Dillard Chandler (April 16, 1907 – January 1992) was an American Appalachian Folk singer from Madison County, North Carolina. He is chiefly known for his a cappella performances on compilation albums recorded by folklorist and musicologist John Cohen.
Chandler grew up in an old log cabin in the isolated mountain community of Sodom, North Carolina. This section of the North Carolina mountains is particularly rich in ballads, and noted folklorist Cecil Sharp transcribed several "Old World" ballads sung to him by several of Chandler's relatives in 1916. Chandler described the hills he lived in as being too rugged for a car to access. Often, his walk to school would be made impossible by footlogs being washed away by a creek. Chandler said that as soon as he became old enough, he left school to work in the logging industry. He was illiterate.
During the American folk music revival in the 1960's, John Cohen traveled to Western North Carolina to research and record traditional ballad singers.
The subject matter of the traditional songs is often dark; there are themes of murder, revenge, infidelity, and abandoned children. The origin of Chandler's songs range from 16th century Spanish ballads, to a tale of a hanging in nearby Burnsville, to a prison song from Gastonia.
Allmusic writes that Chandler sings with "deft precision, often with the song's strong sexual undercurrents intact."
Chandler knew hundreds of songs that were shared in the community and passed on through generations.
The first singing that I ever heard was old-timey meeting songs, and these old songs like I sing, and these frolics where they get together and pick and sing and drink a little. Maybe a "lassie makin'," or maybe a corn shuckin', maybe a gallon hid in the corn pile. They'd go ahead an' shuck into that—pick the banjo, have a dance. The only kind of music I know anything about is old ballads—just learning songs from somebody else that I've heard sing 'em.
Appalachian author and musician Sheila Kay Adams said of Chandler, "Dillard was kind of an anomaly; he was caught in between worlds. He was a wonderful singer. Now, his voice was odd, and I think that it was from Dillard that I learned that weird phrasing that is so common to these love songs, that sets them apart.”
Chandler's version of "I Wish My Baby Was Born" has been covered by Uncle Tupelo, Tim Eriksen, Riley Baugus and Tim O'Brien (for the Cold Mountain Soundtrack and joined here), and The Be Good Tanyas.
Even people in his native Madison County often described Chandler as a "mysterious man" who "didn't live in one specific place, but would just show up from time to time." Unlike many such folk singers discovered during the folk revival of 1960s, Chandler rarely performed at festivals or on radio. Travel arrangements were made for Chandler to play the 1967 Newport Folk Festival, but he didn't make the trip.
The 1967 University of Chicago Folk Festival saw Chandler's only visit outside the mountains. His performance was marked by his shy and eccentric mannerisms, as he rocked back and forth and sung facing the side of the stage.
Chandler spent time working in Asheville, and was "remembered as a man who loved to sing"
Here are the songs I gathered
01. The Carolina Lady
02. The Soldier Traveling From the North
03. The Sailor Being Tired
04. Gathering Flowers
05. Gastony Song
06. Cold Rain and Snow
07. Awake, Awake
08. Mathie Grove
09. Short Time Here, Long Time Gone
10. Drunken Driver
11. Jesus Says Go
12. Meeting Is Over
13. Little Farmer Boy
14. I Wish My Baby Was Born
15. Old Shep
16. Rain and Snow
17. Hicks Farewell
I also joined as a kind of bonus two songs by my friend Tim Eriksen of Cordelia’sDad. He is definitely one of the best singers in American roots music. He "connects the present and the ancient with an immediacy that will make your bones tremble." A songwriter of rare intensity and an inventive multi-instrumentalist, he redefines American tradition with a "northern roots" sound that encompasses old Massachusetts murder ballads, chilling shape-note harmonies and originals alongside southern Appalachian and Irish songs.
Listen and Learn
jazzme said...
June 30, 2009 10:46 PM
Just wanted to say i love almost every post you make and your selections and writings are always great. Cheers from France
gadaya said...
July 3, 2009 2:52 PM
I wrote the Dillard Chandler Wikipedia article, hope you found it useful.
FREDTERP said...
July 13, 2009 6:09 PM