Bluegrass gospel at its best, with a pure Appalachian sound--fiddle and banjo and everything. Just what we'd expect from northern Indiana, no? This is another thrift gift from Diane, and it was still sealed! Mint condition is always nice. And the audio quality is outstanding, especially for a small label, though I have no idea on the year. Only one Yoder Family LP shows up at Discogs, and it's not this one. Anyway, these folks are good, with a sound very much like the Lewis Family's, and the songs are bluegrass standards--River of Death (credited all over the internet to Bill Monroe, though I doubt it), Wayfaring Stranger, Where the Soul of Man Never Dies (aka, To Canaan's Land I'm on My Way), Uncloudy Day, and the cream of the bluegrass crop, 1925's Shoutin' on the Hills (aka, There'll Be Shouting). I'm pretty sure the voice of the youngest member (Ideanna?) is the light, airy one, and she has a quiet type of projection consistent with her young age and size--the contrast with the more mature voices is pretty charming.
Not much else I can say, except that this is about as good as bluegrass gospel comes. This would fall into the "roots music" category nowadays, a term I find kind of silly in its vagueness. The roots of what? This isn't the roots of anything--it is what it is. (And you can quote me.) And the Yoder family doesn't appear to be tethered to the soil, so there are no roots in evidence. If you've visited this blog often enough, you know I don't approve of treating "traditional" music as a prelude to modern sounds. I remember my father telling me, "You only like music that's old." I was maybe 12. And it was true, but it was my parents who had me take piano lessons and study Bach, Bartok, Chopin, and Scarlatti. So, yeah, I was into old music.
To the sounds. Thank you, northern Indiana (and Diane), for the Yoder Family's wonderful offerings. Oh, and on the mp3 tags I corrected some of the credits. Gospel labels are amazingly adept at screwing them up.
DOWNLOAD: The Yoder Family--Happy on Our Way
Lee
8 comments:
A good time, thanks!
Feels like i heard On the Sea of Life or another version of it somewhere but can't place it. Maybe you already posted this track in one of your comps?
Lee,
Thanks for this interesting find, which of course, haven't listened to all the way through yet LOL! If I was going uninformed and just by sound (kinda the way it goes for me sometimes LOL), I would have said, this group is from the south, that is, until they opened their mouths LOL! I never would-a-expected such from a family of Yankees LOL, all due respect, you understand, I hope. With the song selection, I'd put this album as early'80s. The only place (I believe) I ever heard Sunday Mornin' Singin', was The Bluegrass Cardinals, yep, looks like they recorded an album by that title in 1980. I didn't know Ila Knight wrote The Redeemed Are Coming Home, a song which quickly became a Bluegrass Gospel standard. Speaking of that, I've only heard the title cut of this album two other places (which they say Happy On My Way, singular), first, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and the second, The Primitive Quartet. The latter could have possibly gotten it from DL&Q, or with Randy Fox (one of the group's members) being from IN, could-a-been from this very group/album. Randy brought a few songs over from his dad and his group, The First Southern Quartet, from Richmond, IN. I wonder what The Yoder Family's religious affiliation was/is? Yoder is a common Amish/Mennonite and a few other branches name and come to think of it, just more northern, but we did have a few down in NC LOL! Again, one for unzipping for future use, as the LORD and time permit. Thanks, love and prayin' for ya!
Romans 11:33-36 KJB
Josh
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Thanks for jogging my memory, knew there was a song on which I forgot to comment LOL! The first place I ever heard On The Sea Of Life, was DL&Q, but it (of course) wasn't the oldest one. The Inspirations recorded it in the '70s, but the oldest version I know of, is Roper's (sp) Mountain Singers, which includes another verse, which is (of course) the second one. I believe I've mentioned said version before, up here, the arrangement kinda cancels out the words, from what I remember. It was a good arrangement thereof, so not sure if it was sound or musical, which they sung it acapela. Of course, I've heard other versions of it, most notably, The Abee's Chapel Baptist Choir of Connelly Springs, NC. Enough of my rambling, love and prayin' for ya!
Romans 11:33-36 KJB
Josh
Podcast: http://www.jeremiah616.sermon.net
Callcast: (563) 999-3967
Blog: http://www.brojoshowens.wordpress.com
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/preacher-friends
Monkey D. Sound,
I did a blog search and didn't see the title--this must be my first posting of the number. And Josh mentioned Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and the Inspirations, both of whom are associated with this number. In fact, the label says "Inspirations Quartet Music/BMI," which I left out of the tag, since it's obviously the publisher data. I did some Googling to confirm the authors (I think I put Bob Angel and T.S. Sloan on the mp3 tag). This appears to be a new (and welcome) blog addition. Thanks for your comments!
Josh,
As ever, thanks the for the information and your impressions of the album--always delightful to hear from you. So, just to be sure, you think they have a northern sound? Because I hear a strong Appalachian sound, which I associate with the South. But that's probably because I'm from northwest Ohio (Toledo, which is close to Michigan, of course). I hear a kind of (no offense) twang, and it's very common in central Ohio, where I live. It's a "hill" sound. I realize I could be misinterpreting what I'm hearing--you're the expert on whether they sound Yankee or not! (-: I take no offense to "Yankee"--I have two dear friends in Texas who have called me that! As a gentle sort of ribbing. The Navy had me serving with people from any number of places, so I know that I hear things in a biased way--all based on the area in which I was raised, I suppose. Accents do change throughout Ohio--a lot. Anyway, one of the weird things about country music is that one of the early country performers on 78 was, of course, fiddler Charles Ross Taggart from Washington D.C. He called himself "The Man From Vermont." Anyway, one of the original sites for country fiddle music was New England, something which continues to intrigue me. I think the connection lies between the traditional fiddle tunes that we associate with country music, many of which date back to the late 1700s. Anyway, best!
hey man, love the bluegrass gospel sounds on your blog, would it be possible to reupload this one?
hey man, love the bluegrass gospel sounds on your blog, is it possible to reupload this yoder family LP?
Comic,
It's back--I reuploaded it. Sometimes my hosting service drops files for no particular reason. Enjoy!
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