Eck Robertson

Eck Robertson can only just be called the foundation of a concealed background of nation music. Most likely the 1st fiddler to record on record (and in addition probably the 1st nation record commercially obtainable), Robertson appears to be the pinnacle and the foundation from the Fiddle Competition tradition, and at least, his information and contest looks in Tx were an motivation for a era of fiddlers. Fiddlers had been nation music’s 1st virtuosos, and that may largely be related to Robertson’s deep and soulful playing. He swings before golf swing became institutionalized on record (his 1st record came a brief 2 yrs after Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues”), and his information became the typical where fiddle players had been (and so are!) examined. His playing is definitely ingenious and user-friendly, the type of work you might expect from your originator of design, rather than follower of some folk custom. His edition of “Sallie Gooden” drones and saws its method to a robust summary. Its power noises classic, and it seems as if it might last for 20 moments, and one desires that it could. Robertson’s early recordings evoke some sort of ignored age plus some classic futurity and, therefore, is an important element of any background of nation music. Robertson was created in Delaney, AR, in 1887. His family members shortly transferred to Tx, and he became permanently associated with a “Tx Audio” of fiddling: extreme, showstopping, vaudevillian skill. He just documented around 16 industrial recordings in the years 1922 and 1929. His recordings successfully tell the annals of old-time music in the 1920s: His recordings alerted record businesses to the marketplace for old-time music through the entire South, and his go back to documenting in 1929 signaled the finish from the traditional old-time string music group sound that acquired dominated nation music during its initial decade. He documented mostly single or along with his family members: his wife, Nettie, his little girl Daphne, and his kid Dueron. He also documented with Nat Shilkret, among the first popular music superstars. Robertson continued to record among the great tragedies of nation music’s background. In the 1940s he documented over 100 music for radio that have hardly ever been discovered. Despite his comparative obscurity, Robertson reaped several advantages from the 1960s folk revival and documented some documentary materials. He passed away on Feb 17, 1975. Region Records released a fantastic retrospective of his early function in 1998.