Known as “The Big Bang of country music,” the Bristol Sessions are widely regarded as some of the first recordings of country music. But what many people do not know is that 90 years ago Johnson City held its own recording sessions, and these recordings of musicians have gone on to leave lasting impacts.
“The 1929 Johnson City Sessions were held in the building called Loaves and Fishes,” Dr. Ted Olson, a professor in the Appalachian Studies Department said. “Which is next to West Main Street Christian Church.”
Olson said that the Johnson City Sessions were recorded in 1928 and were held by Columbia Records.
“It’s an effort by Columbia Records, and their main producer named Frank Walker, to come to the same basic neck of the woods where the Bristol Sessions occurred in 1927 to see if maybe lightening might strike twice in the same general area,” Olson said.
Though the Johnson City Sessions are not as well known as their counterparts from Bristol, Olson said that there were hit records that came out of the 1928 Johnson City Sessions. These hit records were why Columbia Records and Frank Walker came back to the city in 1929. Olson said that in 1929, Columbia Records recorded some of the most influential records recorded anywhere in the 1920s.
“The problem was the week of the Johnson City Sessions recording sessions in 1929 in October, that coincided with the Great Depression,” Olson said. “The last day of the Johnson City Sessions was the first day of the Wall Street crash, which doomed sales.”
Olson said it took 25 years for the Johnson City Sessions to start having an impact on American music. Olson said a man named Harry Smith compiled an anthology called “The Anthology of American Folk Music” for Folkways Records. Three of the key tracks on the anthology were from the Johnson City Sessions. Those three records included Clarence Ashley’s “The Cuckoo Bird,” The Bentley Boys’ “Down On Penny’s Farm,” and Bill and Belle Reeds’ “The Old Lady and the Devil.”
“To get a sense of how those records impacted the next generation, “The Cuckoo Bird” was the major record influencing Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead to go into roots music,” Olson said. “… Bob Dylan based two of his songs on ‘Down On Penny’s Farm.'”
Olson said that the Johnson City Sessions are not as well known as the Bristol Sessions because the city of Bristol has been promoting the recordings consistently for fifty years. Olson also said that while they are both equally important recordings of music, the Johnson City Sessions went on to influence more genres of music.
“It’s high time to give the Johnson City Sessions a good close listen,” Olson said. “That’s why I put out this new album.”
Olson had previously put out a box set of the Johnson City Sessions, but said the box set was a little on the pricey side. So Olson put out a new album of the Johnson City Sessions so people could afford the music and hear the songs recorded 90 years ago.
“I can’t help but feel like this is historically very important and musically very important,” Olson said.
The Johnson City Sessions have started to gain more recognition, and Olson credits that to the fact that listeners are starting to hear the music, and that he and others have been promoting the anniversary of the sessions.
“The city of Johnson City is starting to promote the Johnson City Sessions more actively,” Olson said. “I do think that’s very important. This is a sign that the city itself and the media … is promoting the story quite heavily.”
Olson said that the Johnson City Sessions are worth listening to to understand the history behind the music.
“It’s very important to understand where we come from,” Olson said. “Part of that is finding the hidden history, stories that have been neglected for various reasons. It’s kind of our responsibility and our joy to uncover those stories, bring them back, understand them and celebrate them.”
