Blues, Rags and Hollers
Encyclopedia
Blues, Rags and Hollers is the debut album by American
country blues
trio Koerner, Ray & Glover
, released in 1963.
trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota
featured Tony "Little Sun" Glover on harmonica, "Spider" John Koerner on guitar and vocals, and Dave "Snaker" Ray on guitar and vocals. Koerner, Ray & Glover were part of the early folk/blues explosion in the 1960s. In his piece for No Depression magazine, author Joel Roberts stated "Like Bob Dylan
, their Minnesota pal and fellow early ’60s folk-blues enthusiast, they combined a deep knowledge of the blues idiom with a sense of humor and irreverence that was absent from the work of many of their much-too-serious contemporaries."
Speaking of the trio's experience playing the music of Lead Belly, Blind Lemon Jefferson
and other black blues musicians, Koerner later related, "I don’t understand the psychology of it, but somehow we decided to imitate these guys down to the note. And we decided to go out and drink and party, and chase women just like they did in the songs and all kind of shit. And when I look at it now, it seems weird to tell you the truth."
Despite recording, performing and being billed as a trio, the three play together only on the opening track, "Linin' Track". The other tracks are either solo performances by Koerner or Ray and two duets by Ray and Glover and one by Koerner and Glover.
Blues, Rags and Hollers was recorded in Milwaukee during a one-day session.
Originally released on the Audiophile label with a pressing of 300 copies, Blues, Rags and Hollers was quickly reissued by Elektra Records
in 1963 with a shorter track listing, leaving off "Ted Mack Rag", "Too Bad", "Dust My Broom" and "Mumblin' Blues". These tracks were restored when Red House
digitally remastered and reissued the album in 1995. It was also reissued by WEA International along with Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers
in 2004. Koerner, Ray & Glover recorded two more albums for Elektra.
In 2008, Koerner, Ray & Glover were inducted into the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame under the category Blues Recordings for Blues, Rags and Hollers.
While discussing Elektra Records
in his biography of Jim Morrison
, author Stephen Davis noted that the signing of Koerner, Ray & Glover "gave Elektra considerable street cred" and described the album as "the coolest, hardest-rocking record of the whole folk revival."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
trio Koerner, Ray & Glover
Koerner, Ray & Glover
Koerner, Ray & Glover is the name of a blues band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band featured Tony "Little Sun" Glover on harmonica, "Spider" John Koerner on guitar and vocals, and Dave "Snaker" Ray on guitar and vocals. Koerner, Ray & Glover were part of the early folk/blues explosion in the...
, released in 1963.
History
The debut album of the country bluesCountry blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
featured Tony "Little Sun" Glover on harmonica, "Spider" John Koerner on guitar and vocals, and Dave "Snaker" Ray on guitar and vocals. Koerner, Ray & Glover were part of the early folk/blues explosion in the 1960s. In his piece for No Depression magazine, author Joel Roberts stated "Like Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, their Minnesota pal and fellow early ’60s folk-blues enthusiast, they combined a deep knowledge of the blues idiom with a sense of humor and irreverence that was absent from the work of many of their much-too-serious contemporaries."
Speaking of the trio's experience playing the music of Lead Belly, Blind Lemon Jefferson
Blind Lemon Jefferson
"Blind" Lemon Jefferson was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled "Father of the Texas Blues"....
and other black blues musicians, Koerner later related, "I don’t understand the psychology of it, but somehow we decided to imitate these guys down to the note. And we decided to go out and drink and party, and chase women just like they did in the songs and all kind of shit. And when I look at it now, it seems weird to tell you the truth."
Despite recording, performing and being billed as a trio, the three play together only on the opening track, "Linin' Track". The other tracks are either solo performances by Koerner or Ray and two duets by Ray and Glover and one by Koerner and Glover.
Blues, Rags and Hollers was recorded in Milwaukee during a one-day session.
