This recording is a great way to learn about Geoff Muldaur. The song selection is bizarre in an inspired way, the arraignments are spot on, and Geoff sings his heart out. The medley of ‘I Want To Be A Sailor/Why Should I Love You’ is my favorite medley in pop music, a case of two extremes pulling against each other, but somehow making an amazingly complete whole. Swing, R&B, County, Folk and Blues are all with in his command. Highly highly recommended.
Jug band music originated in Louisville, Kentucky, around 1905, but reached its fullest flowering in Memphis in the 1920s. Though there were others, two groups in particular dominated Beale Street: the Memphis Jug Band, led by Will Shade, and Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers. The former came first and was more popular at the time, but it's the Cannon/Stompers legacy that has best endured. In 1963 the Rooftop Singers, a Greenwich Village folk trio featuring Erik… more »
They're the beneficiaries of a rather unlikely tribute album and a primary inspiration and/or influence for numerous contemporary string bands, from the high-profile Carolina Chocolate Drops to Geoff Muldaur's one-off collaborators the Texas Sheiks. No doubt about it, the Mississippi Sheiks are happening these days. But then, they always have been - at least to the extent that's possible for musicians who thrived in the first half of the 1930s. When they formed around Jackson, Mississippi,… more »
![The Circle Game [Expanded & Remastered] album cover](http://images.emusic.com/music/images/album/117/504/11750410/300x300.jpg)
