THE HASKEW FAMILY
Songs From the Fiery Gizzard
Disc One – Fiery Gizzard Blues – I Wish I
Were A Babe – Ring A Tiny Bell – My Rockabye – A Woman Like you –
Little Ol’ Aimsley Jane – You Broke My Heart – Blessed Baby Child – If I
Only Had A Tail – The Waffle House Blues – The Wonderful One-Eyed Beau
Dog – A Lion Named Sam – Song For A Drifter / Disc Two – Songbird – On
My Way To You – Drive-In Movie Picture Show – The Lady Of The Highlands
– Wintertime – The Old Ball Glove – The Love Story Of The Ages – Take
Our Country Back Again – Forever – Bless Us Oh Indeed
No doubt about it, it took some time to
listen to all 23 songs on this incredibly well done ‘tribute’ album. I
say tribute, because that word stands out several times in dealing with
this project. It’s a ‘tribute’ to the parents of both Jerre Haskew
and his wife Barbara Lucile Short. I found that not only refreshing,
but a definite indication of how this family holds high their musical
pursuits. If you weren’t aware, Jerre Haskew is the founder of the
Cumberland Trio, one of America’s fondest folk groups. They won the
National Collegiate Folk Festival 1st prize, appeared on ABC-TV’s
“Hootenanny” and recorded for RCA in Nashville under the guidance of
Chet Atkins. The ‘roots’ had already been safely ensconced in the mind
and musical talent of Jerre Haskew. After the 60’s when folk music
began to fade away, he took up work at a bank eventually becoming the
CEO before acquiring the Guild Guitar Corporation, and then later
co-founded “Sport Talk” but as time went by, wife Barbara wrote a
children’s book “A Lion Named Sam,” and suggested a revival of the
Cumberland Trio music. This led to more time passing, children raising,
retiring from business and education, and today this incredible
project that leads me to the second ‘tribute’ definition….leading back
to the Cumberland Trio and all the terrific music they made. This
carefully executed 2-disc release is a wonder to behold. Holly Haskew
Tambling, Jerre and Barbara’s daughter does major lead vocal chores on
the first disc. The beginning song, a down to earth rural sounding
blues song is super. She carries her lovely voice through on all of the
succeeding songs. Most of the songs on disc-2 presents Jerre himself
as the lead vocalist, as well as a major contributor in the musical
instrument department. What a wonderful idea this whole project is.
And the songs! What about the songs, where could they possibly find
this many terrifically well written songs to record? Songs that reflect
another time of course, but songs that have consistently over the years
been an American tradition to tell stories, truthfully, honestly,
sometimes simply, in the older folk-song tradition. For me, it’s simply
beautiful. Add to this the gifted musicians that bring the full force
of how really well written and interpreted these songs are. And who
wrote the songs? Both Jerre and Barbara hold them in their own hands
and hearts. Memories, actual experiences, heart break, protest,
discrimination, remembrances, blessedness, patriotism, exactly what the
folk tradition in America has been over the years, though absent from
main-stream radio in recent years, it’s back again in full force with
this incredible undertaking. The many musicians that lend their talent
to this 23-song escapade are also at their very best. Mike Headrick
might be the most influential providing licks on lead guitar, harmonica
(extremely well done on the first song), steel guitar, mandolin, bass
and more. Bob Wilkerson on bass, Lou Wamp on Dobro, Gene Norman on
piano, and the list goes on. Disc-2 features an old personal friend of
mine, Johnny Bellar on Dobro. Jerre Haskew contributes many different
instruments throughout the entire project. In totality, it’s an
incredible ‘family’ gathering of super terrific acoustic musicians,
creating a ‘modern’ look back at what was once real, and is again thanks
to this beautiful offering. It’s hard to pick a ‘favorite’ out of such a
beautiful list of options, but forgive me Jerre, the one I really like
is “Drive-In Movie Picture Show” which reveals a little slice of
American life now long gone. BUT, for words expressing ‘real’ feelings, I
have to put #1 on another song “The Love Story Of The Ages.” Well ok,
there’s three I like best. “Take Our Country Back Again” is written in
the pattern of Guthrie, and holds the union together once again. Whew,
good stuff here all the way around. Can’t wait to see what happens when
it hits those radio stations that still present ‘honest’ music. You
know, if you want to hear this yourself, you can go to I-tunes, or
Amazon, or CDBaby and you’ll find it there. I will be sending it along
to the Rural Roots Music Commission, and have a pretty good idea what
they are going to do after they listen to this incredible undertaking.