Blind Alfred Reed: Appalachian Visionary

Abstract

Atlanta-based indie record label Dust-to-Digital has released the complete recorded works of Blind Alfred Reed, one of the largely unsung heroes of the early days of recorded country music, and one of the earliest recorded songwriters in the genre. Reed is not exactly obscure—he recorded at the famed Bristol Sessions, and his songs have been recorded by Bruce Springsteen, Ry Cooder, and others, so enthusiasts of old-time music will recognize his name and perhaps his sound. His complete recordings have not been available in one place until now. Producer and liner note author Ted Olson, who has, in the last decade, produced landmark box set collections on the Bristol, Johnson City, and Knoxville Sessions among others, considers Reed a sage. He writes in the notes that Reed possessed in his songwriting “an intense and fearless social vision” and that Reed's songs “seek to venture beyond the shadowy world of injustices, hypocrisies, and lies.”Reed was a singer and fiddler from southern West Virginia, whose main occupation was music and who managed to eke out a living as a performer, a music teacher, and for a short time in the late 1920s, a recording artist. His sound was sparse and unembellished, using only fiddle, guitar, and one or two voices. Many fiddlers of his time played and sang at the same time, but Reed had a more direct and conservative approach than most—he played the same notes he sang, often in a measured, sauntering cadence—and his voice and fiddle both resonated deeply and clearly. As a singer, Reed was emotive in a manner similar to the old ballad singers—he did not try to shape how listeners interpreted the lyrics; rather, he sang in a neutral way that invited them in to sort things out for themselves. Reed recorded all of his songs with his son Arville, except for one solo number recorded in Bristol and three more with neighbor Arthur Wyrick. I find the recordings of Arville singing with his father among the most enjoyable on the set.The songs deal with religious virtues or economic conditions, or they provide some kind of social commentary, often having to do with the roles and behavior of men and women in relationships, albeit offered from varying, sometimes opposing viewpoints. His perspective was in no small way shaped by the Church, and about one-third of the twenty-two songs on this collection reference religious life in some manner. There are also topical songs about real-life events of the day, a common songwriting practice at that time, and several lighthearted social songs that may be off-putting if taken out of context. In “Woman's Been After Man Ever Since,” he sings: “What a shame it is that women try to be so much like men, they will run for office if they get the chance.” Other songs are social and religious statements on rural Appalachian religious morals of the time, addressing short skirts, bobbed hair, and young men who wear fine shoes but carry a bottle in their pocket. Reed's best-known composition “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?” is indicative of yet another strain of Reed's songwriting: economic hardship.This is a hardy collection that shows the breadth of Reed's songwriting, but to some ears, the music itself may sound monotonous. Indeed, with the exception of a single track recorded by Arville, the songs are either in the key of G major or C major—and all of the nineteen songs Reed sings begin with a simple, single-string fiddle intro. The melodies are pleasant and at times nuanced, including a waltz, but I must admit that for many years, Reed's songs tended to run together for me. This set helped me connect the music itself with its historical context and importance, and to realize more keenly that the real impact of Reed's music is as a songwriter who was ahead of his time. In the notes, Olson compares him to Woody Guthrie.As we have come to expect from Dust-to-Digital, the eighty-four-page hardcover book accompanying the CD is original, tidy, and beautiful. It contains unreleased photos and documents, studio sheets, and complete lyrics, in addition to an essay by Olson, who is becoming a household name in historical releases (he has been nominated multiple times for Grammy awards for his work as a music producer and songwriter). The notes here contain new research into Reed's life and music and are a friendly read—at once affectionate and informative. Since the release of this collection in 2016, Olson has continued to research the Reed family and has assembled an even more nuanced account. An updated and revised version of his liner notes was published in June 2022 on the Music of Our Mountains website. See https://musicofourmountains.com for more information.