ABOUT THE BOOK
Among the thousands of musicians active in the 1920s and ‘30s, a select few stand out as larger-than-life figures. One of these is the North Carolina singer, banjo-picker and bandleader Charlie Poole. Into an all-too-brief playing life he packed a wealth of songs that have been enjoyed, reproduced and built upon by generations of later musicians. Many of the numbers Poole originated or popularized, such as “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down”, “There’ll Come a Time”, “If the River Was Whiskey” and “White House Blues”, have passed into the repertoires of country stars such as Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley.
Poole’s North Carolina Ramblers have often been called the classic old-time stringband, and their intricate texture of fiddle, banjo and guitar is one of the artistic high points of early country music. With such superb musicians as the fiddlers Posey Rorer, Lonnie Austin and Odell Smith, and guitarists Roy Harvey and Norman Woodlieff, the North Carolina Ramblers were one of the best-loved and most eagerly followed of all the old-time bands.
Writing from the heart of ‘Poole Country’, Kinney Rorrer tells, for the first time, the whole story of this remarkable man and his music. It’s been said of Charlie Poole that everyone who ever saw him, however briefly, has a story to tell, and the book is crammed with first-hand anecdotes of Poole’s rambunctious behavior and rambling ways. More than a hundred illustrations and pictures provide a unique history of Poole, his musical associates and the cultural landscape of the North Carolina Piedmont. The book also includes the words of all Poole’s recordings and a comprehensive discography.