Andy Griffith Shouts The Blues and Old Timey Songs

 

The House Of The Rising Sun

Andy Griffith

Shouts The Blues and Old Timey Songs

Produced by Tom Morgan

Cover Photo by Joe Cavello / Black Star

Capitol Records T 1105

1959

From the back cover: TO WHOEVER MIGHT BE READING THIS: This writing here is called liner notes. Generally, it's about what's in the album, or who did it, or both. And generally it's made up by somebody in the record company. But I fit in a real peculiar slot so they asked me to do it myself.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: (Used to be just people who could draw a picture were called artists. But now there are so many record companies, and TV shows and movies and all, that anybody who is fooling around with them and not doing any actual work is called an artist. So since they've loosened the requirements, I guess I'm one, too.)

I was born and raised in North Carolina-graduated from college in 1949 (by mistake), taught high school for three years (the students claim that was also by mistake), got married to Barbara Bray Edwards in 1949 (I did that on purpose and she has worked out so fine I expect I'll keep her on). And as I said before, to avoid having to go to work, in 1953 we moved to New York and I went into the field of entertainment.

ABOUT THIS ALBUM: Capitol Records is prosperous and I caught the boys in a good mood when I asked them to let me make this album. So they agreed to let me do it.

The reason I wanted to do it is that I just enjoy a record session. And I have always enjoyed shouting the blues and besides that, the blues is about the only kind of song I can sing. Though my friend Ainslie Pryor said that I was about the worst blues singer he ever heard. And I will admit that I'm not the best, but in all modesty I will have to say that I expect I'm the loudest.

Ainslie Pryor introduced the blues to me, or me to the blues, whichever is right, and helped me in the beginning in whatever career I've got more than anybody else. He helped me in many ways, including writing. He helped me write a lot of jokes and monologues I used to do-Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Make Yourself Comfortable, etc. He was a brilliant man and his passing was a great loss to his friends and to the entertainment industry.

ABOUT THE SONGS: Some of these songs, the old timey ones, came from my mother and other folks in the mountains of western North Carolina. Some of the blues I learned from records (I might as well be honest), but most of them I learned from Brownie McGhee, who is playing guitar in this album and sings with me on Pick a Bale of Cotton. I think Brownie is the finest traditional blues guitar player in the country and I always get a great pleasure out of singing with him.

That's about all I've got to say and it's probably just as well.

Thank you, Andy Griffith

The Preacher And The Bear

Midnight Special

The House Of The Rising Sun

How Long Blues

The Crawdad Song

Good Morning Blues

Police Department Blues

Little Maggie

Careless Love

Molly Darlin'

I Want A Little Girl

Pick A Bale Of Cotton