Category Archive

I don’t just listen to dark, doom funk!  Actually I spend a lot of my time, mostly while active, listening to happy bluegrass music like these dudes from Kentucky - Tom Bledsoe and Rich Kirby.  If it’s a good mood you’re seeking, play this:

by Cousin Geoff

Wendy Miller & Mike Lilly recorded this album, Country Old Country New on Brighton, Michigan’s Old Homestead record label in 1975.  A really strong album throughout, it features a great original spiritual roots song, My God’s Not Dead.  The song was written by Mike and his mother, Betty Lilly.

I’m drawn to this type of music because of it’s honesty.  I’ve been increasingly into bluegrass music the past few years, and it’s roots music at it’s finest.  My dad and I drove up north this past weekend and we listened to XM’s bluegrass junction station the entire way.  So in my quest to dig deeper into the genre, I’ve naturally found some wonderful local records, as this overlaps with my love of long-lost Michigan recordings.

I’ve always found a similar connection to bluegrass and reggae.  Both are music of the people with similar themes thoughout, including their own sources of spiritual strength: Jesus with bluegrass and Jah with reggae.  My God’s Not Dead reminded me of the Bob Marley song Jah Live, written in response to the negativity towards Rastas after the death of their profit, Etheopean Emporer Haile Salassie I.  Bob put out this song a day or two after his death, with an incredible response by Jamaican Rastafarians.

Fellow Wailer and devout Rastafarian Peter Tosh’s first solo album (although he was backed in the studio by many members of the Wailers-but not Marley) was the epic Legalize It.  The track Igziabher (Let Jah Be Praised) remains a Rastafarian classic, and displays Tosh’s amazing songwriting abilities. 

Another LP found on Ypsilanti’s Pathway label.

PLP 184, The Pleasant Valley Boys Sing The Fields Have Turned Brown.  Featuring: Roy Derringer, Rhythm Guitar (Wayne); Donald Clay, Lead Singer (Ypsilanti); Tom Rains, Mandolin (South Lyon); Eddie Carrol, Lead Guitar (Brighton).  With special guest Sonny Nelson, Five String Banjo (Detroit).

Wow.  Totally blown away by this one.  Judging by the rawness of the other Pathways I have, I didn’t know what to expect, but this record is unbelievable.  A very, very, solid traditional bluegrass record, all done in the sacred style that is Pathway.  I was so excited that I actually called the numbers on the back of this late 60s record, hoping to get ahold of Donald or Roy.  It DID say “If you would like to have the Pleasant Valley Boys in your neighborhood, phone…”  I was hoping I’d get an 80 year old former member and would just make his day by asking questions about the Pleasant Valley Boys, and then I’d invite them to play in my backyard in Ypsi in front of a campfire and record it or something.  But, sadly, both numbers were disconnected. 

This record is no joke; it’s very similar to a Stanley Brothers record, and all songs are excellent and the singing and musicianship are also very good.  It’s by far the best Pathway I’ve heard, and it’s different in that it’s more traditional and professional and not as wacky/weird sounding as the others.  Whether that’s a good thing I have no idea.

It’s funny that this turned up, but this is often the case.  We’ll get to thinking about something or getting into something and then it’ll turn up on cue. 

Listen to “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”:

Fullfreight banjo benefit concert!  This Saturday from 5-10!  At the Corner Brewery!  The lineup is here.  I’ve already told you about this, so this is a friendly reminder that it’s coming up.  I’ll be there if Ella is down. 

We’re all connected through music. 

There is a benefit bluegrass concert called The Full Freight on April 5th in Ypsilanti at the Corner Brewery.  This is exciting not only for the great music, but because it is also one of many efforts to save Ypsilanti’s historic Freighthouse. 

Before I tell you more, let me first reset another post I did a while ago when I declared a Bluegrass Weekend.  That wasn’t the only time I’ve written about bluegrass on the site - it’s no secret that bluegrass runs as deep in my soul as soul music itself, especially bluegrass that’s made in my home state of Michigan.

In the Bluegrass Weekend post, I wrote about one of my favorite bluegrass musicians ever to strum a Michigan banjo - and that’s Ford Nix.  I have several of his records, none more rocking than his self titled on Detroit’s Walker label, where he plucks the two headed banjo like the devil himself.

