Wakefield

[John Hill]

A while back I got the "Mandolin Extravaganza" CD and listened to Frank Wakefield's "Play It Pretty Me".

The first time through I didn't think I could stand it all the way to the end...now, after repeated listening it just blows me away and I can't get enough. It may not be the cleanest picking but that tune is exactly what Frank said: hardcore bluegrass.

Double stops flying around all over the place, a Loar getting pounded on. It just don't git no better than that.

John

yeah! do that again!

[Philip Halcomb]

One thing to remember though, is that these old-timers weren't exactly polished musicians. So the roughness in my opinion adds to the authenticity of it. Sometimes bluegrass with every single note clean and clear just doesn't sound like the real thing to me. One of the many things that Frank has in his playing is soul. Often times soul is the missing element to very polished musicians. It can often times make or break the music. He'll definitely always be one of my favorites. So play yer' heart out.

[JMOSS99]

Try playing it like you it is a fight between
a woman and her man to be x'ed. Like it is
them yelling and crying out. In your head replace
the voicings with voices.

Jmoss

[KevinM]

Your first Wakefield. I envy you. Wait until you hear the rest. The man who split the mandolin atom. Buy them all before they go out of print. I just got another copy of the almost out of print "Pistol Packing Mama" - Good Old Boys produced by Jerry Garcia. Highy recommend the Kitchen Tapes on Acoustic Disc (Grisman's label), Jim Moss's Sleeping Lady (on his website), Frank's latest studio releases on Patuxent Records, his Red Allen - Frank Wakefield recording (Smithsonian and the new Red Allen reissues that just came out). This is killer stuff.

[KevinM]

Oh, and to say Frank plays "rough" as if he is incapable of playing clean misses the point. The man is a master of what is called the Monroe style, a rural, jagged sound, and in his own inimitable way. The right hand and the sound. I've never heard anyone make a Loar sound like he does. You can keep the clean, I'll take the soul, as the gentleman above said. Plus, you get a guy who can write, not just play, a composer.

[John Hill]

I wasn't really concerned with the clean picking or lack thereof, didn't mean to make an issue of it.

The intensity of the picking & tune itself is what I found just plain cool. Reminds me of first time I saw Thile live: no boundries just play it for all it's worth. Great stuff.

Yeah, he seems like quite the character after listening to the dialogues on the CD.

John

[swampstomper]

Get the Red Allen stuff -- both Smithsonian and County. Wait till you hear "Deep Elum Blues" -- I still can't figure out what mode that's in!