Reedy References

Over the holidays, we spent some time revisiting our research findings and searching for additional online references from the past couple of years. We came across several interesting and inspiring sources and had some unexpected conversations related to Frances and John Reedy's contributions to audio history and culture.

For example, we came across this reference in the September 22, 1945 issue of Billboard Magazine that includes “John Reedy’s troupe from Harlan, Ky” among the grandstand attractions in Pennington Gap, Virginia alongside “Grandpappy Jones and Company from Grand O’l Opry” (p. 52) and other popular artists.

There were also some listings of “John Reedy” as the artist reference for a couple of the Reedys’ commercial recordings in a 1962 issue of a publication called Country Music Promoter. Unfortunately, the entire pages that the references come from are not available. However, there was an intriguing invocation of Frances as the uncredited star in the shadows in a listing for the Starday SEP 166 recording that includes her singing lead vocals on “Oh Death.” “All numbers are not vocalized by John Reedy as number 1 is surly [sic] a female voice. To [sic] bad that the identity of the singer is not listed on the record” (p. 4). 

The last reference is from a full-page Starday ad for the label's LP series of “Country,” Western,” “Bluegrass,” and “Sacred” recordings, which includes the Reedys’ version of “Oh Death” on the Tragic Songs of Death and Sorrow compilation (image source: Gary Reid).

Even more exciting than these popular music publications from when the Reedys were actively cutting and selling records are two recent scholarly publications that mention their influence on the history and icons of bluegrass music. The Starday Story: The House that Country Music Built (2011) by Nathan D. Gibson includes two references to “John Reedy” in the index. In a discussion of the spreading popularity of Bluegrass music by the late 1950s, Gibson notes that “Starday had earned its reputation as the bluegrass label” (p. 83) and mentions several famous artists who recorded with them, including the Stanley Brothers, Carl Story, Charlie Monroe, among others. He goes on to mention “John Reedy” among some of the “less well-known bluegrass acts” (p. 83). Of course, Frances Reedy talked about having played with all of the above-mentioned musicians and more in her oral history and stories she shared with her family and friends, but it is affirming to see at least John included in this history. Later Gibson discusses the Starday label's development of gospel recording series, which lists “John Reedy and the Stone Mountain Trio” among the “plethora of gospel bluegrass EPs” (p. 102).

As we have noted in previous posts, Bill Monroe has often been mis-credited with writing John Reedy’s gospel song “Somebody Touched Me.” Gary B. Reid includes two index references for "John Reedy" that point to a couple of substantial discussions that clarify this and an inverse erroneous credit in his book, The Music of the Stanley Brothers (2014). He also mentions yet another mis-credit by someone named "Ahmet Ertegun" who we also learned had copyrighted the song in 1954 and 1958. 

Reid not only cites John Reedy's authorship of the song, but he repeats anecdotal evidence that suggests the possibility that the Reedys and the Stanley Brothers produced their early historical recordings on the same date (March 1, 1949), which could support Frances' stories about playing with them in Bristol, Tennessee. He writes, "Yet the song was actually written by eastern Kentucky musician John Reedy and was recorded by him and his Stone Mountain Hillbillys for Twin City Records, allegedly on the same day that the Stanley Brothers recorded 'White Dove'" (pp. 124-125).

Reid later corrects a reversal of mis-credit in which John Reedy is incorrectly listed as the author of "Oh Death." He goes on to discuss a detailed history of the song, but what is most interesting is that he credits Frances' mystery vocals on their Starday recording of the song as "the model for the Stanley Brothers' rendition" (p. 178)!

In addition to these discussions of the Reedys in print publications, we found some noteworthy online resources that reference the Reedy documentary blog. For example, our Voice-O-Graph recording post was shortly followed by an updated John Reedy discography by Dick Grant on Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies (Vol. 2). We also found our blog listed on a page of "Inspiration" links for a community history project in Central Austin, Texas as well as the University of Wisconsin-Madison Oral History Program's website among "Oral History Projects and Programs around the U.S., including University programs" in the Southeast. More direct recognition for our project was posted on the Eastern Kentucky Art Project Facebook page on January 18, 2015: "Wonderful project documenting the Bluegrass and Rock-a-billy scene in Dayton, Ohio coming out of the region's outward migration! Check it out! This is a great model for preserving all of those important stories out there related to Eastern Kentucky music."
 
