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VARIOUS ARTISTS
Slidin' On The Frets (Yazoo)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
San Francisco's Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915 is given primary credit for setting off a craze for all things Hawaiian, particularly the music played on ukuleles and slide guitars. The slide guitar sound soon swept the musical world, showing up in jazz, country, blues and vaudeville settings, establishing a style that is carried down to this day. Imagine blues without bottleneck, or country music without pedal steel.
This collection gathers 23 rare performances from aging 78s and rescues the music for the contemporary listener. The nature of the source material results in the necessary sacrifice of some fidelity, but the archivists at Yazoo are to be commended on the tremendous job they did of cleaning up the sound (in some cases they found more noise than music on the old recordings) and making these pieces of our common musical legacy available.
The styles represented run the full gamut of popular music of the early 20th century, and it's interesting to note how full that gamut was. From Hawaiian performers like Kanui & Lula to the hot jazz of King Oliver, and at every point between, this is roots music in the truest sense of the word. It's hard to believe that some of this is culled from recordings 80 years old, since so many of the styles and techniques are still in currency today.
Whatever your interest in the slide guitar, you will find something to satisfy on this collection. It's more than a great compilation, though, it's a service to anyone interested in our musical history. Hat's off to Yazoo.
Track List:
Kanui & Lula/My Little Grass Shack In Kealakekua * Bezos' Hawaiian Orchestra/Pame Sti Honoloulou * Oscar Woods/Don't Sell - Don't It Give It Away * Rodney Rogers' Red Peppers/Milenberg Joys * Jimmie Tarlton/My Little Blue Heaven * Emery Counard/Why My Craf Vex With Me * Eddy's Hawaiian Seranaders/Down In Waikiki * H.M. Barnes And His Blue Ridge Ramblers/ Honolulu Stomp * Tau Moe's Hawaiian Jazzites/U Like, Noa Like * Honolulu Players/Mindinao March * King Oliver And His Orchestra/Everybody Does It In Hawaii * Truett And George/Ghost Dance * Nelstone's Hawaiians/You'll Never Find A Daddy Like Me * Les Loups/La Portena Es Una Papa * Casey Bill/Has My Gal Been Here * Jimmy Yates' Boll Weevils/Smiles * Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Trio/Clowin' The Frets * Gino Bordin Hawaiian Orchestra/Caresses Venitiennes * Sylvester Weaver/Guitar Rag * Patt Pattterson And His Champion Pep Riders/The Cat's Whiskers * Hawaiian Songbirds/Happy Hawaiian Blues * Lawson's Hawaiians/Drifting And Dreaming * Andy Sannella/Sliding On The Frets
© 2001 - Shaun Dale