4 -CD boxed set (LP-size) with 136-page hardcover book, 100 tracks. Playing time approx. 302 mns

The famous 1927 Bristol Sessions, produced by Victor Records in Bristol, Tennessee are known as 'The Big Bang Of Country Music. ' But don't overlook the recordings made in nearby Johnson City by Columbia Records in October 1928 and October 1929. Collectively, the Johnson City recordings are regarded by scholars, collectors, and lovers of old-time music as a distinctive cross-section of Appalachian music, captured on the cusp of the Great Depression. Indeed, the final recordings of the 1929 session took place on October 24 - the infamous 'Black Thursday' when Wall Street crashed.

Bear Family Records has gathered the entire issued output of the 1928-29 Johnson City sessions. This is the first time all 100 songs have been issued together... and the first time many have been heard since the Depression. The accompanying 136-page, LP-size hardcover book contains newly researched essays on the background to the sessions and the artists, with many rare and unpublished photographs. Also included are complete song lyrics and a detailed discography.

Three of these performances were chosen by the pioneering scholar Harry Smith for his 1952 compilation 'Anthology Of American Folk Music' - a seminal source for the urban folk revival of the 1950s and '60s: The Coo-Coo Bird by Clarence (Tom) Ashley, Old Lady And The Devil by Bill and Belle Reed, and Down On Penny's Farm by The Bentley Boys - the inspiration for Bob Dylan's Hard Times In New York Town and Maggie's Farm. Other gems include a topical best-seller of the Prohibition era, When the Roses Bloom Again For The Bootlegger, the Grant Brothers' Tell It To Me, revived by the Old Crow Medicine Show, and many more.
'Can You Sing Or Play Old-Time Music?' is packed with stringband tunes, ancient ballads, sacred songs, hillbilly blues and blue yodels - the entrancing musical world of old Appalachia.

Track Listing

• Shell Creek Quartet - Song of Ruth - Lotte Lenya mit Orchester, Dir -Maurice Levine
• Shell Creek Quartet - My Boyhood Days
• Shell Creek Quartet - Back Where The Old Home Stands
• Grant Brothers & Their Music - When A Man Is Married
• Grant Brothers & Their Music - Goodbye My Honey I'm Gone
• Grant Brothers & Their Music - Tell It To Me
• Grant Brothers & Their Music - Johnson Boy
• Roane County Ramblers - Home Town Blues
• Roane County Ramblers - Southern No. 111
• Roane County Ramblers - Step High Waltz
• Roane County Ramblers - Tennessee Waltz
• Rich, Renus & Bradshaw, Carl - Goodbye Sweetheart
• Rich, Renus & Bradshaw, Carl - Sleep Baby Sleep
• Greene, Clarence & Wise Brothers - Pride Of The Ball
• Greene, Clarence & Wise Brothers - Kitty Waltz
• Greene, Clarence - Johnson City Blues
• Greene, Clarence - Ninety-Nine Years In Jail
• Proximity String Quartet - Lindy
• Proximity String Quartet - Louise
• Greensboro Boys Quartet - Sing Me A Song Of The Sunny South
• Greensboro Boys Quartet - Sweet Little Girl Of Mine
• Harold, Richard - The Battleship Maine
• Harold, Richard - The Fisher's Maid
• Harold, Richard - Sweet Bird
• Harold, Richard - Mary Dear

• Bowman Sisters - My Old Kentucky Home
• Bowman Sisters - Swanee River
• Bowman, Charlie & His Brothers - Roll On Buddy
• Bowman, Charlie & His Brothers - Gonna Raise The Ruckus Tonight
• Reed, Bill & Belle - You Shall Be Free
• Reed, Bill & Belle - Old Lady And The Devil
• Reed Children, The - I'll Be All Smiles Tonight
• Reed Children, The - I Once Did Have A Sweetheart
• McVay & Johnson - Ain't Going To Lay My Armor Down
• McVay & Johnson - I'll Be Ready When The Bridegroom Comes
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - Steamboat Man
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - When The Roses Bloom for the Bootlegger
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - Poor Little Joe
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - We Parted At The Gate
• Roark, George - I Ain't A Bit Drunk
• Roark, George - My Old Coon Dog
• Ed Helton Singers - A Storm On The Sea
• Ed Helton Singers - My Old Cottage Home
• Garland Brothers & Grinstead - Just Over The River
• Garland Brothers & Grinstead - Beautiful
• McCartt Brothers & Patterson - Green Valley Waltz
• McCartt Brothers & Patterson - Over The Sea Waltz
• Blalock & Yates - Morning Star Waltz
• Jackson, Jack - Flat Tire Blues
• Jackson, Jack - My Alabama Home

• Wade, George & Braswell, Francum - Think A Little
• Wade, George & Braswell, Francum - When We Go A-Courtin'
• Jackson, Jack - In Our Little Home Sweet Home
• Jackson, Jack - I'm Just A Black Sheep
• Roane County Ramblers - Free A Little Bird 1930 Model
• Roane County Ramblers - Johnson City Rag
• Roane County Ramblers - Callahan Rag
• Roane County Ramblers - Alabama Trot
• Wyatt & Brandon - Evalina
• Wyatt & Brandon - Lover's Farewell
• Harvey, Roy & Copeland, Leonard - Just Pickin'
• Harvey, Roy & Copeland, Leonard - Beckley Rag
• Harvey, Roy & Copeland, Leonard - Underneath The Sugar Moon
• Harvey, Roy & Copeland, Leonard - Lonesome Weary Blues
• Spindale Quartet - Sweet Peace The Gift Of God's Love
• Spindale Quartet - God Will Take Care Of You
• Spindale Quartet - Face To Face
• Spindale Quartet - Lift Him Up
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - The Virginian Strike Of '23
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - The Policeman's Little Child
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - My Yodeling Sweetheart
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - I'm Longing To Belong To Someone
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - We Have Moonshine In The Vest VA. Hills
• Shirkey, Earl & Harper, Roy - A Hobo's Pal
• Moatsville String Ticklers - The West Virginia Hills
• Moatsville String Ticklers - Moatsville Blues

• Weaver Brothers - You Came Back To Me
• Weaver Brothers - Prison Sorrows
• Moore, Byrd & His Hot Shots - Frankie Silvers
• Moore, Byrd & His Hot Shots - The Hills Of Tennessee
• Moore, Byrd & His Hot Shots - Careless Love
• Moore, Byrd & His Hot Shots - Three Men Went A-Hunting
• Bateman Sacred Quartet - Nothing Like The Old Time Religion
• Bateman Sacred Quartet - Some Day
• Richards, Fred - My Katie
• Richards, Fred - Danville Blues
• Ashley, Clarence - Dark Holler Blues
• Ashley, Clarence - The Coo-Coo Bird
• Ashley, Clarence - Little Sadie
• Ashley, Clarence - Naomi Wise
• Bentley Boys - Down On Penny's Farm
• Bentley Boys - Henhouse Blues
• Bowman Sisters - Railroad Take Me Back
• Bowman Sisters - Old Lonesome Blues
• Woodie, Ephraim & The Henpecked Husbands - The Last Gold Dollar
• Woodie, Ephraim & The Henpecked Husbands - The Fatal Courtship
• Yates, Ira & Eugene - Powder And Paint
• Yates, Ira & Eugene - Sarah Jane
• Williams, Ellis - Buttermilk Blues
• Williams, Ellis - Smokey Blues

Additional Details

Label: Bear Family Records

Genre: Country

Run Time: 302 mins

Release Date: 10/25/13

UPC: 5397102160837