Interview with Carl Martin

Anintotuieut
utith
CANL ITARTIN
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"TIIE CHICAGOSTRING BAI\ID". June. 1966. I
Left 0oridt: Cad Martin. violin: John l9rencher.
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lrnnqrica-; Jolrlpy Young',nrudolin; John ke
I
uranderson, gultaf.
I
I tms lytrn in Virginia-Big Stae
Gap, Virginia-in 1906. Wetuerea
Luge fanily; I had three brothers md
rurterous sisters...yeah, about eight
or nme.
My father uns o stone-rason but lrc
uns a god narciciantoo. Played
uiolin md euitqr. He plwed a uiolin
all the tim6. mostly plavbd at wties
uound theri:: Iw'd iet out with tlp
fellows md plav. Thev used to call
him "F idd.lii' \4arlin." He reuer did
nahe qnv recqds:'unv bock tlen
tlere umsn't qny'recoiding. lvlybother
uns a musiciantm. He uns s u,izsd:
played violin, all string {nstrunentsnaned Rolmd lvlqtin. He utas six yess
older tlwn rrc. He uxts tttydddy's
f irst wife's son. He was born in Srrr.tqtbwe. Sli,uthCuolina; tlnt's where
w dadiy uns originally froru
"f the more inleres.ting,
Oy
yEt least known,countryblues
musicianto recordin th'emi&1930s
nas Carl Ma4ip,.anaccomplished
sinser, mandolinist,violinist, guitarist,
andstrine-bassist,on all of wh-ich
instrumen"tshe performswith equal
oroficiency. Besinninewith a s-ession
Ior Victor's Bluibird Seriesin Chicago
on Oct. n. 1934,at which two titles
werecut. t'YouCanGoYottWaY" and
"Kid ManBlues," Martinparticipated
in six additionalsessions'from.fanuary
of the followins year throushmiil'Apri[
of 19.16.for Ok!h. Vocalioi, Bluebird,
Decca and Champion. Amongthese were
as the
such memorableberformancei"Crow
ww "GoodMorning, Judge,"
Jaie" (n extrernelypopular and much
piece), anit ihe fine topical
recorded
"Let's HaueaNew Deal"
sons
(reiSsuedon Blues Classics 14, the
onlv one of Martin's 12 selections
curientlv availableon LP). In addition. he barticipatedin a numberof
recordingdate'sled by suc[Chi-c.qgo
6"".a Ufir"" performeisas Big Bill
Ehoonzv.TarirpaRed. and Bumble
Bee Sli; (A'rnbsEaston), and backed
uo his close friends and long-time
olavins DartnersHowardAm-strong
t"Ibuie'Bluie") and Ted Boganoh
iheir March, 1934,Bluebirdrecordings.
Tltof gh the,help o{ singer-guitari-stmundolinist lohnnv Young] bo"thMartin
iin
on.l Bosan
Floqan
*".te lound
forrnd
eailv
in 1966
1966
lyoo ln
eaily. rn
found early
were
Bogan w"ere
and
C{rd
ChicasS. where thev have lived since
1932-*The
interview with Carl that
t932.
totio*" was condlcted -uJty home in
Chicagoon May 31, 196b.
The uny I got to play-fellottts
unuld coie 6v cnutploy the guitu;
that's mostlv ulnt they would PlaY
boch there then. The only things
you would see Luts the Plectrum
funio, the fiddle and tLteguitar...
anri v'oucould see a nandolin rccas'
iontilly. Btd tlnt's all. WhereI
uns, it .tvs a cool'mining region;
fell6ws
'with unuld cone tlrowh there
a suitu-minine men--std they'd
stopoier at ow housewtd I'd uatch
them plav. I ruasjust a little boY,
md I'leunt to pich up a Piece d tun.
I uns raised up in Krnxuille,
a big city. I had'beenbrn in Big
StoneGap bd ue left there whenl
tms 12 veus old qnd cane to
Knacui[le qnd from then on I call
thnt nw hame. Thnt's whereI
really-Ieunt to play. A lot of
fellows hod shaund me haut to play.
ke. my brother Roland had a
strine-band,and that's wlwre I
mostly lewit to play becange,
after"he found tlizt I couldhit a
iate or trn on tle guitu, then he
aslrcd w father to let him teach
me lnwio'play, so my dnddy jrct
twnt ne oier-to him- Artd I didn't
'cause I unsn't
unnt to leun.
no guitu! But I
aboilt
studytng
'cause he was
couldn't whw him,
bieger than I'uns, so he nnde me
cone hone after schaol and sit
daun md study. Then he got on
the train-tlnt tms in Knmuille,
Tenn.-eot on tle train md uent to
Asheuille and browht bock a
guitu nYysize. They hda12Etrtnegilnor; tlwt uns too big
fq nry lwtds.
ke, I'd come|nne after
scluil. I'd sit dotn otd woctice
tlg euitu. Wasn't tun wbeks
befde I uns plavine in tle bmd.