On the music-listening front, there are some new developments with a couple of Frances' recordings, including one of her own songs. Last year we were contacted by Timothy Kane and Annika Iltis, co-directors of a documentary called "The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young" about the most difficult trail race in the world, which happens to be in Appalachian Tennessee. They were planning to use an old gospel song called "I Feel Jesus" recorded by Jimmy Murphy and his wife Flo on the soundtrack,* and they had come across the same song title on our project blog and asked if might be the same song written by Frances. We confirmed that the lyrics were the same and that they knew each other well, and they expressed interest in listening to and possibly using the original version on the Starday SEP 209 recording. They commented, "It seems that a lot of the information about the music of Appalachia has been lost. Thank you so much for all of your hard work and amazing research."

We were able to share a digitized version of the 45 rpm recording as well as a digitized reel-to-reel home recording of the song with Timi playing washboard in the background. Interestingly, they in turn shared a recent cover of the song, titled as "Oh My My" by Anna and Elizabeth, and we quickly realized that we knew who they were already! I saw Anna perform as part of her public presentation for her Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship in 2008-09, and we saw both of them perform at the Clear Creek Festival a couple of years ago.

Anna and Elizabeth are well-known young musicians who participate in contemporary  sub-cultures that preserve and perform “traditional” music, so it was quite interesting to listen to their old-timey version of the song in contrast to Frances' original recording from the early 1960s, which at the time was a very contemporary country version with a Honky Tonk flavor. The Barkley Marathons documentary that includes the song will premiere at the Nashville Film Festival in mid-April.

Finally, Frances' ghost vocals on "Oh Death" are alive and well as an influential version of the song in the history of Bluegrass music. After discovering the generous treatment of John and Frances in The Music of the Stanley Brothers, we contacted Gary Reid to let him know that we were thrilled to see John Reedy acknowledged in a formal publication about Bluegrass music, especially when he is cited as the author of "Somebody Touched Me." We also shared a link to our blog and let him know that the woman singing on John Reedy's recording of "Oh Death" was his wife Frances and that she was also an accomplished songwriter in her own right. 

We were pleased to receive a response from Reid thanking us for "the clarification on the vocals on the Reedy recording of 'Oh Death'," and he informed us that this version of the song "was included in a single CD collection last year called '18 Best of Starday Gospel.' Catalog number GUS-2345." He also indicated that he is currently "a co-producer on an upcoming 4-CD set of classic bluegrass that was recorded for the King and Starday labels. Among the cuts chosen for inclusion is the Reedy cut of 'Oh Death'." Reid said, "The bluegrass collection is still a work-in-progress," so we look forward to updates about this future release. He also told us that he had "visited and enjoyed the blogspot site a number of times... VERY interesting." Many thanks to Reid for offering numerous insights and clarifications and for sharing the full-page image of one of the pages from the October 1962 issue of the Country Music Promoter.

Months later, we are still reeling with gratitude from this abundant holiday cornucopia of acknowledgement for Frances and John Reedy. We admire the work that so many people have done to tell the story and sing the songs of Appalachian and Bluegrass music traditions. We are exploring a possible opportunity for sharing some of this work and some of our own with a visual anthropology audience. So we will post an update when more information is available on this potential project. Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who contributes to and transmits the greater knowledge about Appalachian music, migration, and memory.
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* We learned that the Jimmy Murphy cover of "I Feel Jesus" (with Flo on vocals) was an unreleased Starday recording that was later included on an Ace Records CD compilation of his Starday and REM sessions (CDCDH-714).

Voice-O-Graph Update

Since posting the Reedy Voice-O-Graph recording last week, we have received some very interesting and helpful information regarding some questions we had. On the recording, John Reedy says that they were at a carnival-type location, but the name is unintelligible. Fred Barenstein, one of the founders of the non-profit online database called Bgrass Inc., suggested that "What sounds like “Lake Subu” could be the needle skipping on “Lakeside Amusement Park," located at the time on the west side of Dayton and a probable location of the Voice-o-Graph booth." John and Frances' son Tim Reedy also said that he thought "the carnival [John] was talking about, was an amusement park called Lakeside ... close to where we lived." 

