<<<Back to page 2

If anybody happens to ask you what the difference between Old Time and Americana is, you can tell them, “About 7 minutes.” Dock Boggs gives us “Old Joe’s Barroom” as an Old Time banjo waltz with a dash of high lonesome.

The Mutineers follow the basic path of the Boggs version, at a much slower pace. This version is sad, sweet, and heartweary – a far cry from the pop hooks of the Easy Riders or the ferocity of Van Ronk. It’s worth the time if you’re in the right mood. (I’ve been unable to find a link to this band, if it’s still in existence. I’ve found two other bands with the same name, but neither appears to have recorded this album. Any clues here would be gratefully received.)

Many of the country and bluegrass adaptations of “Gambler’s Blues” take their bearings from Jimmie Rodgers’s early version, with its “hey-ho-ho-hey-heys” and the like. This Bill Monroe version doesn’t exactly fit what became his signature bluegrass style, as he draws in electric instruments and a drum chugging along in the background.

,

 The Rodgers version and some of its successors in the country strain lay a little more emphasis on the evils of drink. One of our readers recently brought this example to our attention: Hank Thompson’s “Drunkard’s Blues.”

Anna Domino was a contributor to Marcus and Wilentz’s The Rose and the Briar, and her combo, Snakefarm, came to our attention in the early days of the blog, with their modern adaptations of classic folk songs, incorporating syncopated beats, industrial noise, and various other production effects. Their arrangements are at once modern and sustaining of these traditional songs as living things. “St. James” is one piece for which they do some visual storytelling.

For outright funkiness – let’s just say a far cry from The Mutineers – the “St. James Infirmary” of Rising Appalachia can’t be beat. The bass work on this arrangement is tight and infectious, and the harmonies of sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith take you from the sultry to the exuberant. They too incorporate the musical dynamics of a New Orleans funeral march, the highs and the lows. This is a “Gambler’s Blues” you can dance to. Their recording of the song was released in 2014 on The Sails of the Self.

An earlier live performance by Rising Appalachia is here on YouTube. The sound mix is off, overemphasizing the bass and under-emphasizing the vocals, but the performance certainly has energy.

“Now that you’ve heard my story…”

As I said above, covering all the waterfront on this song is too much for one post. I’ll leave you with the broader Spotify playlist below so you can explore further. “Gambler’s Blues” is the first of two great American innovations to the “Rake” cycle, and one that embodies the strong influence of African American musical styles and culture. You can hear the traces of New Orleans, and perhaps a few other spots on up the Mississippi in it. For our next installment of the “Rake,” which will be down the line a ways, we’ll taste the dust of the American West. Thanks for reading.