Bfues? flwt u^ s-imple! PluYine
in that string fund in two uteeks.
They fuul akLss fiddle, had mandoI in, uiol ins...had al I instruments,
so L leunerl to play different ones
W being rround.lhem and, I gess,
h'fuing musically inclined. I'd
pick up euerythingI could see.
\ior, hp had
fotn pieces in his
stringband: guitrr, uiolin, nnn&tlin
and 6uss. Rolanrl,'hrplaved thc
t,iolin most all the tinb, but he coukl
all thase others too. lle pla"ved
O!u","
that old music-yctukrnu, cointry
nwsic. He played euery kind of old
brealailnn numberyou ctruld think
of, plrryed aw of them. And he uuls
blind tcn. I neuer seen a mon beat
him playing the uiolin, and I'ue
seen sotnertiolin players! And when
it atne to lhat old hinrl of mtnic!
They unuldn't let him get on tn
kinrl of contest,ru>sirI They'd
let him play but they wouldn-'t let
him be in the conteit. I neuer sua
atyone to beat himplaying. I
rutter could tnderstqnd him. to
seue nry-life, but he leunt to plW.
'
l'le coild eubn mahe a sound in
his heqd-hurwninelihe-thnt'd be
just lihe o uiolin. It'd be making
music just lihe it uns a string
instrwnent, lile a uiolin; you could
euen record it. I don't hrnw how
he did il and I neuer sut anybody
else in w life who could do it.
It tnuld be iust lihe you were
playing o uiolin, playing the
melody in your head iust lihe a
uiolin. Neuer bew what it tms.
He u,vs a nattral mtsician.
Played for both white qnd colored,
qnd he traueled all ouer. raent
all tfuough Virginia and West
Virgi.nia,Kentrclty, and all down
SouthThe striw bandunrhed euery dny.
Tltey tuent out euery dav in the upih:
Bach there then they'd pich up fl.
% or 30 dallars euery dny. Jist So
out and play, stmd on thb corrwrl, on
vocant lots--all dif ferent places-play
all day. Ploryfor;tedicilte shows'.
That uns ris,ht uoundWorldWor I.
1918or so.-Weplayed on sideualhs,
streets. in stores. onywlrcre, Fellows
unuld go on uacaltionund I'd go right
with tlbm wd play rutsic for lheml
they'd dmce. Be gone with them for
a weeh or two. Played euerywhereall
throWh the mining-ueqof Kentrcky;
euerywhere they krnund ne, nen unuld
see ne playrng...
l- played bass fiddle too. I recall orce
a lellan gaue me len dollus. said.
"You're
the best bass fiddle olaver I
ever heard." I played whenl ilayedwhateueril uni, euits, bass'ftdate. t
played! Tlen I utent to playiig the'uiolin.
- (Drring the 192)'s, Carl continued
thrspattem of travelingand performinp.
and by the late 'Z)s hat form'eda [our]'
pieee unit with his friend lloward Anr>
strong.who,ljke him, playedviolin,
manclolrn,gurtar and bass, and with
variousothermusicians.)'
_First record I euer nnde, I nwle in
lerutlssee, inKrnxuille. it uns cailed
The Vine Street Ras. It urn me and
Houxvd" abut fow-A us there, recorded
IGoxrille CountyStompond The Vine
Street Rag. The'fellais beat tn out of
lhe recoril, though;tlwt's whnt disen!
cowaged ne from lots of recordins.
fucause-il uns Brtnswtich-thev beat
us oul-a fellata cqlled Brann. The
record tus swposed to be urder nw
nane but lp piut his nane on it. He
told ne his namewas Brann. This
uns fufore'32,'uny bachbefue then.
Wenwde the record and tlwt ieltqt,
he told ne, le said, "Now in a month
you'11hear from me." Whenthe recrxd
cameout, I heurd it on the uends. but
nty namerDasn'ton it.
