Singing in a dialect and "Authentic pronunciation" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Wilson Gray]

On Sun, Oct 10, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I absolutely love
>> listening to Josh White's versions of "Barbara Allen" and "Foggy, Foggy
>> Dew".

It was through Josh White that I was introduced such songs as "Molly
Malone" and I still consider his version of "Waltzing Matilda" to be
the best.

Are you familiar with the kings of bluegrass, The Stanley Brothers?
(Of course you are! The question is merely rhetorical.) They cut a
couple of bluegrass versions of "Finger-Poppin' Time," originally by
the R&B group, The Midnighters, led by Hank Ballard, the originator of
the twist. The Brothers don't try to imitate, they originate. True to
their roots, they turn the R&B song into bluegrass. They don't try to
make themselves into R&B stylists.

If you aren't already familiar with the two versions, both versions of
the song are hearable on iTunes. Well, they once were, anyway. With
iTunes, you can never be sure. Older material - pre-1972, in this case
- is randomly deleted. If you *really* give a damn, you might try
searching on YouTube.

--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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