1981 Galax Virginia Blue Sky Ramblers Sunny Home Dixie Bluegrass Vinyl LP Record

$

28

1981 Galax Virginia Blue Sky Ramblers Sunny Home Dixie Bluegrass Vinyl LP Record
Vinyl / Jacket Grade per Goldmine Standard: VG / VG
SIDE I 1. SENECA SQUARE DANCE 2. LITTLE BIRDIE 3. SUNNY HOME IN DIXIE 4. WORRIED MAN BLUES 5. EIGHTH OF JANUARY 6. OLD GOSPEL SHIP 7. BREAKING UP CHRISTMAS SIDE II 1. WHEN YOU AND I WERE YOUNG MAGGIE 2. LITTLE LIZA JANE 3. COWBOY WALTZ 4. OH SHINE 5. YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS 6. MY OWN HOME WALTZ THE BLUE SKY RAMBLERS, a traditional old time band, consists of Melvin and Dea Felts, banjo and fid- dle, Raymond Melton, dulcimer, and Howard and Munford Dillon, guitars. Melvin was born in Fancy Gap, Virginia and started learning banjo from his father when he was about six years old. He has played fiddle at square dances with many local musicians and with a country band in Munich, Germany while in military service. Dea’s interest in old time music began while she was in college at Berkeley, California. In 1971 she came to Virginia to find a teaching job and to learn traditional music. When Dea and Melvin met in 1975, Melvin turned back to the banjo and Dea became the fiddle player. They joined with Raymond Melton in 1977. Raymond, a native of Carroll County, has been playing the dulcimer as far back as he can remember. He started playing with his brothers as a band at the age of seventeen. They played at dances and family get- togethers. He and his brothers played as a band the first year of the fiddlers’ convention at Galax in 1935. He was awarded Best All-around Performer at Galax in 1975. He has played at the Folk Life Festivals at Newport, Rhode Island in 1965 and at Washington, D. C. in 1977. Raymond uses a dulcimer that was made by his older brother and has been played in the Melton family for years. He also makes and sells dulcimers himself.. William Munford (Mumps) Dillon and Howard Sidney Dillon grew up in the Woodlawn section of Carroll County, Virginia. Mumps has been an avid guitar player since the age of nine. He learned to play the fiddle and banjo when he was about ten. Howard learned to play the guitar about the age of twelve. The two brothers played several years as part of a family band at Saturday night dances and had a radio show at W H I S, Bluefield, West Virginia in the 1930’s. The band broke up around 1939 at the beginning of World War II. In 1979, Mumps and Howard joined with Melvin, Dea Felts and Raymond Melton as the Blue Sky Ramblers. Breaking Up Chrismas, Little Liza Jane, Yellow Rose of Texas, and Eighth of January are some of the standards we play at square dances around the county. Seneca Square Dance, Cowboy Waltz, and My Own House Waltz are tunes Dea learned before she came east; they have been adapted to the style of the group. Little Birdie features the banjo and dulcimer. We persuaded Howard to sing When You and I Were Young, Maggie, which shows off his rich voice. Melvin sings tenor with Howard on the chorus of Worried Man Blues. Sunny Home in Dixie shows off Raymond’s unique style with the dulcimer. Raymond has contributed many authentic tunes to our group, including Oh Shine and Old Gospel Ship, which are well known in Holiness Churches. THE BLUE SKY RAMBLERS Produced By: The Blue Sky Ramblers & Heritage Records. Recorded At: Heritage Studio, Galax, Va. April 5, 1981. Photography: Clayton Robinson Engineer: Bobby Patterson 1981 Heritage Records, Rt. 3, Box 278, Galax, Va. 24333


lp5309-AZ