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lewnt to play so utell. 'cailse I
practiced all hinds oi music. Tlen
whenl cane to Chicago, I go in the
Polish neishbrhad. eo in the lrish
neighborhiocf, ] eo iitlle Germot
neighborhnd, go in the ltalian
neishbuhoad; I lwd to leun to play
all their musics. I go doumto Lyon
& uealy' s b Chicaeomtsic store)
wtd piih up the runic md come bsch
and sit ilaiun wtd leqm it. I leunt
reqd ru6ic md I cqn eet il off the
sheet.
WayI got to record there, a
fellow called lr/lelrosehewd me,
.came
to ne. Bwnble Bee Slin and
Ihem uns recordinBwith him boch
tlere then-Bil BiTl ord cll tlgm
fellows-and in got togethermd ute
uns practicin4,, releqrsing togetler,
wtd so lllelrose hewd me, so lrc got
me to go doun to recqd. Fellow
caUed-WiUiwts.I went doumto hin
md recuded too. I msde some
recuds with Bwnble Bee SIim, but
I forpet wlwt thev tws rnu>Eutnble
and Bi'eBill. and I nnde
*e\ttn
somewithfanmRed. I cqn't
rememberwlnt'I plwed in tlnse
dovs. I iust plavbd'withhim (Tanpa
Aeal+is ruimbitrs-btl I don't
renember what they uns, but I
plaryedwith hin, tlnugh,
That mnt lwue beenarowtd'28,
sonewlere in qowd there. lt4eand
Hottmd md Rolutd and qrcther
fellat>it unsn't Ted (Bogan); I
don't fulieue I hd nn. up on him
then--recordedthose runrfurs in the
St. Janes Hotel in Krcxuille. Bnnswich lwd tleir outfit tlere, tlwy had
cone tbous.h there. Tlev tuote us
letters; tf tDehad any talent, music
md lihe tlnt, tley utere going to Put
the studio up in the hotel qrld for us
to cone tp ihere. Weuent up there
and ute nnde the pieces. Tley krnw
when tlw record's rieht. They had
unx: they nnl?e it oi tle wu.. When
thei od'that urfi cautv tlen he said,
"Y;d'[ hear fromme in a rbnth."
He neuer did. write fuck and so I did
"Well. thev beat us
said to ntvself.
out of the record." I heail that record
but I had to wv to heu it, on the
uendor. Tlwi diserrcowagedne right
tlen, you hrnw, from mohingrecords.
I cane to Chicaeoin'32. lt uns
of tE ccfine.Ane boY's in
fort
'Oetroit
rww, Hotoud ,Armstrong;he's
a bad manon the uiolin, I'm telling
vou. qbad nnn...can play onything on
ilp'uiolin. Me ond Ted strch together.
The otter kry, William Ballinger, he's
olavinB bass violin in a band-some
bi14er band tcnh him utvY from.w. ,,
He ums somelhingtoo; he @uld reallY
pich thnt fuss uiolin.
Weolcved onvthing, PoPulu songs,
qtythine- tttev called-for. We played
foi cluictes-. for all occosions. When
vou plav music for ww liuing You
'olav'wiat
the people wffit; that's the
'uni
I alunvs irieil to figte for
nryself. Anythine they ttnnt-if it
nhs ;,eUt iss, darrce's,breahdouns,
itwrches. dvinine they sent for me
lo comewAbny.-fnal's wlry I
It uns ubut fiue or six yeus
ago t4or I gne up -rmtsig,nqlbe
euen longer than ttwt. Ve, l
played rusic for a liuiW; I lihe to
play. Now uhen I was in the Arnry,
I kbpt the rnarale up; I practiced
md utent uouttd there playing.
"Don't let
Thev told tw serqeqnt,
Maiin comsaror.ridhere when we're
havins contests. He wins all the
first orizes." Now that nnndnlin I
hnue, the Arnrygwe ne that. And
I hpd a Gibson guitw, a fellow bowhl
md gaue me. I hept the moraleup
uhei I ums in the ,4rw.
