Reverend Buell Kazee (1900-1976) was no ordinary folk singer, with degrees in Greek and Latin, not to mention classical voice training and serious theological study. Raised in the mountains of eastern Kentucky (Magoffin County), he grew up with his mother’s hymns and ballads and his father’s banjo picking. It wasn’t until he was studying literature [...]

Jerry Wexler gets it right when he says in the liner notes that when it comes to putting out alternate takes, “pop songs, unlike jazz solos (say, by Monk, Bird or Trane), did not require such treatment.” He’s also right when he notes that Aretha’s outtakes would do any normal singer proud. That’s why this [...]

In 1949, Granville “Stick” McGhee (And His Buddies) saved Atlantic Records from Shakespeare. Stick had recorded a song called “Drinkin’ Wine”, and one of Atlantic’s distributors needed a bunch of copies but couldn’t find it. Atlantic did them one better: They found Stick and his older brother Brownie and re-recorded the tune. It became an [...]

In 1961, my two best friends were twins with left-wing parents. One of them was into folk music, and after he played me a Pete Seeger album, I was, too. I went to the library, and there was just what I wanted, three boxes of LPs called Anthology Of American Folk Music, which I brought [...]

I’m continually awed by the depth of soul music during its golden years, which started in the mid-’60s and drifted off in the early ’70s, holding on longer in the south. Every time I think the well’s run dry, another discovery — a singer, a label — comes into view. Ladies and gentlemen, Spencer Wiggins. [...]