BBC Radio in UK has a program series called “The Tingle Factor”. The brief is
simple: musical, artistic or literary personalities share pieces of music which make the
hair stand up on the back of their neck, and try to explain why. As you would expect, the
scope and range of musical choices is vast. We are all familiar with the tingle factor in
bluegrass music, what Bill Monroe used to call “the cold chills”. The
recordings and live performances of the great players are liberally seeded with these
moments, and everyone who loves the music has his or her personal list of favorites. My
own experience has been that in addition to the music of the bluegrass and old-time
greats, there are many other recordings which have a special meaning for me and to which
I have returned over years of listening for a repeat of the ‘tingle’ experience. I’m very
aware that for each of us our response to music is individual, and what is wonderful
listening for one person can be anathema to another. An ardent fan of early rock ‘n’ roll
music once told me that he enjoyed bluegrass but couldn’t stand the 5-string banjo….
With that caveat, here are some recordings by artists who are not in the pantheon of the
superstars but whose recordings, for me, have the tingle factor:
Connie and Babe and the Backwoods Boys aka Connie and Joe – particularly for me their
Rounder LP “Backwoods Bluegrass”, though one of my friends, who had one of the
largest record collections in UK, used to rate “Basic Bluegrass” as their
best.
Buzz Busby “Going Home” – best of the Starday recordings by this awe-inspiring
and way-out singer and mandolin player
Snuffy Jenkins and Homer Sherrill on Rounder: “33 Years of Pickin’ and
Pluckin'” and “Crazy Water Barn Dance”
Bill Clifton and the Dixie Mountain Boys “Blue Ridge Mountain Blues” on County
– Bill at his best with a bluegrass band
Roger Sprung “Progressive Bluegrass” Volumes 1-3 on Folkways, plus “Grassy
Licks” – I’m a great fan of the ragtime-tinged music of this influential banjo
player from New York
The New Deal String Band with Tom Paley and Joe Locker, “Down in the Willow” –
New York flavored old-time music. It’s an old UK release from the 1960s – there is a
transcript of the first side of the LP on YouTube, but to my ear this suffers from poor
stereo balance.
Will Keys “A Banjo Original” – recordings on County by a highly individual
old-time banjo player
Carroll Best “Say Old Man, Can You Play The Banjo” – probably my favorite
melodic banjo player, who was playing fiddle tunes on the 5-string before Bill Keith and
Bobby Thompson
Fletcher Bright – a wonderful fiddle player who very sadly died recently at the age of
86. “The Fletcher Bright Fiddle Band” and “Last Night’s Fun” were
sent to me ten years ago by a friend in the States and are favorites on my CD player.
“Music From The Lost Provinces” – an anthology of recordings by old-time
stringbands from the region of Ashe County, North Carolina. Probably my favorite old-time
collection.
E. C. and Orna Ball – lovely old-time singing and guitar playing on the Rounder LPs
“E. C. Ball” and “Fathers Have A Home Sweet Home”
If you can access any of these recordings I hope you will find something with the tingle
factor for you!
John Baldry
March 2018
