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Blind James Campbell“And His Nashville Street Band”CD 438
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Buy It Now!
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A bluesy group of street musicians from Nashville, Tennessee, play a hybrid of hillbilly, jazz, blues, old time popular, skiffle, and jug band elements. James Campbell, a Nashville native, on guitar and vocals is joined by Beauford Clay on fiddle, Bell Ray, on second fiddle and guitar, George Bell on trumpet, and Ralph Robinson on bass horn/tuba. This assemblage of street musicians was originally recorded in 1963. The band worked road houses, on the streets of Nashville, at parties, a well as other social functions. This rough and sometimes chaotic African-American country band presents a unique sound, distinguishing itself for its spirit, authenticity, and vitality.
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Listen to some of the tracks!! (uses RealAudio®) 1.Have I Stayed Away Too Long - (3:15) 2.I'm Crazy About You Baby - (3:25) 3.Buffalo Gal - (1:49) 4.Will the Circle be Unbroken - (4:02) 5.the Moon May Rise in Blood - (3:59) 6.John Henry - (2:25) 7.Baby Please Don't Go - (2:19) 8.Jimmy's Blues - (4:52) 9.Monkey Man Blues - (3:43) 10.This Little Light of Mine - (2:55) 11.Detroit Blues - (2:46) 12.Beauford's Breakdown - (1:40) 13.Gambling Man - (2:37) 14.Sittin' Here Drinking - (2:34) 15.Jam Piece - (George's Boogie) (2:37) 16.I Never Had Nothing - (3:06) 17.Do You Remember - (3:22) 18.My Gal Got Evil - (4:22) 19.Beauford's Boogie Woogie - (3:03) 20.When The Saints Go Marching In - (3:04) 21.I Am so Blue When It Rains - (3:18) 22.Pick and Shovel Blues - (4:58) 23.Detroit Jump - (2:33) |
REVIEWS “Rhythms and meter tend to be "ragged but right"; European concepts of tuning seem irrelevant; and fiddler Beauford Clay plays with an acerbic tone that makes Henry Sims seem like Stuff Smith. In other words, this is some of the best black string band music since the Mobile Strugglers. Recorded by Chris Strachwitz in 1963, this CD (originally Arhoolie LP 1015) comes with nine previousIy unissued tunes and newly written notes from Strachwitz himself. James Campbell's Nashville Street Band was a loose aggregation: this CD presents, in various combinations, five men playing guitars, fiddles, banjo, trumpet, and tuba. The songs range from blues to black country dance tunes to religious songs, and feature melodies adapted from the white string band tradition and from old-time popular music and the minstrel shows. Campbell's music was meant for entertainment not deep contemplation. The rhythms are strong and well suited for dancing, and both the arrangements and the vocals have a swinging brightness that makes them hard to resist. This roots string band music, some of the best of the post-war era, comes heartily recommended.”(Peter R. Aschoff — Living Blues) |
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“From the diverse heritage of the blues and the rich tradition of Arhoolie founder Chris Strachwitz and his faithful tape recorder comes this recording of Blind James Campbell and his Nashville Street Band. Originally taped in Nashville in 1962 and '63, this reissued album boasts 9 previously unissued cuts from the original Arhoolie LP 1015, making 23 tracks in total and 73 informal minutes of raucous, exuberant, driving string band sounds.