When my friend Gerard visited last summer, we sat down and listened to my records.  Mama Don’t Allow by Ford Nix was one of his favorites.

Listen to Mama Don’t Allow:

I just recieved a note from a personal friend of Ford Nix: Bob Leaman from Murphy, North Carolina.  Bob says that because of health concerns, Ford no longer performs music.  Bob plays pedal steel guitar and often plays gigs with Ford’s brother, John Nix.  I replied back to Bob that I wished Ford well and to let him know that I have several of his records and I enjoy them very much.

Ford knew how to put a rocking, jam based twist on bluegrass, but still kept one foot firmly planted in the roots of this traditional American genre.  Another record of his that I have is a bluegrass gospel record he did much later on with some old timer friends of his from North Carolina.  It’s on the Flying Squirrel record label, called Songs That Never Grow Old.

The note from Ford’s friend came the same day a neighbor from down the street asked me if Cousins Vinyl was interested in any way in helping out with The Full Freight benefit concert at the Corner Brewery on April 5th.  The Freighthouse in Ypsilanti is a building that has brought people of all ages and races together, seeped in the deep roots of our heritage as a city.  For many years, the restored Freighthouse, located on Cross Street in the heart of historic Depot Town, and a stone’s throw from the Huron river, served as a Saturday morning gathering place for coffee and doughnuts, as local bluegrass musicians played free for the people.  But for the past four or five years, the Freighthouse has been shut down due to much needed repairs.  At least $250,000 is needed to restore it back to working condition.

The local Ypsilanti band Black Jake and Carnies, the self proclaimed “Original Kings of Crabgrass”, and with whom my neighbor is a member, will be there along with eight other banjo oriented bands.  Mark Maynard also has a post about this along with other info on the Freighthouse and this effort to restore it. 

I would like to think that old Ford Nix, wherever he is, would like nothing more than to see this concert and Freighthouse restoration movement carried through, so those songs he sang about that never grow old can keep on living right here in good old Ypsilanti.

I first discovered my hometown of Ypsilanti’s Pathway label with the previously posted The Smith Family LP, Sing Your Gospel Favorites.  Another find, The Pathway Quartet, with one of the Cousins’ favorite all-time songs, Jesus is a Soul Man, may or may not be related to this label, as the musical style is very similar, and the label on the LP appears to be from a private pressing.

The latest record we came across on the Pathway label is actually really good.  It’s Carl and Evert with a 45 featuring the song, “I Have Found The Way.”  Not a whole lot of info is out there about this label, other than it was founded around 1964 by Red Ellis, a Starday recording artist who also sang in a group called Red Ellis and the Crossmen, of whch one of the members was Evert Sanders.  The Smith Family also gives a shout-out to The Crossmen, so I am guessing that they were sort of the Pathway house band.  I’m not sure who Carl is or what his last name even is.  The same site that I found the info about Evert Sanders also listed this bio from the cover of their album they recorded on Pathway called “That Beautiful Land”:

 EVERT SANDERS was one of 8 children. He was born in Ranger, West Virginia May 9, 1934. His Father was a coal miner and Evert distinctly remembers the coal camps. When only 16 Months old, the family moved to Kentucky. When he was 16 years old, the family decided to move back to West Virginia. In 1952 Evert came to Michigan. He presently lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan with wife Dorothy and 3 children Mark, Billy and Lorinda. Evert was converted in 1956 and has been serving the Lord ever since. He sings tenor & some lead also plays bass in this album.

The Pathway label’s address is listed at 508 Maus Street in Ypsilanti, Michigan.  I have been meaing to drive by that address and take a picture of the house or building - when I do I will post it again here.  I have a few other records of The Smith Family, and there are at least two other addresses of Pathway - one is 9901 Stoneycreek Road in Milan, Michigan, which is just south of Ypsilanti. 

I think the Pathway label is as important to Ypsilanti’s history as is the well documented song on this site, Back To Ypsilanti by Lee Osler on the Mustache record label.  ”I Have Found The Way” represents the effect the migration of southern factory workers to Ypsilanti had on the musical landscape.  The Ford Plant and the Bomber Plant were nearby, drawing many bluegrass picking musicians to the area, many of whom are still around today.  I’ve met many bluegrass and gospel enthusiasts while chatting with neighbors or out at the local yard sales, and I think this kind of music is an important part of our history.  I live on East Cross Street in a neighborhood that was built in the late 50s and early 60s in a time where small ranch houses were built to accomodate all the new workers and their families.  There are old tiny churches EVERYWHERE around the area I live - at least 10 within a mile of my house.

