Johnson City Sessions Archives

Johnson City Sessions Celebration wins Tennessee tourism award

At the recent Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association’s Pinnacle Awards, the The Johnson City Sessions 90^th Anniversary Celebration was singled out as Festival or Event of the Year. The celebration had been held in October 2019, and timed to coincide with the release of Tell It to Me: Revisiting the Johnson City Sessions, 1928-1929 by Bear Family Records.

The original recording sessions were inspired by the tremendous success of Ralph Peer’s cylinder recordings of early country singers in Bristol back in 1927. Those captured for the first time the music of Jimmie Rodgers, A.P. and Sara Carter, and The Stonemans. The following year Columbia Records sent Frank Buckley Walker to do the same in Johnson City, likewise placing an ad in the local newspaper requesting that traditional singers attend the session in October 1928.

Included in those sessions, and a follow-up visit to Johnson City a year later, were Clarence Ashley’s original recording of The Coo-Coo Bird, Charlie Bowman’s Roll On, Buddy, Byrd Moore and His Hot Shots’ Three Men Went A Hunting, Bill and Belle Reed’s Old Lady And The Devil, and the Bentley Boys’ Down On Penny’s Farm, which are now considered to be among the most significant early recordings of the 1920s.

Ted Olson, ETSU professor of Appalachian Studies at ETSU, who also served as chair of the organizing committee for the event, had been deeply involved in the production of the 90th anniversary album as well, which featured contemporary artists performing many of the songs that Walker recorded in ’28. He also wrote the 40-page booklet which accompanied the CD collection.

In recognition of having received the Pinnacle Award from the Association, Olson feels confident that the legacy of the important Columbia recordings will survive.

“This successful partnership between university-affiliated people, local government and business officials, and media ensured the success of ‘Tell It to Me’ in realizing its goals of fostering public awareness of the Johnson City Sessions’ historical significance, while drawing people to downtown Johnson City to immerse themselves in that history.

We recognized that observing the 90^th anniversary of the Johnson City Sessions might provide the perfect opportunity to expand local and regional recognition for those recordings. The success of the ‘Tell It to Me’ festival in 2019 suggests that the Johnson City Sessions story has at last received the broad-based attention it so richly deserves.”

Congratulations to Johnson City, Dr. Olson, and all the fine people who worked to make the festival a success!

Tell It To Me — Revisiting The Johnson City Sessions 1928 – 1929

Of all of today’s popular musical genres, no single style remains more enduring than bluegrass. Granted, blues and Gospel also take their place among the more archival sounds of America’s heartland, but given its roots in Ireland, England, and Scotland, and its subsequent reinvention in early 20th century Appalachia, bluegrass possesses a rich history that’s always worthy of revisiting.

Bear Family, a label that’s well known for resurrecting music bearing a traditional tapestry, affirms the sanctity of that sound with Tell It To Me, an album that captures the seminal recordings captured in Johnson City, Tennessee during the late 1920s, just prior to the advent of the Great Depression. Though often overshadowed by similar sessions that were taking place in nearby Bristol during the same era, the songs spotlighted here by more than two dozen groups and artists still resonate with a spunk and finesse undiminished by the hardship and hard times that were affecting practically everyone involved. Although the music clearly reflects a sound and style of a decidedly vintage variety, the instrumental interplay and expressive vocal harmonies allow practically every song to entertain in a contemporary context. Relevance-wise, there’s no better example than opening track, Tell It To Me, which finds the Grant Brothers intoning, “Cocaine gonna kill my honey.” The opioid crisis has taken its toll of late, but the Grants remind us that addiction is an age-old problem.

In a similar vein, Richard Harold’s read of The Battleship Maine, a downcast narrative about the sinking of the namesake ship that was blown up in Havana harbor sparking the Spanish American War, remains both poignant and powerful today, given a current climate where war and conflict remain unabated.

Clarence Greene’s mournful Johnson City Blues and the charming When the Roses Bloom Again for the Bootlegger, a moonshiner’s ballad performed by Earl Shirkey & Roy Harper, also share sounds that resonate well, despite the fact that these recordings are now over 90 years removed. The material boasts a charm and delivery that’s so overtly infectious, and flush with faith and fortitude that often one simply wants to sing along, particularly on such jolly songs as Roll On Buddy, from Charlie Bowman & His Brothers, the unabashedly bold I Ain’t a Bit Drunk, by George Rourk, and McVay & Johnson’s lively I’ll Be Ready When the Bridegroom Comes. Likewise, the swaying serenade for the McCartt Brothers & Patterson is a delight in itself.

The profuse booklet that accompanies the disc adds to the depth of understanding and appreciation, making Tell It To Me as revelatory and enlightening as it is engaging. Consider it an essential addition to every bluegrass enthusiast’s collection.

90th anniversary of the Johnson City Sessions this weekend

This weekend, on October 19, Johnson City, TN will be celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Johnson City Sessions, among the first commercial recordings of traditional mountain music ever made, captured by the Columbia Records company in October of 1928. Just as Ralph Peer had done in Bristol the year before, Frank Buckley Walker posted an advertisement in the local paper, asking musicians and singers to visit him on specific dates for a recording audition, using his then state-of-the-art, direct to wax cylinder equipment.

And again, like Peer, Walker found a number of artists whose interpretations of mountain folk songs struck a nerve with the newly-established record buying public. Included in those sessions, and a follow-up visit to Johnson City a year later, were Clarence Ashley’s original recording of The Coo-Coo Bird, Charlie Bowman’s Roll On, Buddy, Byrd Moore and His Hot Shots’ Three Men Went A Hunting, Bill and Belle Reed’s Old Lady And The Devil, and the Bentley Boys’ Down On Penny’s Farm, which are now considered to be among the most significant early recordings of the 1920s.

Known then simply as hillbilly music, this raw, unfocused sound was quite popular in other regions of the US, where it was completely unfamiliar. Music historians now see it as pure examples of the old time music of its day, and can trace direct line between what Peer and Walker recorded to the country and bluegrass styles that developed over the next 30 years.

To help mark the 90th anniversary, Bear Family Records has released a CD with 26 tracks from these sessions, Tell It To Me: Revisiting the Johnson City Sessions, 1928-1929. The package also includes a 40 page booklet with track notes, artist information, and an essay by ETSU professor Ted Olson which details the importance of these recordings and how they were received at the time.

Ted shared this video so that readers could trace the connection to contemporary bluegrass in this first recording of the classic song, Roll On Buddy, by Charlie Bowman & His Brothers in 1928.

Tell It To Me is available now directly from Bear Family, and from other online record sellers.

Johnson City invites everyone to join them on Saturday for the 90th anniversary celebration. There will be live music downtown on Main Street from 11:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., with square dancing, children’s activities, and a panel discussion about the recordings on site. And it’s all free and open to the public.