Monday, January 23, 2012

Richard Chase Jack Tales FSA-6





 
Richard Chase tells three "Jack" tales from the Southern Appalachians was released as FSA-6 in 1962. Chase continues the Appalachian tradition of telling stories handed down from previous generations. "Jack" tales are loosely based on English fairy tales. Jack, who is the same Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, is expected to perform the same chores as Appalachian children. Each story gives a twist where Jack finds himself in a foolish situation, which leads to the moral of the tale.

The liner notes state Chase (1904-1988) performed each of the tracks for a "live" audience of children in a two room school house somewhere in northeastern Tennessee. On first listen I found the content of these recordings somewhat lacking. The second time I digested it with a firm understanding of the historical aspect of the stories. In the ultra digital age we live in, "Jack" tales remain a testament to simpler times. Chase's delivery of these stories is stunning. His ability to weave local flavor and dialect into these century old tales place him at the top of a genre that he created by being the first published source.

Richard Chase has published several books most noted are Jack Tales and Grandfather Tales, both came back in print in 2003. Available from Amazon here. The sound clip* presented is from the track "Jack and the Robbers." If you liked what you've heard, the CD of this recording is available through Folk-Legacy directly here.



A1. Jack and the Robbers (based on the story "The Bremen Town Musicians")



B1. Jack and the King's Girl
B2. Jack and the Three Sillies






*Note about the sound clip. Each clip is sourced from my vinyl copy of the album and is intended for educational purposes. The sound clip is to put my review in context. No copywrite infringement is intended. Entire songs will not be published, or will be available to download through 3rd party links, so don't bother asking. I respect the owners of this recording; any request to remove the sound clip will be honored.
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5 comments:

  1. mphsVinylJimJanuary 23, 2012 at 2:21 PM

    Tremendous review as I expected .. I will be following .. You know how I love Americana ... MphsVinylJim

    ReplyDelete
  2. D. Blake WertsJanuary 23, 2012 at 4:12 PM

    Fantastic start to a great project, Mark! Kudos man.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJune 3, 2013 at 12:52 PM

    Hi Mark- just wanted to let you know about some photos my father Howie Mitchell (also a Folk Legacy performer) took at Frank Proffitt's house around 1961 showing Richard Chase, Ed Trickett, Frank Proffitt, as well as George Armstrong (who played on the Golden Ring album and created the Folk Legacy logo)

    You can see them in this thread on EverythingDulcimer.com

    http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=27595

    ReplyDelete
  4. MutsmagOctober 22, 2015 at 8:36 PM

    Chase's "Jack Tales" and "Grandfather Tales" were never out of print, I don't think. They were reprinted with new covers for the 60th anniversary of the first book. I have lots of information about these tales in my web site AppLit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. MutsmagOctober 22, 2015 at 8:36 PM

    Chase's "Jack Tales" and "Grandfather Tales" were never out of print, I don't think. They were reprinted with new covers for the 60th anniversary of the first book. I have lots of information about these tales in my web site AppLit.

    ReplyDelete

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