FRC 734 - Bill Hensley - Wayne County, WV Banjo Player & Ballad Singer | Bill Hensley

FRC 734 - Bill Hensley - Wayne County, WV Banjo Player & Ballad Singer

by Bill Hensley

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Full Digital Discography

121

releases

Get all 121 Field Recorders' Collective releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 1: From British Tradition, Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 4: The Anglo-African Exchange, Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 3: Songs of Melancholy and Sorrow, Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 2: A Musical Melting Pot, Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 5: Grown on American Soil, FRC 749 - Robert "Strawberry" McCloud - Bloomington Breakdown, FRC 750 - Luther Davis & Hus Caudill - Old-Time Galax-Style Twin Fiddling recorded by Tom Carter & Blanton Owen, FRC 747 - Hus Caudill - Old-Time Alleghany County Fiddling recorded by Tom Carter & Blanton Owen, and 113 more. , and , .

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1.	Wayne County Girl 04:49	buy track
2.	Sugar Hill 01:28	buy track
3.	Wild Bill Jones 03:20	buy track
4.	Cumberland Gap 01:33	buy track
5.	Fox Chase 03:02	buy track
6.	John Henry 04:07	buy track
7.	Shortening Bread 01:11	buy track
8.	Pochahontas Mine 01:48	buy track
9.	Old Ruben 02:13	buy track
10.	Little Birdie 02:41	buy track
11.	Pretty Polly 03:16	buy track
12.	Talk about Bobo/Shout Lu 02:24	buy track
13.	Charming Betsy 02:18	buy track
14.	Going 'Round This World Baby Mine 02:10	buy track
15.	Shady Grove 01:09	buy track
16.	Free Little Bird 01:54	buy track
17.	Sailor's Prayer 03:56	buy track
18.	Soldier's Joy 01:07	buy track
19.	Single Girl 02:20	buy track
20.	Short Life and Trouble 02:56	buy track
21.	Sleeping in the Shade 01:21	buy track
22.	House Carpenter 04:48	buy track
23.	Nobody's Business 01:13	buy track
24.	John Declared He Saw the Train A-Coming 00:35	buy track
25.	I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground 02:09	buy track
26.	If I Had Known Before I Courted 02:11	buy track
27.	Knoxville Girl 02:09	buy track
28.	Roving Gambler 03:02	buy track
29.	Old Ruben (jaw harp) 00:32	buy track
30.	Old Joe Clark (bow harp) 00:46	buy track
31.	Silver Chain 01:15	buy track
32.	John Henry (Bill Jr. sings) 03:30	buy track

about

Bill Hensley (1923-1984) was a remarkable banjo player and ballad singer from Wayne County, West Virginia. He grew up in a musical family, listening as his dad sat on their front porch playing banjo and
entertaining passersby on the road across the river. Bill’s hard-driving banjo style employs flurries of pull-offs and a wide range of unusual tunings. He put his own stamp on song lyrics, too, often adding a surprise twist to a ballad’s ending. (His House Carpenter’s ship collides with an iceberg, and his Pretty
Polly concludes with the original verse: ‘Polly, pretty Polly, has gone to her rest, poor little Willie is in hell now I guess.’) In 1973, Bill moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he met and mentored Southwest folklorist and banjo player Big Jim Griffith. This release provides a window into Bill’s unique artistry and musicianship through a diverse selection
of ballads, songs and instrumentals recorded by Jim Griffith between 1981 and 1984. -- Roman Barten-Sherman

credits

released September 1, 2022

Bill Hensley, banjo, jaw harp, bows harp, vocals Tracks 1-32
Bill Hensley Jr. vocals Track 32

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