Holy Modal Rounders - 1 & 2

This is a reissue of the first two Holy Modal Rounders records, resequenced according to the artists' original intent and including two unreleased songs from the time of the recording (1963-64). Perhaps the most earsplittingly original duo of the entire folk revival, the Holy Modal Rounders (fiddler-banjoist Peter Stampfel with guitarist Steve Weber) merged the raw energies of rock, traditional American folk, and blues in a weird, whimsical manner (later dunderheadedly termed "acid folk"). The Holy Modal Rounders performed screeching yet subtle versions of old numbers by the likes of Clarence Ashley, Vernon Dalhart, and Uncle Dave Macon, updating tunes like "Hesitation Blues" with a countercultural reference or two (their version of that song contains the first recorded usage of "psychedelic"). This is one of the coolest things about the Rounders--as Stampfel writes in the liner notes, their basic approach to an old tune was to "hear song, forget song, try to remember song while adding your personal wrinkles, bingo!" An irreverent wit pervades the disc, from pop-tune parodies such as "Mr. Spaceman" to their original folk-based songs (which were neither preachy nor ham-fisted--a true rarity in '63) such as "Blues in the Bottle" and "Hey, Hey Baby." The result not only sounds way less corny than anything else from the era, but hews much closer to the raggedly strange, sublime Americana sounds of Charlie Poole, Dock Boggs, and Charley Patton. --Mike McGonigal Amazon.com

An enjoyable classic

Anyone who was "there" in the late '60s will remember the quirky blend of jug band, old timey music, and psychedelia that was the Holy Model Rounders---surrealistic fun. This is their best stuff, on one CD, a great buy. The songs still hold up; I recommend this to anyone, young or older,who enjoys the "far side" of American pop-hippy music. October 24, 2008

Like a time capsule

This excellently-priced 2-albums-on-1-CD compilation is like a dream come true; it combines the first two albums of folk-reimaginers the Holy Modal Rounders, with the tracks resequenced according to the Rounders' preference and adding two bonus tracks. These guys are great--if you're a fan of old folk like the kind found on the landmark collection Anthology Of American Folk Music (Edited By Harry Smith), you're the kind of person who will absolutely love this.

In general, the type of music on these two albums is acoustic folk played and sung by two vocalists, a fiddle and a guitar or banjo. True, the vocals are TOTALLY unorthodox--both singers affect old-timey, goofy, and nasally voices (that could be a bit grating to casual listeners) but are really unique and a load of fun, if you're willing to accept a bit of weirdness in the mix. The Rounders play traditional folk songs (usual suspects like "The Cuckoo," "Mole In the Ground," "Same Old Man," and "Sail Away, Ladies" are present, though re-arranged and tweaked by the Rounders in the spirit of folk music), but they also play originals and contemporary folk songs, and great ones at that.

"Blues In the Bottle" introduces them both quite well, with zany harmonies and a classic guitar/fiddle combo, the song could have been 100 years old, but was written by the Rounders. Some other great newer songs include the hilarious "Hesitating Blues," the sly satire of "Mr. Spaceman," and the broke-down spirit of "Junko Partner." It's impossible to listen to this music without picking up some of the spirit of fun, recklessness, and crazy smart-aleck antics that the Rounders conjure up in spades.

In many ways, I think of these guys as sort of an American Incredible String Band, twisting and reshaping the folk music traditions of their country to produce songs that equally recall folk music that could well be hundreds of years old, but are also urgently current and fresh. Of course, it's not a perfect comparison, since the Incredible String Band had a more mystical bent and were more interested in breaking down the barriers of songwriting structure and expectations, while the Rounders seem more content to keep the ball rolling--but a similar spirit and eccentricity is certainly shared. This is partly why I'm not so sure I agree with the band members' claims in the liner notes, which basically say the Holy Modal Rounders play music in a way that no one else in the world ever has. It's true that nobody else in the 60's folk revival took quite as anarchic or willfully crazy approach to the old songs (most were earnestly reverent), but the Rounders weren't the first or only group or songwriters to revive old folk songs or write similar new songs in the same idiom. Rather, it's more like they were two of the few 60's musicians to truly participate in the folk tradition by not only playing, but also altering, tweaking, and "telephoning" the songs into versions of their own design, which is what the ever-shifting folk tradition is all about. Bob Dylan's wholesale appropriation of classic folk melodies and chord progressions as the basis for his own songs is another example of true folk tradition participation that comes to mind. Anyway, folk music theory and history discussion aside, this is great, eccentric folk that never broke beyond cult status--if you're here reading this, you'll probably enjoy the delightfully heady brew that the Rounders concocted in the 60's for us to continue enjoying today. April 12, 2008

Great Music

The previous reviews of these recordings properly give them, in the aggregate, a 5-star rating. However, these reviews do not emphasize sufficiently that the Rounders' renditions of songs, although often wacky, speed-fueled and surrealistic, demonstrate a deep underlying love for, mastery of and creative expansion upon the traditional music and musical styles upon which they were based. The amount of time and energy they spent learning this older music from old recordings is apparent. I don't think they were really "making fun" of this music as much as they were "carrying it to a new place". They were a part of the traditional "folk music process" - taking music that came before, changing it some and making it more "current", and using older musical styles to make new creations. Many of the performances on these recordings were, in this respect, electrifyingly brilliant. No matter how you describe it, this CD contains great music and is at the top of my "must hear" list. By the way, for you bluegrass lovers, the material on this CD is not, by any stretch of the imagination, bluegrass (as some of the earlier reviews stated), but you should buy it anyhow. May 19, 2007

sweet bluegrass

This is fairly one dimnensional, despite covering two albums. 29 short songs with guitar & Fiddle (less often banjo), some occasionally slightly goofy but more often very effective vocals. This is a little straight folk (a la Woody Guthrie), a little straight country, a little blues, but a good 95% bluegrass/squaredance stylings played at least as well as any "pop" artist. I actually see a lot of Bluegrass music, and have yet to find a modern act that pulls it off this well. If you want to hear some good Bluegrass, older Bill Monroe stuff is good, of course any genuine recordings from Kentucky prior to '65 are key. Otherwise, this is the best thing I've heard. September 3, 2004

A correction for a previous reviewer

One of the reviewers indicated that "Hesitation Blues" was
written by Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson only recorded 29
songs and this wasn't one of them. The song was written in
1915, before his time, by Art Gillham,Billy Smythe, and
Scott Middleton. In 1925 Gillham did an acoustic session for
Columbia and Hesitation Blues was done in two takes. The song
was made popular by Rev. Gary Davis and later Hot Tuna who
learned it from Rev. Davis. The Rounders probably learned it
from an old Gary Davis record. January 25, 2004

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