A Brief Tribute to Mike Seeger

Earlier today I wrote a post on the BBC Music Blog about the New Lost City Ramblers' banjo ace Mike Seeger, who sadly died on Friday evening at his home in Lexington, Virginia. There's a great outtake clip from the BBC's Folk America doc there which I'd urge you to look at.

I discovered Mike Seeger via Bob Dylan. Seeger was a wonderful contributor to No Direction Home and Bob writes fondly of him in Chronicles Volume 1.

Back in January I posted a New Lost City Ramblers track on my Arkansas 'state songs' entry. Here are two more of their songs about a couple of my favourite subjects.

MP3: The New Lost City Ramblers - Crow Black Chicken

Buy: Amazon

MP3: The New Lost City Ramblers - Franklin D Roosevelt's Back Again

Buy: Amazon

I've also created a 10-track Spotify playlist of some cracking New Lost City Ramblers tunes in tribute.

One gets the impression that Mike Seeger was the sort of man about whom no one had a bad word to say. He also opened countless pairs of ears to the wonderful sound of America's past. I'm in no doubt that he will be missed by many.

Related Posts
State Songs #4: Arkansas - includes the New Lost City Rambler's track Arkansas Sheik

Related Links
BBC Music Blog: Mike Seeger RIP - my other post, with excellent video clip
Spotify Playlist: The New Lost City Ramblers

State Songs #4: Arkansas

Photo: StuSeeger @ Flickr

After an easy musical run through the first three states of the journey I admit to struggling slightly with Arkansas. The state's tourist office promotes it as a fine destination for hunting and bird watching but these activities have inspired few visiting songwriters.

MP3: The New Lost City Ramblers - The Arkansas Sheik

The NLCR were pivotal in the late 50s and 60s folk revival and Mike Seeger and John Cohen remain excellent raconteurs of that era. This is from their 1966 album Remembrance of Things to Come. The original liner notes sum up the song's subject: "A version of a popular theme in mountain music, ie that Arkansas is the worst place of all".
More New Lost City Ramblers: Wikipedia | Amazon

MP3: Hayes Carll - Little Rock

Carnival Saloon favourite Hayes Carll is less down on Arkansas. In the title track from his first album he's travelled through most of the States looking for his woman before heading down to Little Rock.
More Hayes Carll: Carnival Saloon | official site | Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Marilyn Monroe & Jane Russell - A Little Girl From Little Rock

A gem from an Oxford American compilation. Monroe and Russell perform the song in Howard Hawks' film 1953 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
More Monroe: official site | Amazon | 7digital



MP3: REM - Texarkana

There are plenty of songs about Texas so I'm favouring Texarkana's Arkansas side. Although there's no mention of the town in the lyrics at least one person who's been there reckons it "captures the mood of the city". Some REM trivia - this is one of two Out of Time tracks that bassist Mike Mills sings lead vocal on (the other's Near Wild Heaven).
More REM: official site | Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Bruce Springsteen - Mary Queen of Arkansas

The Boss makes his debut on the trip with a wordy track from debut album Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. Bruce doesn't seem keen to stay in Arkansas for long - he knows a place in Mexico where they "can get a good job and start all over again clean". Is this the first of Bruce's many Marys?
More Bruce: official site | Amazon | 7digital

Further suggestions of Arkansas songs most welcome. There are no American states that begin with B so next time we're goin' out west where the wind blows tall...

Related Posts
State Songs #1: Alabama - Cat Power, Billie Holiday, Jim White, Joan Baez, Shelby Lynne and, of course, Lynryd Skynyrd.
State Songs #2: Alaska - Michelle Shocked, Johnny Cash, Port O'Brien, Dan Bern, The Velvet Underground
State Songs #3: Arizona - Wilco, Glen Campbell, The DeZurik Sisters, Dimitri Tiomkin and Public Enemy