Henry C. Gilliland & A.C. Robertson: The Year of Jubilo: 78 rpm recordings of Songs from the Civil War

This is the tale of a record collector, Joe Bussard. Bussard boasts a collection of 78 rmp shellacs numbering in the 10,000s and including a good many of the pre-WWII Paramount blues and country sides. He is the curator of "old-timey" music. Bussard has previously released re-recordings of his collection under the guise of Down in the Basement: Joe Bussard's Treasure Trove of Vintage 78s 1926-1937 (Old Hat Records, 2003). Bussard has now joined forces with Lance Ledbetter's Dust-to-Digital label for this distribution of his more tightly focused The Year of Jubilo: 78 rpm recordings of Songs from the Civil War. Lance Lebetter inaugurated his Dust-to-Digital label with the release of the gospel collection Goodbye, Babylon in 2003. Since that time, the label has released more than 50 titles.

The Year of Jubilo features songs from the Civil War, many of which were recorded by veterans of the war. It is a decidedly "old-timey" collection, a fact readily reflected in the fidelity of the recordings. That considered, the sound, for archival material, is superb. Violinists (or perhaps, better, fiddle players) Henry C. Gilliland and A.C. Robertson play two duets on the recording, "Turkey in the Straw" and "Arkansas Traveler" (both recorded in New York City, June 30, 1927. Gilliland was a Confederate veteran and was the center of the old time fiddler movement in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. His specter looms large in the history of this older music. The "Arkansas Traveler" is a hoedown to be certain, possessing a homespun counterpoint that might make Bach's ears perk up. Doubtless this was dance and party music. "Arkansas Traveler," and the other selections herein, are an excellent example of the folk music that the revivalists of the 1950s and '60s were interested in: authentic, rough-hewn, and wholly organic.