The free sounds of the rural string band (guitars, fiddles) are supplemented at times with an urban tinge of brass (trumpet, tuba) while all along maintaining an unbridled, no-holds-barred country jam session atmosphere. And while the music may be rough and unpolished (caution to the timid ear), the product of these spirited performances is quite rewarding. James Campbell drives the band with his rhythmic guitar and deep, leathery voice. The rest of the "country orchestra" (officially known as The Friendly Five) is filled out by Beauford Clay on fiddle (and banjo on "John Henry"), Bell Ray on second fiddle, guitar, and vocal on "This Little Light of Mine," George Bell on trumpet, and Ralph Robinson on tuba. But watch out when the untamed, wiry violin of Clay soars above, dives and cuts through, and wraps around the non-stop guitar of Campbellpure backwoods fire. When filled out with the added guitar/ fiddle, a smokey, jazzy trumpet, and a chunky, punctuating tuba, you have infectious "shake-a-leg" tunes. While the repertoire of these street musicians (who were still actively playing on Friday nights outside of the Nashville Legion Hall when Strachwitz met them) included blues, country breakdowns, jazz pop songs, gospel, and ballads, these recordings highlight the blues. "Have I Stayed Away Too Long" kickstarts the album which then effortlessly motors through the break-neck speed of "Buffalo Girl," the dirge "Jimmy's Blues" accented by Bell's melancholy trumpet, the uplifting "This Little Light of Mine," the care-free stomp of "I Am So Blue When It Rains," the banjo/guitar duet on "John Henry," and the superb full band-fueled "Baby Please Don't Go" (which at only 2' 15" leaves you hungry for much more). Campbell also goes it solo on "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" and "Monkey Man Blues" Blind James Campbell and his Nashville Street Band faithfully captures the vitality of a good old string band stomp” (Dennis Rozanski, Jr. — Bluesrag) |
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“This CD is a collection of songs performed by an authentic Nashville street band. The performance is raw and unpolished, not always in tune, but still imparts the flavor of Nashville blues as presented by those who have lived the life they sing about. The band is particularly strong on standards such as "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." The banjo, fiddle, and guitar are all loosely intertwined in a chaotic, yet pleasing mix of melody and harmony. This music is an interesting breed of blues, bluegrass, and popular song structures. Recommended for those who like their blues with a little seasoning.”
(John Atten — Victory Review) |
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“Another Nashvillian, James Campbell was blinded at age 30 in 1936 in an accident at a fertilizer plant where he worked. At that time he started a band which he called The Nashville Washboard Band. By the time Arhoolie Records guy Chris Strachwitz met him in 1962 the washboard player had died and James was calling his group the Friendly Five. By then they were one of the last remaining street bands of this type. They've got a fairly rough sound, somewhat reminiscent of Sam Chatmon, and the group has a guitar and vocal, a couple fiddles, a trumpet and a tuba (the horns don't appear on the more country numbers). The material comes from hillbilly, blues, minstrel and jug band sources. I kinda like the solo tunes with just Campbell and his guitar best, but it's all interesting. The first 14 selections were released before on vinyl, #15 -23 are previously unissued.”
(MB — Blue Suede News) |
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“James Campbell was born in Nashville, Tennessee on September 17, 1906. Although he had toyed with the guitar ever since he was 13, music did not become his livelihood until 1936. That was the year he became permanently blinded at the fertilizer plant where he was working. Campbell soon put together a small band called the Nashville Washboard Band. It consisted of a second - guitar, mandolin, lard can (or tub bass) and a washboard. Over the years the group, still with most of its original members, evolved into the guitar, fiddles, and horns that you'll hear on this CD. All band members are from Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee. The eldest, Beauford Clay, was born in Franklin in the year 1900. I loved this CD. The music is a loose, bluesy mixture of hillbilly jazz, minstrel and jug band ragtime. The recording itself is almost uncensored, I'm sureall done in two takes in the Campbell living room in 1962 and 1963. While some of the tunes kick off with a rough start and the band is not always right in tune, somehow that adds to the magic of this unique little group. What a grateful change from a lot of the slick, polished music that is being dished out these days! The CD insert has some great photos inside along with some personal history about the band members, too. So, friends and neighbors, go look for this one. Play it during your next party or cookout and I promise you'll be the coolest host in town.”
(Dianna Ryan — Music City Bluesletter) |
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“In the liner notes, Chris Strachwitz, who recorded these sessions in Mr. Campbell's Nashville living room, notes that the band members are often out of tune and the proceedings lean to the chaotic, but that's this street band's absolute charm. Though you've heard a lot of these songs before ("Buffalo Gals," "John Henry," even "This Little Light of Mine") trust me, you've never heard them this way.”