Image from http://daytonoriginals.org/2012/08/27/lakeside-amusement-park/

According to the Southwest Ohio Amusement Park Historical Society, the Lakeside Amusement Park opened in 1890 and was facing various business challenges when the Reedys made the Voice-O-Graph recording in the early 1950's. It finally closed in 1964, but it would soon have its own interesting place in music history. "In 1968, Dayton businessman George D. Tuck purchased the park and announced that the roller coaster would be torn down and the Crystal Ballroom would be saved and remodeled. He renamed the ballroom Lakeview Palladium and used the structure to host music shows, dances and meetings. Stars such as Flip Wilson, Ike & Tina Turner, James Brown and Aretha Franklin graced the ballroom in the early 70s" (Lakeside Amusement Park, SOAPHS webpage).

On another nostalgia site called Dayton Originals, a descendant of the park owner commented, "This park belonged to my grandfather but was later turned into a bingo hall and trucking company, which was passed down to my father .... I enjoy being a part of this business because of my grandfather and his dream!" She went on to say how amazing and important the photos are to her family so they "can value where we came from" and "finally see photos, that we have never seen .... due to fires and lost footage." We shared a link to the Voice-O-Graph blog and recording to contribute to the documentation of the Lakeside Amusement Park for the Tuck family.

Timi's Uncle Tim was similarly appreciative to hear the Voice-O-Graph, and he clarified the name of the aunt they visited in addition to the location of the recording. "That was pretty cool. When Dad mentioned going to Indiana and getting those vegetables, he was referring to visiting his Aunt Myrtle. She lived on a big farm. She was his mother's sister, a Honeycutt, I think."

Thanks to everyone who has checked out the Voice-O-Graph posts and the recording over the past week, and special gratitude to Fred Barenstein and Tim Reedy who confirmed the location where it was made. Also, stay tuned for other recent research findings and some new and old publications that reference the Reedys!

Reedy Voice-O-Graph Revealed!

Note: This Reedy word cloud was generated with Wordle from the content from the “Remembering the Reedys” blog from 2009-2012. Clearly the primary author also favors the additive modifier “also,” which can also be read as an encouraging indicator of the blog’s reinvigoration and future potential, as in “also…”.

It has been quite a while since we last posted, but between homesteading, grad school, and various family concerns, we have less time and resources to dedicate to this project than we would like. However, as we sort through and organize our house, we continue to find interesting treasures like photos, handwritten notes, and memorabilia that provide new glimpses into the life experiences of Frances and John Reedy. 

We posted about one such important addition to the Reedy collection, John Reedy's Voice-O-Graph recording "To All the Family," a couple of years ago. We then contacted Harry Rice at the Berea College Special Collections and Sound Archives to find out if it would be possible to play and digitize the recording. They were able to convert the record to digital format, but we were unable to make it Special Collections to pick it up due to their limited operating hours and our own time and transportation constraints. The mystery was solved, but we were still in the dark until now!

I recently contacted John Bondurant at the Berea College Sound Archives who had digitized the Voice-O-Graph recording as well as most of the other Reedy recordings that are housed there. He sent us an .mpg of the 1:05-minute Voice-O-Graph and the link to a comprehensive chronological Voice-O-Graph labelography that situates the Reedy record sometime between 1951 and 1955. This supports our previous estimation that Frances and John first moved to Dayton to work in the GM factory around 1953.

In the recording “To All the Family” back in Kentucky, John addresses his sister Beulah and recounts his family’s recent experiences migrating north. They apparently came across the Voice-O-Graph recording booth at Lake Sobu(?), which is presumably in Ohio because he also talks about going “down to Indiana” to visit Mary who gave them some garden vegetables to take home. We are pretty certain that John is reporting home about the Reedy family’s very first venture to the Dayton area because he talks about how they’re "making a home" with his two jobs. He mentions “Timmy”, and Frances says, “Hello.” Marie also cuts in about Harold (Timi’s father) having a job, and the recording ends with John talking about how much Harold enjoys spending his money.

