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Sellars
May-11-2005, 4:31pm
Hi all,

in the suggest mando oldtime cds, the emphasis is on contemporary oldtime bands. I was wondering whether you had any suggestions on collections of the old stuff like the Anthology of american folk music or goodbye babylon for example?

what are the not to miss old oldtime cds?

John Flynn
May-11-2005, 6:28pm
Well, there is not a lot with mando. One thing that is probably "not to miss" is anything by Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band. Kenny Hall is considered by many to the the father of contemporary old-time mando. His story is interesting. He was blind from a young age and learned fiddle in a school for the blind. Someone donated a bowlback mando to the school and he expressed an interest in it. Being blind and having no mando teacher, he didn't even know how to hold it. He developed a style where he stood it on his knee and picked it with his thumbnail. Kenny is said to know over 2,000 fiddle tunes on mando and has toured the world. The current CD that is in print for him is unfortunately not all that impressive, but it does pay homage to a historic mando player. If you can find any of his earlier stuff, it would be worth it.

Jim M.
May-11-2005, 6:59pm
Harry Liedstrand, who was part of the Sweets Mill String Band, has new CD prints of the first album they did with Kenny. He's been selling the CDs at farmers' markets and such around where I live. If you're really interested, I'll track down his e-mail for you.

Also, check out:
RAGS, BREAKDOWNS, STOMPS & BLUES: VINTAGE MANDOLIN MUSIC 1927-38
Louie Bluie, Dallas String Band, Sleepy John Estes with Yank Rachell, Ishman Bracey with Charlie McCoy, Skillet Lickers, the Carolina Peanut Boys and lots more!
It's not Appalachian old time fiddle tunes, but it sounds old time to me.

And then there is:
http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/geocache.asp
You can search by instrument. I haven't spent enough time there to figure out what all they have related to mando, but it's extensive.

John Flynn
May-15-2005, 9:20am
Jim:

I would be interested in that email address for Harry Liedstrand.