County 701 - Clawhammer Banjo - Old Time Banjo and Fiddle Tunes - LP Record

It's #MusicMonday Picked up this interesting thrift store find today. I'll often pick up records that look interesting without knowing much about them. I really love just about all music. There isn't much I don't like, not a huge fan of show tunes, and polka can get a bit cloying (sorry polka fans) For the most part though, my musical tastes are extremely eclectic.

Last week I talked a little about the turntable I found hidden away in the basement.. Since then I've been doing a lot of record shopping. Out thrifting today, I came across this gem and I just couldn't resist. I love old-timey roots and folk traditionals. I don't listen to them often, but I think this genre really gets overlooked by a lot of people. When I came across this album in really decent shape, I had to give it a try.

This is one of the things I love about collecting vinyl. You just come across a lot of stuff you're not going to find anywhere else except for maybe Youtube. A lot of people like posting discontinued music on Youtube and I guess you're allowed to.

I did a little research when I got home and according to this Wiki, this was the first release on County Records label in 1963. According to Discogs it was released in 1965.

County Records was a NY label that specialized in old-time bluegrass-style music from the southeastern part of the United States. They used the name County Records because they thought it gave it a folksy kind of feel. In this day and age it's actually an SEO nightmare. Took a little effort to dig up info on this label due to all the search results were about "County Records" as in public domain government files.

Discogs values the record at around $2.44, I paid a quarter 😁 For 25 cents the value will be in the number of times I play it. After listening to it, I'll probably pull this out for a listen from time to time so money well spent. I mean sheesh, for a quarter, can you really go wrong? Although the discogs value is around $2.44 some listings were as high as $40 in really good condition.

One of the great things about living in the modern age is you can usually find sound samples of just about anything you're looking for. Not sure about what I was getting myself into, I did a Youtube search and came across this post with a sample of one of the recordings.

As soon as it started playing I knew I wanted it. I actually love Banjo. As a matter of fact, I probably would have learned Banjo as a child but my father talked me out of it, to learn the guitar. I'm actually grateful for that because this probably wouldn't have gone over too well growing up in Buffalo NY. Kids will be kids! LOL. He was afraid I'd get picked on and thought a different instrument might be a better choice. 🤣 He was probably right. I mean with the exception of Jerry Garcia, there aren't a lot of Rock n Roll banjo players 😂

One side of the LP leans more towards banjo, and the other side fiddle. Here's a fiddle sample I found from the same album.

Just makes me want to fill the old mason jar with moonshine and get to some foot stomping! LOL, joking not joking.

I think it's really cool that we're starting to see a resurgence in traditional folk and roots music in this country. There's actually a lot of great music in those genres. So much sound from so few instruments. Most of these recordings were done solo without band accompaniment. One of the things I like about fingerstyle guitar as well.

Since I've gotten back into guitar, my love for blues has just grown immensely. Now that I have a record player, I'll probably be on the search for more traditional blues and interesting finds like the album I found today.

Anyway, that's the post! Loving the High Fidelity life and enjoying all the new musical avenues it's opening for me.