Charlie Poole

Poole's music had a revival in the 1960s, most likely due to his inclusion on the 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, and his renditions have been re-recorded by numerous artists, such as John Mellencamp with "White House Blues", the Chieftains, New Lost City Ramblers, Holy Modal Rounders, and Hot Tuna with "Hesitation Blues", and Joan Baez with "Sweet Sunny South". The Grateful Dead's popular song "Deal" was influenced by "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down". His recordings have also appeared on numerous compilations of old-time music. Since 1995, Poole's legacy has been carried on every year in Eden, North Carolina, during June, when the Piedmont Folk Legacies, Inc, a nonprofit organization, hosts the Charlie Poole Music Festival. Bob Dylan in his Nobel Lecture acknowledged Poole and several lyrics of his song "You Ain't Talkin to Me". Columbia Records issued a three-CD box set of his music titled You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music in 2005. The album, produced by Henry "Hank" Sapoznik, was nominated for three Grammy Awards. It chronicles the music Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers recorded for Columbia from 1925 through 1931, including such important songs as "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down", "Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister?", "Old and Only in the Way" (the title of which was adapted by Jerry Garcia for the name of his 1970s bluegrass band with David Grisman, Old and in the Way), and the politically charged "White House Blues", which John Mellencamp updated in 2004 under the title "To Washington". In addition to 43 of Poole's original recordings, the package features performances by other early roots musicians, including Fred Van Eps, Arthur Collins, Billy Murray, the Floyd Country Ramblers, Uncle Dave Macon, and the Red Fox Chasers. The original liner notes, by Peter Stampfel, state, "Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers recorded an incredible number of songs that are personal favorites of mine. Poole is, in fact, one of the great musicians of the century. No doubt about it." The album's cover art was created by Robert Crumb, a celebrated illustrator and an old-time music aficionado. Poole's grandnephew Kinney Rorer (sometimes spelled Rorrer) penned the highly regarded biography Ramblin' Blues: The Life and Songs of Charlie Poole in 1982. Rorer, who is also the grandnephew of Poole's fiddler Posey Rorer, is the banjo player for the old-time music group the New North Carolina Ramblers. A double-CD tribute to Poole was released by singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III in August 2009. The album, titled High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project, features 30 tracks, including new versions of songs originally recorded by Poole, as well as tunes on the artist's life and times composed by Wainwright and producer Dick Connette. The album earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album for 2009.

• Matrix — Title — Record # — Recording date • 140786 — "The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee" — Columbia 15043-D — July 27, 1925 • 140787 — "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World" — Columbia 15043-D — July 27, 1925 • 140788 — "Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister?" — Columbia 15038-D — July 27, 1925 • 140789 — "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues" — Columbia 15038-D — July 27, 1925 • 142627 — "Flying Clouds" — Columbia 15106-D — September 16, 1926 • 142631 — "Wild Horse" — Columbia 15279-D — September 16, 1926 • 142632 — "Forks of Sandy" — Columbia 15106-D — September 16, 1926 • 142633 — "Mountain Reel" — Columbia 15279-D — September 16, 1926 • 142637 — "Good-Bye Booze" — Columbia 15138-D — September 17, 1926 • 142638 — "Monkey on a String" — Columbia 15099-D — September 17, 1926 • 142641 — "Too