Similar Albums:
- Artist: Uncle Dave Macon
- Rating:
- Release Date: March 14, 2006
- Type: Compilation (best of)
- Genre: Country
Review
This is the second four-disc box set JSP Records has issued of Uncle Dave Macon, which means close to 200 tracks of old-time folk pieces, vaudeville standards, restructured minstrel songs, and more cornball humor than you can shake a banjo at (Macon had a habit of stopping a song in the middle, telling a short joke, then moving on back to the song). Not bad for a musician who didn't begin recording until he was 50. Before 1924 he owned and operated a mule-driven hauling service, but eventually similar businesses using trucks cornered the hauling market, and Macon became a professional musician -- and he never missed a chance to slam the virtue of trucks and praise mules in his routines. Macon didn't really understand the recording studio, and these tracks sound very much like a performer in front of a live audience as he introduces and explains songs, stomps his feet, and moves all about the microphone exactly as he would on stage -- which made him a nightmare for recording engineers. Past all the cornball bluster, though, was an energetic and charismatic performer who was a more than capable banjo player, and he single-handedly saved countless folk and string band songs from extinction by tracking them before they vanished into America's musical past. Most of Macon's more famous pieces are in JSP's first set, but there are some scattered gems here, including the intricate waltz called "He Won the Heart of My Sarah Jane," the bluesy "Oh Lovin' Babe," some kinetic banjo on "Come on Buddie, Don't You Want to Go," and a pair of lovely fiddle and banjo instrumentals (with Sid Harkreader on fiddle), "Bile Them Cabbage Down" and "Arkansas Travelers." Most of the fourth disc is made up of sides by brothers Sam & Kirk McGee (with Macon occasionally sitting in on banjo), and these are a special delight, especially Sam's breathtaking acoustic guitar lines. Four discs are a lot of Macon, and most casual listeners would be better served by picking up a single-disc collection, but archivists and collectors will treasure this set of his lesser-known sides. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music GuideTracks
CD 1
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Hill Billie Blues | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:01) | |
| The Old Maid's Last Hope | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:34) | |
| All I've Got's Gone | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:45) | |
| The Fox Chase | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:47) | |
| Papa's Billie Goat | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:50) | |
| The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:55) | |
| (She Was Always) Chewing Gum | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:58) | |
| Jonah and the Whale | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:14) | |
| I'm Going Away to Leave You Love | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:57) | |
| Love Somebody | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:01) | |
| Soldier's Joy | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:57) | |
| Bile Them Cabbage Down | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:05) | |
| Rooster Crow Medley | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:03) | |
| Just from Tennessee | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:04) | |
| From Jerusalem to Jericho | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:08) | |
| I Tickled Nancy | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:35) | |
| Arkansas Travelers | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:06) | |
| The Girl I Left Behind Me | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:08) | |
| Muskrat Medley | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:10) | |
| Down in Arkansas | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:09) | |
| Down by the Old Mill Stream | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:03) | |
| I Don't Reckon It'll Happen Again | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:17) | |
| Save My Mother's Picture from the Sale | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:56) | |
| He Won the Heart of My Sarah Jane | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:12) | |
| Just Tell Them That You Saw Me | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:14) |
CD 2
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| I Ain't Got Long to Stay | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:57) | |
| Ain't It a Shame to Keep Your Honey Out in the Rain | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:57) | |
| Shout Mourner, You Shall Be Free | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:58) | |
| I Don't Care If I Never Wake Up | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:00) | |
| In the Good Old Summer Time | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:54) | |
| Something's Always Sure to Tickle Me | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:51) | |
| In the Good Old Days of Long Ago | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:59) | |
| My Girl's a High Born Lady | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:09) | |
| In the Old Carolina State (Where the Sweet Magnolias Bloom) | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:00) | |
| Never Make Love No More | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:10) | |
| Them Two Gals of Mine | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:52) | |
| Tossing the Baby So High | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:58) | |
| Uncle Ned | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:00) | |
| Braying Mule | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:59) | |
| Take Me Home Poor Julia | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:03) | |
| Lullaby Song | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:25) | |
| Poor Old Dad | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:22) | |
| Oh Bear Me Away on Your Snowy Wings | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:09) | |
| The Mockingbird Song Medley | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:06) | |
| In the Sweet Bye and Bye | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:56) | |
| In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:03) | |
| Got No Silver Nor No Gold Blues | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:02) | |
| Heartaching Blues | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:03) | |
| Roe Rire Poor Girl | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:05) | |
| Backwater Blues | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:15) |
CD 3
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Jesus Lover of My Soul | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:01) | |
| Had the Razor | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:00) | |
| Put Me in My Little Bed | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:47) | |
| New in Town | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:57) | |
| We Need a Change in Business All Around | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:01) | |
| Mister Johnson | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:08) | |
| Hush Little Baby Don't You Cry | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:54) | |
| Oh Lovin' Babe | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:14) | |
| Come on Buddie, Don't You Want to Go | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:08) | |
| Go on Nora Lee | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:06) | |
| Was You There When They Took My Lord Away | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:59) | |
| Thank God for Everything | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:03) | |
| When the Train Comes Along | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:05) | |
| Tennessee Tornado | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:15) | |
| Don't Get Weary Children | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:04) | |
| Over the Mountain | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:38) | |
| One More River to Cross | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:48) | |
| Just One Way to the Pearly Gates | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:08) | |
| Fame Apart from God's Approval | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:30) | |
| From Jerusalem to Jericho | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:24) | |
| Travelin' Down the Road | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:29) | |
| He Won the Heart of Sarah Jane | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:39) | |
| Working for My Lord | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:34) | |
| She's Got the Money Too | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:36) | |
| Wait Till the Clouds Roll By | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:01) |
CD 4
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Things I Don't Like to See | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:12) | |
| They're After Me | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:20) | |
| Beautiful Love | Uncle Dave Macon | (3:34) | |
| Give Me Back My Five Dollars | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:50) | |
| Railroadin' and Gamblin' | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:40) | |
| Johnny Brey | Uncle Dave Macon | (2:37) | |
| Buck Dancer's Choice | Sam McGee | (2:53) | |
| The Franklin Blues | Sam McGee | (2:49) | |
| In a Cool Shady Nook | Sam McGee | (2:32) | |
| If I Could Only Blot Out the Past | Sam McGee | (3:02) | |
| Knoxville Blues | Sam McGee | (3:00) | |
| Old Master's Run Away | (2:57) | ||
| Charming Bill | (3:00) | ||
| A Flower from My Angel Mother's Grave | (2:43) | ||
| C-H-I-C-K-E-N Spells Chicken | (2:52) | ||
| Salty Dog Blues (Lyrics) | (3:00) | ||
| Salt Lake City Blues | (3:02) | ||
| Rufus Blossom | (3:07) | ||
| Ragged Jim | (2:52) | ||
| Someone Else May Be There While I'm Gone | (3:02) | ||
| Hannah Won't You Open the Door | (2:45) | ||
| My Family Has Been a Crooked Set | (2:58) | ||
| The Tramp (Lyrics) | (2:47) | ||
| As Willie and Mary Strolled by the Seashore | (2:25) | ||
| The Ship Without a Sail | (2:58) |