(Catfish Choice — Blues Access) |
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“Arhoolie, the quirky little archival label that's turned historic field recordings made in the '60s by Chris Strachwitz into commercially viable items, has released on CD what may be the quirkiest and most entertaining of Strachwitz's recordings. The subject is Blind James Campbell and His Nashville Street Band (a.k.a. the Friendly Five), who were performing on the streets of Nashville long after the street-troubadour tradition had been outlawed in most of the South. They were your basic guitar/two-fiddle/trumpet/tub street band with cymbal notes provided as needed by whacking the bell of Ralph Robinson's tuba with Bell Ray's fiddle bow, and they were every bit as much fun as that combination sounds like. This reissue of a 1963 LP, with eight previously unreleased tracks, offers some of the most wonderful and at the same time strangest versions of traditional blues, country and gospel numbers ever put down for posterity. Given the Street Band treatment are "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," "John Henry," "This Little Light of Mine" and "The Moon May Rise in Blood." Campbell's guitar, although predominately used for rhythm, sometimes steps into the lead with surprising complexity, and his deep, gravelly voice is strong enough to carry over Ray and Beauford Clay's twin-fiddle duels. Robinson shows that under the right circumstances the best bass guitar of all may be a tuba, while George Bell's trumpet suggests a background ranging from circus processions to jazz bands. Blind James Campbell and His Nashville Street Band is an absolute delight for any folk music fan who thinks Southern black people are folks, too, and proof positive that when we classified street musicians as panhandlers we outlawed a big part of our soul.”
(Jim Sherman — Houston Press) |
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“ If you like your music professionally slick then avoid this CD by all possible means. But if you like music that is rough and ready and played with total commitment, and if you don't mind false starts, out-of-tune instruments, coughs, grunts and wheezes, then Blind James Campbell could be just for you.
When recorded in 1962-63 by Chris Strachwitz, with a single microphone hung from the ceiling of Mr. Campbell's home, Blind James had been playing music for a living since 1936. He was born in 1906 and turned to music when blinded in an accident at the fertilizer plant where he worked. He set about organizing a five-to six-piece band which he called The Nashville Washboard Band. Later, after the death of the washboard player, Campbell usually called the band The Friendly Five. In common with other black street and string bands of the period the band played a truly eccentric and eclectic selection of music to cater for both black and white audiences. Anything was fair game; blues to spirituals, hillbilly, jazz, old times popular tunes, minstrel songs, skiffle et all! Campbell plays guitar and does virtually all the singing with a well-worn set of vocal chords. Beauford Clay, six years older than Campbell, really scrapes his fiddle (not much rosin on that bow!) and plucks his banjo on John Henry. Bell Ray plays second fiddle (literally), sings This Little Light Of Mine and gets carried away banging his fiddle bow on the side of Ralph Robinson's tuba on Baby Please Don't Go. Robinson also plays a bass horn and has the distinction of being the oldest member of the group (he was born in 1885) and a group photo shows his tuba to be almost as big as him. The group is rounded out by the trumpet of George Bell who had played with various local brass bands and had even played for the Ringling Brothers circus when they came to Tennessee in the 1930s. Together these fine gentlemen create a sound that disarms you by its charm. It makes you smile and it makes you tap your feet. As is usual with an Arhoolie CD reissue there is much more material here than was possible to issue on the original LP. This CD contains 23 tracks and runs some 64 minutes. Yet again Chris Strachwitz has to be thanked for his endeavour and labour in seeking out, recording and preserving another unique source of American music. Great stuff!” (Dave Peabody — Folk Roots) |
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“BLIND JAMES CAMPBELL, Blind James Campbell and his Nashville Street Band, (Arhoolie 438). This recording might be of passing academic interest, and Blind James Campbell's unusual ensemble probably had their charm if you caught them live. On record, their music is a chaotic mess of squeaking violins, muffed entrances and shouted vocals. I should have been warned by Chris Strachwitz's apologetic liner notes: "There are some rough starts and they're not always playing in tune, but I think this band is absolutely unique ..." There are lots of"unique" things you wouldn't want in your house.”
(Pat Collier — Sing Out!) |
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