Portraits: Hobart Smith

Hobart Smith - Portraits: Hobart Smith

Portraits: Hobart Smith
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Category: Music CD
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CD Details

Artist: Hobart Smith
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2001-11-13
Music Label: Rounder Select
Soundtracks:
  1. The Devil's Dream
  2. Drunken Hiccups
  3. The Cuckoo Bird
  4. Banging Breakdown
  5. Arkansas Traveler
  6. Railroad Bill
  7. Claude Allen
  8. Hangman, Swing Your Rope
  9. Wayfaring Stranger
  10. Sourwood Mountain
  11. Going Down The Road Feeling Bad
  12. Pateroller
  13. Chinquipin Pie
  14. Last Chance
  15. Jim Along
  16. Two Brothers
  17. Ellen Smith
  18. Graveyard Blues
  19. K.C. Blues
  20. Unidentified Electric Guitar Tune
  21. Cindy
  22. At An Old-Timey Dance (Interview)
  23. Cindy
  24. The Thrill Of Dance Music (Interview)
  25. What Did The Buzzard Say To The Crow?
  26. Buck Dance
  27. Old Joe Clark
  28. Dixie
  29. Sourwood Mountain
  30. Hawkins County Jail
  31. Rocky Mountain

Music reviews of Portraits: Hobart Smith

Music Review: Finally, the recordings of this true master are available!
Rating: 5 Stars

If you consider yourself even a passing fan of old-timey, Appalachian, blues, or bluegrass music, do not pass this one up. Hobart Smith was a distinctive and unsurpassed banjo player and fiddle player, a fine piano and guitar player, and had a much more accessable singing voice than many of the old-time banjo players. Dock Boggs, Roscoe Holcomb, etc. were fine musicians, but their voices were acquired tastes, so if you are looking for old-time music with a much more accessable voice, Hobart Smith should be right up your alley. Don't try to pigeon-hole him with Dock and Roscoe, though. Stylistically, Smith ran the gamut of American folk music through to his death in 1965, drawing equally from white and black traditions. Whatever he played, though, he played with soul and energy. As an added bonus, the liner notes are fantastic, providing information about the man, his styles of playing, and the songs themselves.

If you are looking for more music in this tradition, Dock Boggs' "Country Blues," and Roscoe Holcomb's "High Lonesome Sound," are fantastic recordings, but their voices are, as mentioned earlier, an acquired taste (particularly Dock Boggs). Much easier on the ears is Doc Watson, another amazing multi-instrumentalist who played in many styles, and is the father of modern bluegrass guitar. Fans of Hobart Smith should make sure they own his self-titled album, and "Old-Timey Concert." John Hartford carried the tradition of energetic multi-instrumentalists in the old-time tradition through the 70s, 80s and 90s, and "Mark Twang" is somewhat like this album, but "Aereo-plain," and, "Morning Bugle," are also particularly worth owning. Norman Blake, of course, played a lot with the late Mr. Hartford, and "Whiskey Before Breakfast" is a true classic. If you are feeling truly adventurous, try listening to Alvin Youngblood Hart's "Territory," on which the nominally "blues" musician covers a range of American musical styles, old and new, on a range of instruments with a vitality that puts to shame those who play traditional styles for scholarship rather than for the sake of the music.

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