Originally released on the Audiophile label with a pressing of 300 copies, Blues, Rags and Hollers was quickly reissued by Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
in 1963 with a shorter track listing, leaving off "Ted Mack Rag", "Too Bad", "Dust My Broom" and "Mumblin' Blues". These tracks were restored when Red House
Red House Records
Red House Records is an American independent record label specializing in folk music and is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.The label was originally created in 1981 by Greg Brown as a method to distribute his own music, and is named for a farmhouse in Iowa where he was living...
digitally remastered and reissued the album in 1995. It was also reissued by WEA International along with Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers
Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers
Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers is an album by the blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover, released in 1964.-History:Between this release and their next, Dave Ray and John Koerner would each record a solo album, Snaker's Here and Spider Blues respectively...
in 2004. Koerner, Ray & Glover recorded two more albums for Elektra.
In 2008, Koerner, Ray & Glover were inducted into the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame under the category Blues Recordings for Blues, Rags and Hollers.
Reception
Allmusic critic William Ruhlmann called it "one of the defining albums of the folk revival. were the quintessential young, white collegiate folk-blues enthusiasts from the North striving to play the traditional music as if they were old, black, uneducated musicians from the South. The thing was, they succeeded, not only in re-creating the sound... but also in writing their own original songs that sounded authentic." Reviewing the 2004 reissue, Steve Leggett wrote "In retrospect, Koerner, Ray & Glover got it exactly right, approaching their traditional material with a perfect mixture of reverence and fun, resulting in a kind of front-porch acoustic blues that still sounds pretty fresh all these years later." Thom Owens reviewed the Red House Records reissue and called it "a strong, catchy album that nevertheless sounds closer to folkies than the typical British blues record."While discussing Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
in his biography of Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
, author Stephen Davis noted that the signing of Koerner, Ray & Glover "gave Elektra considerable street cred" and described the album as "the coolest, hardest-rocking record of the whole folk revival."
Side one
- "Linin' Track" (Traditional) – 2:16
- "Ramblin' Blues" (John Koerner) – 2:42
- "It's All Right" (Dave Ray) – 3:50
- "Hangman" (Lead Belly) – 2:28
- "Ted Mack Rag" (Koerner) – 1:28
- "Down to Louisiana" (Lightnin' HopkinsLightnin' HopkinsSam John Hopkins better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas...
, McKinley MorganfieldMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
) – 2:52 - "Creepy John" (Koerner) – 2:38
- "Bugger Burns" (Traditional) – 1:37
- "Sun's Wail" (Glover) – 1:51
- "Dust My Broom" (Elmore JamesElmore JamesElmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
) – 4:04
Side two
- "One Kind Favor" (Blind Lemon JeffersonBlind Lemon Jefferson"Blind" Lemon Jefferson was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled "Father of the Texas Blues"....
) – 3:56 - "Go Down Ol' Hannah" (Traditional) – 2:55
- "Good Time Charlie" (Koerner) – 1:39
- "Banjo Thing" (Koerner) – 1:23
- "Stop That Thing" (Sleepy John EstesSleepy John EstesJohn Adam Estes , best known as Sleepy John Estes or Sleepy John, was a American blues guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, born in Ripley, Lauderdale County, Tennessee.-Career:...
) – 2:00 - "Too Bad" (Koerner) – 1:50
- "Snaker's Here" (Ray) – 3:41
- "Low Down Rounder" (Peg Leg HowellPeg Leg HowellJoshua Barnes Howell, known as Peg Leg Howell , was an African American blues singer and guitarist, who connected early country blues and the later 12-bar style...
) – 2:09 - "Jimmy Bell" (Cat IronCat IronCat Iron, real name William Carradine ['Cat Iron' was not his actual nickname, but a mishearing of his surname by his "rediscoverer"], Cat Iron, real name William Carradine ['Cat Iron' was not his actual nickname, but a mishearing of his surname by his "rediscoverer"], Cat Iron, real name William...
) – 2:43 - "Mumblin' Word" (Leadbelly) – 2:43
Personnel
- Tony Glover – harmonica, vocals, liner notes, arranger
- John Koerner – guitar, harmonica, arranger, vocals
- Dave Ray – guitar, arranger, vocals