Young to Marry" — Columbia15127-D — September 18, 1926 • 142642 — "Ragtime Annie" — Columbia 15127-D — September 18, 1926 • 142643 — "Little Dog Waltz" — Unissued — September 18, 1926 • 142644 — "A Kiss Waltz" — Unissued — September 18, 1926 • 142645 — "Leaving Home" — Columbia 15116-D — September 18, 1926 • 142646 — "Budded Rose" — Columbia 15138-D — September 18, 1926 • 142657 — "There'll Come a Time" — Columbia 15116-D — September 20, 1926 • 142658 — "White House Blues" — Columbia 15099-D — September 20, 1926 • 142659 — "The Highway Man" — Columbia 15160-D — September 20, 1926 • 142660 — "Hungry Hash House" — Columbia 15160-D — September 20, 1926 • 144509 — "If I Lose, I Don't Care" — Columbia 15215-D — July 25, 1927 • 144510 — "On the Battle Fields of Belgium" — Unissued — July 25, 1927 • 144511 — "You Ain't Talkin' to Me" — Columbia 15193-D — July 25, 1927 • 144512 — "Coon from Tennessee" — Columbia 15215-D — July 25, 1927 • 144513 — "When I Left My Good Old Home" — Unissued — July 25, 1927 • 144514 — "The Letter That Never Came" — Columbia 15179-D — July 25, 1927 • 144515 — "Take a Drink on Me" — Columbia 15193-D — July 25, 1927 • 144516 — "Falling by the Wayside" — Columbia 15179-D — July 25, 1927 • 144517 — "Down in Georgia" — Unissued — July 25, 1927 • 144518 — "Sunset March" — Columbia 15184-D — July 26, 1927 • 144519 — "Teasin' Fritz" — Unissued — July 26, 1927 • 144521 — "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Medley" — Columbia 15184-D — July 26, 1927 • 146767 — "A Young Boy Left His Home One Day" — Columbia 15584-D — July 23, 1928 • 146768 — "My Wife Went Away and Left Me" — Columbia 15584-D — July 23, 1928 • 146769 — "I Cannot Call Her Mother" — Columbia 15307-D — July 23, 1928 • 146770 — "I Once Loved a Sailor" — Columbia 15385-D — July 23, 1928 • 146771 — "Husband and Wife Were Angry One Night" — Columbia 15342-D — July 23, 1928 • 146772 — "Hangman, Hangman, Slack the Rope" — Columbia 15385-D — July 23, 1928 • 146773 — "Ramblin' Blues" — Columbia 15286-D — July 23, 1928 • 146774 — "Took My Gal a-Walking" — Columbia 15672-D — July 23, 1928 • 146775 — "What Is Home Without Babies" — Columbia 15307-D — July 23, 1928 • 146776 — "Jealous Mary" — Columbia 15342-D — July 23, 1928 • 146778 — "Old and Only in the Way" — Columbia 15672-D — July 23, 1928 • 146779 — "Shootin' Creek" — Columbia 15286-D — July 23, 1928 • 148469 — "Bill Mason" — Columbia 15407-D — May 6, 1929 • 148470 — "Goodbye Mary Dear" — Columbia 15456-D — May 6, 1929 • 148471 — "Leaving Dear Old Ireland" — Columbia 15425-D — May 6, 1929 • 148472 — "Baltimore Fire" — Columbia 15509-D — May 6, 1929 • 148474 — "The Wayward Boy" — Columbia 15456-D — May 7, 1929 • 148475 — "Sweet Sunny South" — Columbia 15425-D — May 7, 1929 • 148476 — "He Rambled" — Columbia 15407-D — May 7, 1929 • 148477 — "The Mother's Plea For Her Son" — Columbia 15509-D — May 7, 1929 • 2913 — "San Antonio" — Broadway 8288 — May 9, 1929 • 149900 — "Sweet Sixteen" — Columbia 15519-D — January 23, 1930 • 149901 — "My Gypsy Girl" — Columbia 15519-D — January 23, 1930 • 149902 — "The Only Girl I Ever Loved" — Columbia 15711-D — January 23, 1930 • 149904 — "Write Letter to My Mother" — Columbia 15711-D — January 23, 1930 • 149906 — "If the River Was Whiskey" — Columbia 15545-D — January 23, 1930 • 149907 — "It's Movin' Day" — Columbia 15545-D — January 23, 1930 • 149908 — "Southern Medley" — Columbia 15615-D — January 23, 1930 • 149909 — "Honeysuckle" — Columbia 15615-D — January 23, 1930 • 150773 — "Goodbye Sweet Liza Jane" — Columbia 15601-D — September 9, 1930 • 150774 — "Look Before You Leap" — Columbia 15601-D — September 9, 1930 • 150775 — "One Moonlit Night" — Columbia 15688-D — September 9, 1930 • 150777 — "Just Keep Waiting Till the Good Times Come" — Columbia 15636-D — September 9, 1930 • 150779 — "Milwaukee Blues" — Columbia 15688-D — September 9, 1930 • 150780 — "Where the Whippoorwill Is Whispering Goodnight" — Columbia 15636-D — September 9, 1930