Release Date: July 16, 2021.
Recording Time: 34 minutes.
Release Info: Compilation (SFW 40242).
Recording Date: May 14, 1965 - June 1965.
Styles: Finger-Picked Guitar, Songster, Acoustic Blues, Bahamian, Caribbean Traditions, Country Blues, Field Recordings, Folk Blues, Regional Blues.
Encore is a new album produced from previously unheard archival recordings by the legendary Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence, made in 1965 at the height of his career. Spence's radically innovative guitar style transformed elements of Bahamian traditional music into adventurous, joyful improvisations and influenced players worldwide. His powerful singing stemmed directly from the rhyming tradition created by Bahamian sponge fishermen early in the 20th century. The music is punctuated by Spence's unique, sometimes otherworldly vocalizations including humming, short bursts of lyrics, and near-scat singing. Some of the recordings include singing by Spence's sister Edith Pinder and her family members Raymond and Geneva Pinder. Producer Peter K. Siegel captured these performances at Spence's only New York concert, at the performer's cottage in Nassau, Bahamas, and at Siegel's apartment in Manhattan. (SFW40242, 2021 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
Credits: John Cohen - Poster Design; William Bengo Collyer - Composer; James Deutsch - Editorial Assistant; Guy Droussart - Annotation, Composer, Photography; Barber Edwards - Composer; Kate Harrington - Production Assistant; Billy Hill - Composer; Ruth Caye Jones - Composer; Mary Monseur - Production Manager; Adger M. Pace - Composer; Edith Pinder - Vocals; Geneva Pinder - Vocals; Raymond Pinder - Vocals; John Roberts - Composer; Daniel E. Sheehy - Executive Producer; Peter K. Siegel - Annotation, Editing, Engineer, Mastering, Producer; John Smith - Executive Producer; Norman Span - Composer; Joseph Spence - Guitar, Primary Artist, Vocals; Jody Stecher - Engineer.
Tracklist:
01. Won't That Be a Happy Time? - Joseph Spence
02. Out on the Rolling Sea - Joseph Spence
03. Down by the Riverside - Joseph Spence
04. Bimini Gal - Joseph Spence
05. The Crow - Joseph Spence
06. In Times Like This - Joseph Spence
07. Death and the Woman - Joseph Spence
08. Give Me That Old Time Religion - Joseph Spence
09. Run Come See Jerusalem - Joseph Spence
10. Brown Skin Girl - Joseph Spence
11. The Glory of Love - Joseph Spence
12. Great God What Do I See and Hear? - Joseph Spence
13. That Glad Reunion Day - Joseph Spence
Track 4 previously released as part of the Smithsonian Folkways box set Friends of Old Time Music.
Tracks 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 recorded May 14, 1965 at the home of Peter K. Siegel, New York.
Tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 11 recorded May 16, 1965 at a concert by the Friends of Old Time Music and the Newport Folk Foundation at the New School, New York.
Track 9 recorded June 1965 at the home of Joseph and Louise Spece, Nassau, Bahamas.
Track 13 recorded June 1965 at the home of Edith, Raymond and Geneva Pinder, Nassau, Bahamas.
Recorded on a Nagra III-B tape recorder with a Sony C37-A microphone.