This is a key finding because it both documents the Reedys’ first cyclical migration to Ohio and likely represents John’s first conscious self-documentation effort outside of a professional recording studio. Therefore, this recording is a telling precursor of the prolific home recordings that John and Frances made on reel-to-reel and cassette tapes in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The fact that we are able to share this unique piece of the Reedys’ early migration and recording history digitally represents another significant technological development that facilitates the continued migration and circulation of their self-documentation in another time and space.

We owe our ongoing gratitude to Harry Rice and John Bondurant at the Berea College Special Collections and Sound Archives for their continued support of the Reedy documentary project and their careful attention to the curation and preservation of the numerous multi-media artifacts that comprise it.

p.s. In the process of re-learning how to upload and post the Voice-O-Graph audio file, I discovered that the Reedy Multi-Media Library page needed updating. The page now includes both the digital audio files for the Voice-O-Graph recording and my Frankie & Johnny mash-up “Tiny Bitty Pieces Knocking on Your Door.” Finally, the Reedy Documentary video playlist has been updated and should be working again.

As an extra bonus, check out Jack White’s working model of a Voice-O-Graph recording booth in the "Novelties Lounge" of his Third Man Records studio in Nashville and this music video of a recording that Brendan Benson, a songwriter made for his wife. The record label website also includes audio recordings of other artists who have made records in the booth and information about how anyone can make one for only $15!

Voice-O-Graph Discovery & Mystery!

Earlier this summer, Timi's Uncle Tim told her that their cousin Robin had discovered a new Reedy treasure. She found a small record among her grandmother Beulah's belongings, and she gave it to Tim to pass along to Timi because she was aware of our project. Beulah was John Reedy's sister and was never part of their band, but several of her descendants are members of a contemporary family gospel group known as The Van Nordstroms.

The record is unlike any other in the Reedy collection. It is smaller than a 45 and has a small spindle hole in the middle. It is labeled from John to "All The Family", and its date is "Aug. 10, 19..." but the actual year is difficult to discern. It looks like "1920", but this would have been before John was born.

This new discovery is intriguing for several reasons. According to Collectors Quest, a collectors website, it was produced in a Voice-O-Graph recording booth, which resembles a phone booth, where one could deposit money and speak into the receiver to record a one-of-a-kind audio recording.

Image from http://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/voice.htm

The website also indicates that the Voice-O-Graph machines were made around the late 1950s and 1960s, so this would likely place John's recording around the same time period that he and Frances were living part-time in Ohio. So he could have recorded a message "To All the Family" back home in Kentucky. 

As noted by the collector/blogger Collin David on this site, "Audio cassettes wouldn’t really become popular until the late 1970s, so in an era where recording equipment was not as readily available as it is today, these were surely thrilling machines. The idea [of] recording oneself for perpetuity and aural immortality is one that appeals to us all. Of course, these records could only be etched once, so the sounds stored on them were completely unique and existed solely on that singular recording."

Image from http://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/voice.htm

As we know from their extensive reel-to-reel home recordings (and later cassette recordings), John and Frances consciously documented themselves and their family members, and it seems like the Voice-O-Graph experience could have inspired them to acquire their reel-to-reel recorder before such technology became commonplace and inexpensive.

Of course, the most intriguing part of this discovery is finding out what is on the Voice-O-Graph record! We have contacted Harry Rice to inform him of this new-found recording and our interest in donating it to the Berea College Sound Archives as part of the Reedy collection of commercial and home recordings that we donated and processed as part of our Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship in 2009. We hope that it is in good enough condition to digitize its contents and thus solve the mystery of what John sent to "All The Family" and when.

Re-Reedy at ASA: Appalachian Music, Migration, & Memory Revisited

We had a whirlwind trip to Indiana, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour northeast of Pittsburgh and the farthest north the Appalachian Studies conference has ever been.  We enjoyed traveling with our ever-trusty and always fun travel companion Banjo Deborah, though we were all a little stressed out by the long trip, and neither Timi or I were feeling well that weekend.

