning with ’62 basement tapes of Ray solo. Following are live cuts of various configurations, mostly eschewing KR&G proper, although one disc is virtually dedicated to board tapes of the Ray & Glover years. Its 32-page booklet includes insightful cut-by-cut commentary by Glover, the collection’s producer.

Ray flirted with electric bands (although he later called Bamboo “boring and forgettable”); he engineered Bonnie Raitt’s self-titled debut album; and there were numerous KR&G reunions. In 2002, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died, 59 years old.

This is highly recommended, as are the updated DVD of Blues, Rags & Hollers – The Koerner, Ray & Glover Story and reissues of their collective and solo Elektra recordings from the early and mid ’60s.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s January ’15 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

No less than the Smithsonian Institution has applauded Britt Gully for his interpretations of Jimmie Rodgers’ pioneering country music. So when Gully gets a chance to borrow the Singing Brakeman’s original Martin to record an album, it’s time to lend an ear.

Rodger’s custom-ordered the 1927 Martin 000-45. The guitar features his name inlaid in mother-of-pearl on the fretboard and “Blue Yodel” on the headstock after his famous cycle of 13 songs. “Thanks” was painted upside down on the guitar’s back.

After his death, Rodgers’ widow loaned the guitar to Ernest Tubb, who played it for 40 years. Nowadays, it spends most of its time safe and sound behind glass at the Jimmie Rodgers Museum in Meridian, Mississippi.

So, with permission granted, Gully rounded up a group of friends and special guests to record this tribute.

“This guitar is magical,” Gully says about the Martin. “There was never a time when playing it that I did not realize what I was playing, and who played it before me.”

Happily, the album is not a slavish recreation of Rodgers’ music. Instead, it’s a series of joyful jam sessions on 13 songs with a full band flushing out the sound of that vintage Martin.

Gully sings, picks the 000-45, and of course, yodels. His lineup of friends includes fiddle, harmonica, mandolin, piano, and accordion players.

The album kicks off with “Any Old Time,” Gully’s band swinging the song subtly with an easy jazz gait that fits perfectly. Their version – complete with clarinet and violin – echoes Rodgers’ original, but has a life of its own.

On “California Blues” (a.k.a., “Blue Yodel #4”), the harmonica and background vocals accent Gully’s lead. For “Nobody Knows But Me,” Mac McAnally lends lovely mournful guitar leads, while Carl Jackson’s guitar augments “Miss The Mississippi And You.”

The finale, “Walking Up Jimmie’s Guitar,” is Gully’s lovely instrumental blend of country, blues, and ragtime.
Gully proves himself throughout. His singing and yodeling echo back to the late 1920s. And that guitar sounds gorgeous – warm, clear, woody, and wonderful, a living testament to Martin.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s January ’15 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.