Buell Kazee

Buell Kazee 1927

Buell Kazee (born August 29, 1900 in Burton Fork , Kentucky , † August 31, 1976 ) was an American folk singer and 5-string banjo player. He is considered one of the most successful interpreters of oldtime music during the 1920s and made a successful comeback in the 1960s during the folk revival.

Life

Childhood and youth

Buell Kazee was born at the source of the Burton Fork, a small river in the Cumberland Mountains in Magoffin County of Kentucky. Most of the songs he would later record he learned from his family. He learned to play the banjo at the age of five and was soon performing in public. He was also involved in the local church. After graduating from high school, he studied English, Greek, and Latin at Georgetown College to become a priest. It was at this time that he realized the importance of the traditional ballads that he had learned from his parents. After switching to music and singing, he wrote down the pieces and adapted them to contemporary tastes. At his college graduation in 1925 Kazee gave a concert with "folk music", in which he sang with his classically trained voice and accompanied himself alternately with banjo and piano. He also explained the meaning and history of the songs. The success of this program led to further performances in the following years.

Career

A Mountain Boy Makes His First Record

The Dying Soldier , 1928

In 1927, Buell Kazee received a request from Brunswick Records whether he would be interested in recording in their studio. After traveling to New York and auditioning there, he signed with the label. The condition of the contract was that he renounced classical singing and performed his songs in the typical "high lonesome" Appalachian style, that is, high, nasal and pressed. His first release was Roll On John on the A-side and John Hardy on the B-side. Over the next two years Kazee recorded 52 songs with the support of various New York musicians, including hits such as Lady Gray , The Sporting Bachelors and The Little Orphan Child . His biggest hit was a version of the traditional On Top Of Old Smoky by Kazee The Little Mohee , which sold over 15,000 copies. His titles were often shaped by religious topics, but everyday problems were also dealt with in them. After the now married Kazee switched to the Vocalion label in the early 1930s , his success quickly waned. He withdrew more and more from the music business, stopped his performances to work as a pastor in Morehead, Kentucky for the next 22 years .

Withdrawal and comeback

After Kazee had only sung at church meetings for two decades, the folk revival of the 1960s enabled him to make a comeback. As one of the first rediscovered stars of the shellac era , he appeared alongside Dock Boggs and Clarence Ashley and Doc Watson at the Newport Folk Festival. He went on tour again and made records. His biggest success from this period was The White Pilgrim . Kazee was also successful as a writer, publishing a total of three religious books and a banjo school.

Buell Kazee died of a heart attack on August 31, 1976 at the age of 76 in Winchester, Kentucky.

Discography

Singles

year	title	Remarks
Brunswick Records
1927	Roll On John / John Hardy
1927	Rock Island / Old Whisker Bill
1927	Darling Cora / East Virginia
1927	The Ship That's Sailing High On The Water / If You Love Your Mother
1927	The Roving Cowboy / The Little Mohee
1927	The Old Maid / The Sporting Bachelors
1928	Faded Coat Of Blue / Don't Forget Me, Little Darlin '	Pseudonym as Ray Lyncy
1928	Snow Deer / Red Wing	with Carson Robison (under the pseudonym Sookie Hobbs )
1928	The Orphan Girl / Poor Little Orphan Boy
1928	The Cowboy's Farewell / Lady Gray
1928	The Wagoner's Lads / The Butcher's Boy (The Railroad Boy)
1928	The Dying Soldier ^{? / i} /Short Life Of Trouble
1928	Little Bessie / My Mother	Little Bessie later by the Alabama Barnstomers gecovert
1928	In The Shadow Of The Pines / You Taught Me How To Love
1928	Poor Boy Long Way From Home / You Are False But I'll Forgive You
1928	Married Girl's Troubles / Gamblin 'Blues
1929	Steel-A-Goin 'Down / The Hobo's Last Ride
1929	A Mountain Boy Makes His First Record / A Mountain Boy Makes His First Record, Pt. 2
1929	Great The Bells / The Blind Man
1929	Roving Cowboy / The Little Mohee	Republication
1929	The Waggoner's Lad / The Butcher's Boy (The Railroad Boy)	Republication by Brunswick 213
1929	Cowboy Trail / I'm Rolling Along
Vocalion Records
?	In The Shadow Of The Pines / You Taught Me How To Love Now You Teach Me To Forg	Republication of Brunswick 216 (Vocalion 5221)
?	My Mother / Little Bessie	Republication of Brunswick 215 (Vocalion 5231)

Albums

1958 : Buell Kazee Sings and Plays
1978 : Buell Kazee
2005 : Legendary Kentucky

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Kazee, Buell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American country singer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH	29th August 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH	Burton Fork, Kentucky , USA
DATE OF DEATH	August 31, 1976