Our multi-media presentation, "Re-Reedy: Appalachian Music, Migration, and Memory," which built on our 2010 ASA presentation, focused on (1) the findings from our Family Research Fellowship at the Kentucky Historical Society about Frances and John Reedy's early career in Harlan, Kentucky; (2) the commercial and home recordings they produced in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio during their migration cycles; and (3) video footage of Harold Reedy and his memories of his parents' music and migration.

We experienced some frustrating technical difficulties at the beginning of the presentation, but a helpful volunteer was able to get the system to cooperate finally.  Fortunately, we had a full hour for our presentation, otherwise the technical challenges would have consumed the time allotted for a typical paper presentation.  Our audience was small (about eight people), but they were all very patient and highly knowledgeable about the Reedys' musical era and migration area.  So we had a great discussion with these folks that extended well into the lunch hour!

We used the documentary blog for presenting our fellowship research on the Reedys' early performances in Harlan, and we also played Frances' version of "Oh Death," which she and John custom recorded as a 45 rpm record when they were living in Dayton.  We concluded by sharing some of the footage we shot during Harold's visits when he was staying with us regularly.  It was difficult to talk about the shifting landscape of his memory, but it was good to share his remembrance and love of Frances and John's music as well as our story about caring for a loved one.

In honor of Harold's role in this ongoing project and process, we have posted a brief  footage segment from one of his visits to our home.  The soundtrack is the "Song Title Medley," improvised and sung by his father John Reedy and digitized from a reel-to-reel home recording circa the 1960's.

Appalachian Studies Conference Presentation March 2012

35th Annual Appalachian Studies Conference

March 22-24, 2012

 "Re-Reedy: Appalachian Music, Migration & Memory Revisited"
Multi-Media Presentation by Tammy Clemons & Timi Reedy
  (Saturday, March 24, 11:00 a.m.—noon, Location TBA)

Timi and I have proposed and been accepted for another multi-media presentation at the next Appalachian Studies Association (ASA) Conference in the northern reaches of the Appalachian region at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).  This session will build on our 2010 ASA presentation on the Reedys and will focus on (1) recent findings from the Kentucky Historical Society about their early career in Harlan, Kentucky; (2) the commercial and home recordings produced in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio during their migration cycles; and (3) video footage of the Reedys’ sons, Harold and Tim, and their memories of their parents music and migration.  We are looking forward to sharing some new material from our documentary-in-progress about the musical careers and family histories of Frances and John Reedy.  

It will also be exciting to interact with other Appalachian scholars at the ASA conference again.  Timi has now attended for the past two years, and I have attended the conference the past five years in a row (and have presented five times, though not every year).  This year, I am grateful to receive support from the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center to attend.  Since I began my doctoral program in cultural anthropology this fall, I have been attending some events and interacting with various folks there as much as I can.  In fact, one of my co-advisors, Dr. Ann Kingsolver, is the new director of the center and the Appalachian Studies program, and we both recently "published" pieces in the Appalachia issue of anthropologies: An Online Collaborative Project that "seeks to highlight not only what anthropology means to those who practice it, but also how those meanings are relevant to wider audiences."

My new academic endeavor and my simultaneous return to a full-time position at Berea College have definitely impacted my productivity on this documentary, but I hope to find ways to integrate this project into my long-term dissertation research as well.  Dr. Kingsolver has encouraged me to think more broadly about my overall interest in documentation, identity, and social change, so it will be interesting to see what unfolds as I embark on my investigation on feminist media activism in Appalachia and continue to gather and present information on the Reedys' music and family.

That said, Timi and I now have a couple of exciting new opportunities to expand our vision and public reach on this and other topics.  I do not want to say too much just yet, but I can say that one of these will be a proposal for the upcoming Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase organized by the Graduate Appalachian Research Community at UK. There may also be another UK involved at some point, but that will have to remain a mystery for now...

Meanwhile, we are looking forward to attending and presenting at another ASA conference.  This year's theme is "The Wide Reach of Appalachia," and the featured keynote speaker and performer will be Si Kahn.  If you are interested in participating, they offer registration scholarships for folks who could not afford to attend otherwise.  (Timi and I were awarded scholarships to attend the past two years when I was unemployed.)  Scholarship information as well as a preliminary program with tentative session schedules should be posted on the ASA website in the coming months, so stay tuned for more on the ASA at IUP...