Texas Gladden & Hobart Smith 1946

In 1946 Alan Lomax invited the prolific ballad singer Texas Gladden of Saltville, Virginia, and her brother, multi-instrumentalist Hobart Smith, to perform with Andrew Rowan Summers and Jean Ritchie at Columbia University's McMillan Theater as part of a festival held by the university. During their stay in New York, Alan conducted extensive interviews with them Decca Studios—these interviews, as well as performances from that session, comprise this collection. Alan also introduced them to Moses Asch, who issued an album later that year on his Disc label (later Folkways) as "Texas Gladden Sings Blue Ridge Ballads." According to John Cohen, "Within a few years, Smith's guitar picking was heard in New York's Washington Square folk music scene, where 'Railroad Bill' was especially imitated."

Interview with Texas Gladden about starting singing

Interview with Texas Gladden about her singing influences

Interview with Texas Gladden about her mother and sad songs

Interview with Texas Gladden about her singing style (I)

Interview with Texas Gladden about the emotional content of songs

Interview with Texas Gladden about the stories behind songs

Interview with Texas Gladden about her favorite old-time ballads

Interview with Texas Gladden about The Two Brothers (I)

Interview with Texas Gladden about sibling relationships (part 1)

Interview with Texas Gladden about sibling relationships (part 2)

Interview with Texas Gladden about family gatherings

Interview with Hobart Smith about the power of music

Interview with Texas Gladden about her siblings

Interview with Texas Gladden about her family's musical ability

Interview with Texas Gladden about the number of songs she knows

Interview with Hobart Smith about his early interest in music

Interview with Hobart Smith about his first tune and the instruments he plays

Interview with Hobart Smith about his dancing ability

Interview with Hobart Smith about dance steps

Interview with Hobart Smith about the power of music (duplicate)

Interview with Hobart Smith and Texas Gladden about men and women's taste in music

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about their sharecropper father

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about the Smith family land in Saltville, Virginia

Interview with Hobart Smith about his ancestors' founding of Saltville, Virginia

Interview with Texas Gladden about family relations

Interview with Texas Gladden about how Smyth County got its name

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about the family's musicality (I)

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about love songs and the church

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about the devil and the fiddle

Interview with Hobart Smith about hard times in the Smith family

Interview with Texas Gladden about the names of her parents

Interview with Texas Gladden about the names of her siblings

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about the family's musicality (II)

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about their parents love of music and Uncle Dave Macon

Interview with Hobart Smith and Texas Gladden about Hobart's sons

Interview with Hobart Smith and Texas Gladden about their spouses' opinions of music

Interview with Hobart Smith and Texas Gladden about playing music for a living

Interview with Texas Gladden about music and raising children

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about singing games

Interview with Texas Gladden about her mother's influence

Interview with Texas Gladden about her father

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about relatives' names

Interview with Texas Gladden about her grandfather

Interview with Texas Gladden about the family's land

Interview with Texas Gladden about her father hunting goose nests

Interview with Texas Gladden about her father's stories

Interview with Hobart Smith about old-timey traditions

Interview with Hobart Smith about his father

Interview with Hobart Smith and Texas Gladden about their introduction to blues

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about their father's prejudices

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about their father's personality

Interview with Texas Gladden about singing sad and romantic songs

Interview with Texas Gladden about dreary swampland in England

Interview with Texas Gladden about Mary Of The Wild Moor and I Am A Man Of Honor

I Am A Man Of Honor

Interview with Texas Gladden about Roving Cowboy

Roving Cowboy

Interview with Texas Gladden about Roving Cowboy and Dark Island

Interview with Texas Gladden about Dark Island

Dark Island

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about love and sadness

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about old-time love

Interview with Texas Gladden about her courtship and marriage

Interview with Texas Gladden about her relationship with her father after her marriage

The Wreck Of The Old '97 (false start)

The Wreck Of The Old '97

Interview with Texas Gladden about The Wreck Of The Old '97

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about Always Been A Rambler

Always Been A Rambler

Interview with Texas Gladden and Hobart Smith about Wild And Reckless Hobo

Wild And Reckless Hobo

Talk/ambience

Talk/ambience

Gypsy Davy

Interview with Texas Gladden about gypsies

Gypsy Davy (last verse)

Interview with Texas Gladden about Gypsy Davy and ballad composition

Interview with Texas Gladden about The Devil's Nine Questions

Interview with Texas Gladden about The Two Brothers (II)

The Two Brothers

Talk/ambience

Interview with Texas Gladden about I'm Never To Marry (I)

I'm Never To Marry

Interview with Texas Gladden about I'm Never To Marry (II)

Talk/ambience

Three Little Babes

Interview with Texas Gladden about Three Little Babes

Kind Sir, I See You've Come Again

Interview with Texas Gladden on inappropriate songs (I)

Talk/ambience

Once I Knew A Pretty Fair Miss

Interview with Texas Gladden about Once I Knew A Pretty Fair Miss

Interview with Texas Gladden about Love's Worse Than Sickness

Love's Worse Than Sickness

Interview with Texas Gladden about inappropriate songs (II)

Unidentified ballad fragment

Interview with Texas Gladden about Molly Bawn (I)

Molly Bawn (fragment)

Interview with Texas Gladden about Molly Bawn (II)

In The Shadow Of The Pines

Interview with Texas Gladden about Peg And Awl

Peg And Awl

Talk/ambience

Talk/ambience

Unidentified electric guitar tune

K.C. Blues

Ghost story of Civil War soldiers and a haunted house

Interview with Hobart Smith about running from a bull

Interview with Hobart Smith about New York

Story of two ugly men

Interview with Texas Gladden about a moonshiner preacher (part 1)

Interview with Texas Gladden about a moonshiner preacher (part 2)

Interview with Hobart Smith about old-timey music (part 1)

Interview with Hobart Smith about old-timey music (part 2)

Interview with Hobart Smith about old-timey music (part 3)

Interview with Hobart Smith about playing the fiddle

Interview with Hobart Smith about the effect old-time music has on him

Interview with Hobart Smith and Texas Gladden about family musical gatherings

Interview with Hobart Smith about the songs he plays at his musical gatherings

Interview with Hobart Smith about the number of tunes he knows and how he learns them

Interview with Hobart Smith about fiddle and banjo tunings

Interview with Hobart Smith about learning songs

Interview with Hobart Smith about fiddle contests

Interview with Hobart Smith about an adventure at a square dance

Interview with Hobart Smith about fights at dances

Interview with Hobart Smith about his father's musical ability

Interview with Hobart Smith about his biography and playing dances

Interview with Hobart Smith about a trip to North Carolina

Interview with Hobart Smith about Claude Allen

Ghost story of the white cow

Interview with Texas Gladden about her grandfather

Interview with Texas Gladden about maintaining her songs' integrity

Interview with Texas Gladden about learning songs

Interview with Texas Gladden about her singing style (II)

Interview with Texas Gladden about responses to her songs

Interview with Texas Gladden about the way old-time songs should be sung

136 Results