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Chicago, $eptember4, 1935:.This
Deccfi,inks in excite-rpd with spme
of the best blues Perfonm-ncesot
Ete-Ifua-r-lD0sm-such labels as
Faramnmt and Genne$...
evening. I was treated to several
hours ol their mandolin-zuitarrenditions
o{ such ballads as "Red Sails in the
Starcet" before they would deisn to
pcrformblues. Apparentlv theifelt
inrpelled to convin'ceme bf their musical
sophistication;certainly they kept
delerrinsmy requestfoi blues ad
thoughtley couldn't believe that I wouldbe
interested'insuch music. Finallv.
lhugh, J got.Cafl to sing and.pldi
"Crow
Jqne",' from there on i[ was
easy, and they performedblues for
the'rest of the evening.
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I alunys lihed mwic and wouldn't
do onything but play music, but it
Inked like there wasn't any demand
for it. Tlte syndicote tmh ouer the
vendars,juheboxes, things lihe
tlwt-tlwt's u lot of disencowaqenent
to musicians. You hnaw. you c-an't
play here. I used to playin
thealers before they put in loudspeahers,
talkies, ond a lot of places I used
to play whereyou're bwred out rnw.
Ygu go in a1d the fellow tells you,
"Don't need
music. we got music."
Well, okqy, there's a ueil.dortlwrebut look at the musiciansthnt's
unlking the streets md tlwy can't
get ih Tlnt diserrcowqged me, too,
awlnle lot. 'Curse I could lnue fuen
pluyine
'still, masic rie,ht uowtd here
6ut you cai't fisht tlg
swilicqtei mdl hrcw it. ke wlnt
I'm talhing abut?
MTERWORD.'Thouehhe had not
perlormedprofessionilly for more than
a half-doz6nyears whei I met him
early in 1966,Carl was in splendid
vocal and instrumentalshapb. This
was due to the lact that he'and Ted
Bogan,still fast friends, were in the
hab-itof aettins toserher from time to
tinrefor dn eve:nin['s rmsic making,
at which times they wouldplay
'lt and
sing for t-heirown enioyment. was at
sucha sessionat Carl-'sSouthSide
apartmentthat I first met the pair one
Prior to leavingChicagoin Iuneof
[966. I recordedCarl twi-ce. Ai the
first sessionhe accompanied
himself
on mandolinand gritar, with tlre
supDortof IohnnvYoung.who altemated
in'plar ins iheseinstrurn'entswith him.
Thht day-Mav 31. 1966-Grl performed:
" Crou ane Blttes.t"' Corinni."
J
Tlouble on yow Hands," "Yotr State
StreetPimp" (a piece BumbleBee Slim
had recordedas "Rwtninq Bod Luch
Bhrcs"), "Mistreatin' Bfttes," "Eueryday
I Haue the Blues," "GrattediggerBltes,"
"Lize
"John Henry," "Franhie
Jlne,"
ond Johnny," a tentative "Good lllorning,
Judge," and a fragmentaryversion of
"G6in' Bor:h Hornb-"
At the secondsession we attempted
to recreatethe soundof a string
band and, in fact, we christeneil the
group we assembled"The Chicaso
Strin:gBand." In addition to Car[ who
plaved mandolin.violin and zuitar.
ive used lohnny Youns. zuita"rand'
mandolini lohn t,ee Ganterson. suitar:
and lohn Wrencher,harmonica. AII
took-tums with the vocal chores, and
the instrunrentalcombinationswere
manyand varied. Carl's vocal
"Deceiuin'
contlibutions included
Blues," "Trouble on Yow Hands."
"Railroqd'
"Hooilm Blttes,"
and
Blues," and his driving nuandolinand
sensitiveviolin playini enlivened
the vocal and instrumeital
performancesby the others.
(EDI?'OR'SNATE: Carl Martin's first
record probablyaDpearedwder tfris
pseudonyrn-" T EA?VFjSSEE
CHOCOLATE
DROPS"-TitIes listed in the Dixon
Cod.rich
Blues
od.rich Blues
Gospel
book
are, n
&
Gospel
book
are
aaw_^
c,f/.
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Ktnx
Stomo/Vine
^rcx County
uow[y
J[omD/ v Ine Street
JIreeI Dras".
ufQg
Recorded
April, 193d,
ecorded in
in Knoxutlle.
Knoxutlle, c.
c. April.
193d,
issuedon
isstnd
on Vocalion
Vocalion 1517
and 5472.
and.
1517 and
5472. aru
probably featwins Carl Martin. Roland
Armstrond. Clur
trilartin.'aitd
ahd. Hounid
Hounlid Armstrone.
C)w
tln
thanks
'fied
to Daue Freeman.
F.re.eman,u.tho
who first
firs identified
tlw record.)
ts
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