Carl and Evert mix the sacred with the rockin’, and this goes well with their message of finding the way.  This may be the crown jewel on The Pathway label. 

listen:

My wife doesn’t like this record because she thinks it’s too weird, so I’m taking that as a good sign that this family gospel album recorded in Ypsilanti, MI at 508 Maus Street on the Pathway label is quite a find.

Rather than review it, I’ll just have you listen to the songs I selected and read what’s on the back cover:

I, Crit Smith, was born September 8, 1933, in Whitley County, Kentucky, near Williansburg, and there I met and married Beulah Brown, the daughter of Reverend Andy and Sarah Brown, in 1950.

I worked in a mill until 1952, then came to Detroit, Michigan, and worked in a factory until 1955.  I then went into carpenter work, which I do at the present time.  We are very proud of our family, all of which are saved and working for Jesus.  We have three daughters: Loretta, sixteen; Barbara, fifteen; Linda, thirteen; and two sons: Eugene, eight; and Mark, two months.  Mark is too young to do any singing yet, but we are trusting in the Lord that he will take part when he is older.

We want to thank everyone that has taken a part and helped us in any way in making this album, especially our pastor, Reverend Luther Gibson, of the Church of God, in Woodhaven, Michigan.  We have had so many requests for records, that we felt God was inspiring us to make this album.

We enjoyed working with “THE CROSSMEN”: Roy, Evert, and Blaine; and praise God for them and their ministry.

          THE SMITH FAMILY

listen, I Want To Be Robed And Ready:

listen, How Are You Raising Your Children:

We say it’s bluegrass weekend.  Maybe it’ll change later this weekend.  We won’t know ’til Saturday morning and the coffee’s brewing.  But for right now, it’s bluegrass.  We want original thoughts and stories from you.  Hop on the Cousins Train cuz it’s a rollin’ now

Let me warm us up with this.  Echos Des Prairies Levis Bouliane, et ses Blue Grass Ramblers.  On London, MB 128.  These guys knew how to ramble.  Anyone know anything about these guys?  Plug in, grab a beverage and listen to Reel Du Sucre D’erable.  What does it tell us?  Sounds to me like Irish roots + Mexican roots = on the border bluegrass heaven. 

Ford Nix.  Self titled on Detroit’s Walker label.  Some great rockin’ bluegrass.  Has a two-headed banjo, which he plays like the devil himself.  I’ve got some other records from Ford Nix.  I could google this guy, but anyone out there have any original info on him?  Please comment below and tell us a story.  Or tell us what you think. 

listen to Mama Don’t Allow No Music Around Here:

We’ve heard from the Mexican border, we’ve heard from good ol’ De-troit, Michigan.  But the Frenchies?  Some raggety Paris hippies who scrapped up cash in June of 1973 to fly to the States, bought a junk car, and hit every major bluegrass festival possible?  Can they hold it down? 

Taking in consideration that Herve de Sainte Foy is listed on the musican’s credits as “In Spirit”, listen to La Bluegrass Connection’s Va Va Va, off their Bluegrass Francais LP on Puritan:

The Violent Femmes found Bluegrass and Jesus, perhaps at the same time, at least temporarily, and recorded Jesus Walking On The Water for their Hallowed Ground record on Slash.  Jesus, as you know, is a common theme in bluegrass music, as is evident on the next selection, which you may have seen posted here before.  But wait, first listen to the group who was also known for a smash hit about, umm…you know.

Jesus is a Soul Man.  That’s what Sandusky Ohio’s Pathway Quartet says and I ain’t arguing with ‘em.  Sam and Dave said they were Soul Men; I say they were and so was Jesus.  And so are all of us. 

listen:

But what about that authentic homegrown Kentucky bluegrass? 

I rediscoverd this record just now while writing this post.  I don’t want to rush to post a track, cause every one I listen to I want to post.  It’s the Osborne Brothers and Red Allen, Country Pickin’ and Hillside Singin’.  I’m going to enjoy this for a while and then decide.  Jess is gone, which explains the size of this bluegrass entry.  It’s Friday, I’ve got the Tigers on the big screen, the record player going full blast, the beer flowing - that sort of thing.  So hold on while I enjoy this record.

