None But One / High Hills and Mountains - Jean Ritchie & Friends
Out of Kentucky In the mid-thirties Alan Lomax recorded in Kentucky for the Library of Congress's Archive of Folk Song. Among the people he recorded was "The Singing Ritchies". Abigail and Balis Ritchie had 14 children and Jean was the last one, born on the 8th December 1922. 10 girls slept in one room of the farming family in the Cumberland Mountains. She quickly memorised songs and performed at local dances and the country fair in Hazard. In the late forties the family acquired a radio and discovered that what they were singing was Hillbilly music, a word they had never heard before. Jean attended Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky and later the University of Kentucky in Lexington. At college she joined the glee club and choir and learned to play piano. In 1946 she graduated with a BA in social work. During the war she taught in elementary school. In the summer of 1946 she moved to work in the Henry Street Settlement in New York. Here she met Oscar Brand, Leadbelly and Pete Seeger and started singing her family songs again.
Here are two albums :
Here are two albums :
None But One - This recording caused quite a stir when it was originally released on a major label. Unanimously excellent reviews cropped up in national and international magazines as well as in the obscure folk journal and newsletters. It even prompted Rolling Sone to present Jean with its prestigious Critic's Cirle Award as Folk Artist of the Year.
High Hills and Mountains - As Artists in residence at California State University at Fresno, Jean became friends with Kenny Hall and the Bluestien Family, as well as other musicians in the area and they naturally began to make music together. Enhanced by the old timey stringband playing of the "Fresno Friends" the resulting recording provides an exuberant sampling of some of the best of Jean's music.
The music itself seems to have come from another world and another time, which makes the fact that much of it was recorded in New York City seem totally incongruous
The music itself seems to have come from another world and another time, which makes the fact that much of it was recorded in New York City seem totally incongruous
Have fun while it lasts
that is the real pure high & lonesome sound. and I've been going nuts over dulcimer music recently. many thanks josse
The Irate Pirate said...
June 26, 2009 11:40 PM