James P Leary — Folksongs of Another America: Field Recordings fro
I guess it would be fair to say this set stands as the culmination of one man’s life work- James P. Leary is a professor of Folklore and Scandinavian studies and the founder of the centre for the study of upper Midwestern Cultures at the university of Wisconsin. Back in the early 1950’s a young Leary visited The Friendly Buckhorn(a bar/ café in Buckhorn, Rice Lake Wisconsin) with his father & younger brother. Behind the bar of said establishment was what was claimed to be ‘the worlds largest collection of odd lumberjack musical instruments’- which took in a host of guitars, mandolins, & fiddles fashioned from cheese & cigar boxes, an elongated tin trumpet, a steel triangle, a bowed saw, a single-string cobbled from a shovel handle & a flour bin, a pitch folk fitted out similar, and more. From this point on he became fascinating by the musical out put & field recordings of multinational work force that flooded into the upper mid-west of the USA between the 1930’s & late 1940’s, to work mainly on the then flourishing lumber trade.
This set is centred around a selection of recordings culled from the library of congress collection, and in total takes in 187 tracks; & these consist of all manner of lumberjack songs, jigs, chanted tales, healing charms, barker calls, etc, that were recording between the years 1937 & 1946 in the upper mid-west. The book is mainly made up of often lengthy write-ups regarding each & every track one of the tracks here- going into detail regarding the tracks creators, the tracks origins, and it’s creators original country of origin.
The 187 tracks were all captured by three respected field recordists who were working for the library of congress. And they are the following: Alan Lomax (probably one of the most famous & respected collectors/ recorders of American folk music from the 20th century), Helene Stratman- Thomas, and Sidney Robertson.
The CD’s each feature an often varied collection of different types of tracks- moving from the more musically, to voice based, and beyond. So each disc is its own right is a surprising sonic trip, where you really don’t know what to expect next. Then of course you get the bonus of the track information in the book it’s self, which is very well researched, often highly detailed, but always fascinating.
The five audio discs are laid out thus: Disc One- The Pigtown Fling- this features recordings of lumberjacks in Wisconsin & Minnesota, taking Finnish, Scots Gaelic, and Serbian performers- all of these track were recorded by Sidney Robertson.
Disc Two- The River In The Pines- this features recordings made by both Lomax & Robertson during the national folk festivals of 1937 & 1938(which took place in Chicago & Washington). The tracks on this disc are purely from the Wisconsin Lumberjack Band Of Rice Lake.
Disc Three- Harps And Accordions- this features recordings made by Lomax in 1938 in Michigan, and takes in tracks from Finnish, French Canadian, German, Irish, Lithuanian, Ojibew(Native Americans from the area), polish & Swedish performers.
Disc Four & Five- The Helene Stratman- Thomas recordings- these two discs feature recordings made through-out 1940, 1941 & 1946- taking in performances from the following nationals: Finns, French Canadian, German, Irish, Lithuanian, Ojibew, Polish, Scots, Serbs & Swedish. African Americans, Austrians, Belgian, Cornish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Ho-Chunk (Native Americans from the area), Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Oneida, Swish, and welsh.
The DVD features a new twenty three minute documentary entitled Alan Lomax Goes North-this combines a mix of silent colour footage, voice-over readings from Lomax’s field recording & notes, and on screen text. All to create an audiovisual statement of Lomax’s trip’s to the upper mid-west in 1938.
The whole set comes in the form of a hardback book- with the CD’s & DVD been held in thick card slip sleeves at the back & the front of the book. The book it’s self takes in a preface detailing Leary’s trip to The Friendly Buckhorn, and the ensue years of research into the field recordings/ songs. An introduction to the project, which included write-ups about Lomax, Stratman- Thomas, and Robertson. With the lion share of the book been devoted to six lengthy chapters discussing the 187 tracks, and these feature a host of black & white photos, lyrics, and thoroughly researched texts.
Really this is one of the most impressive, highly rewarding & truly absorbing releases of 2015- it will of course be of interest to any one interested in either American folk music, world music, or a mix of the both. But I can also see this appealing to those who enjoy generally varied & historic recordings, as the mix of the sonics, texts & visuals really bring the whole thing alive to create a work that I can see myself revisiting again & again over the years.