I’m watching the tournament and playing records too.  These are some I’ve been listening to:

I took a picture of the B side of Back To Ypsilanti playing on my record player because I wanted to hype it’s arrive coming soon to hear.  Van kept bugging me to make him a copy.  I made him a copy of Back To Ypsilanti and he kept asking for that B side.  Everyday, he’d say, “You got that other joint yet?”  I’d say no man, you gotta trade me.  He had this studio recording of the Temptations and Marvin Gaye and a few others all singing together, practicing.  One of the Temptations sons, who he knows on the Detroit soul and R&B karaoke circuit, gave it to him.  Van’s a big soul karaoke guy - he goes over to Detroit from Ypsi about 3-4 times a week to sing or host events.  And he sings to his middle school students everyday (he’s a gym teacher).  The nights he’s not singing he goes to watch high school basketball games.  But anyway, he wouldn’t give it to me.  He liked having that recording that nobody else had (or I had).  So I never made him a copy of that B side, Tarnished Love Affair.  But I will trade him though. 

But look Van, don’t you wish you just finished listening like I did?  It was good too - I can still hear it - (AND HERE’S A TEASER) so long, so long, so looooooooong…..

This next one is good for relaxing.  Like that end of the week relax when you first get home.  Jimmy Smith, with Grant Green.  A Blue Note classic.  And one of the best covers ever made.

Just a walkin’ the dog, if you don’t know how to do it, I’ll show you how to walk the dog.  1963 Stax.  Rufus Thomas.  I wonder if my wife will let us name our son Rufus?  I’m guessing no.  As you can see from the cover, ol’ Rufus sure did know how to make white people dance!  It must have been easy.

I love bluegrass.  And I love local music.  That’s why this is one of my favorite records in my collection.  The RFD Boys first record on Jessup.  I’d compare them to The Seldom Scene.  Which is another of my favorites.  They do a great version of Country Road.  And some good originals.  Overall just so good…I’m going to go see them on the 25th - maybe you should too?

After seeing the Holmes Brothers at the Ark a few weeks ago, I dug back into my gospel section.  Detroiters The Rance Allen Group is similar to The Holmes Brothers in their ability to blend gospel with uptempo soul and rhythm and blues.  This is their second album, on Gospel Truth, a Stax label.  They do a song called Just My Salvation that’s set to the music of the Temptations Just My Imagination.   

So that’s what I’m on so far tonight.  I’m thinking about making a mix CD from my vinyl collection, but I can’t decide if I want to pick a genre or do a multi genre.  My genre options I’m considering are: all Michigan bands, bluesgrass, funk, 50s to early 60s R&B, Blues, Funk, Reggae, or even something crazy like Gospel, Bluegrass Gospel, Zydeco/New Orleans, or old school Rap.  Of course, my laziness always takes over and I end up just playing them and thinking about making a mix some other day.

In other news, Max Conroy is visiting Cousin Justin this weekend.  Max is part of the 586 Gunson Street band from East Lansing that I’ve heard so much about.  Apparently there’s a long lost recording still floating around somewhere.  I’ll see the both of ‘em tomorrow so I’ll see what I can dig up. 

When I’m out looking for records, I often buy it if it has a cool cover, which is the case with The Pathway Quartet’s religious bluegrass LP, Soul Man.  I was at an Ypsilanti church yard sale, thumbing through a box under the table when I found it.  At first glance, I thought the bluegrass band from Sandusky, Ohio was going to do a cover of Sam and Dave’s famous Memphis Stax song.  When I got home, I discovered the soul man they were singing about wasn’t themselves, but Jesus! 

But I say: Sam, Dave, Jesus and The Pathway Quartet were all soul men (and women).

 and see if you agree!

We had this Crocket (of Traverse City, Michigan) LP for a while in the store and nobody bought it.  One day I put it on and got a big kick out of one of the songs, the upbeat-bluegrass track Roaches In The Ashtray.  Ol’ Crocket tried the Navy, tried law school, tried listenin’ to the man, but all he ever wanted was to be a guitar pickin’ man.

Give it a .