Charlie Poole
You Ain't Talkin' To Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of
Country Music
Legacy Recordings
By Greg Yost
 Charlie
Poole was one of the first true outlaws of country music, staking
claim to the title long before Willie and Waylon left Nashville
to set-up shop in Austin, in a time when the term "country
music" wasn't part of the lexicon of popular music. Legacy
Recordings has just issued You Ain't Talkin' To Me: Charlie
Poole and the Roots of Country Music a three-disc box set
that not only features Poole's music but also the artists that
influenced him and those that have followed in his footsteps.
Fittingly presented in a replica vintage cigar box with original
artwork by noted cartoonist R. Crumb, this set features some
of the nicest packaging I've seen. It is obvious that a lot of
care went into this project and the results speak for themselves.
Just the look of the box set will make it desirable for fans
of old-time music, but the content is the real selling point.
This box set is not a comprehensive anthology of Poole's music,
but it is the first time a collection has attempted to convey
the deep impact Poole made on country music. Compiled by the
noted producer Henry "Hank" Sapoznik, the three discs
do an excellent job of showing where Poole came from and how
his artistic vision helped to shape the genre.
All 24 of the tracks on the first disc come from Poole and
his band, The North Carolina Ramblers, and were taken from recording
sessions with Columbia from July 1925 through September 1930,
including selections from his first and final trips to the studio.
Poole spent almost his entire career on the label and these recordings
reflect some of his best work.
The other two discs in this set focus mainly on Poole's predecessors,
contemporaries and the artists that carried the torch after Poole
was gone. Sapoznik brought a unique perspective to this project
by pairing Poole's recordings with renditions of the same songs
by other artists that came before or after Poole.
 An example of this
documentary-style approach is found in the two recordings of
the beloved "Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister?"
First we get Poole's classic rendition from 1925 followed by
a re-recording of the same song by the Red Fox Chasers in 1928.
By hearing both recordings, you can see how a song evolves over
time and it is interesting to note both the subtle and not-so-subtle
nuances and variations between the recordings.(Photo right:
Charlie Poole(seated with banjo) and the NC Ramblers. Courtesy
of Kinney Rorrer)
Charlie Poole was a hard-living and hard-drinking man and
he chose songs for his repertoire that matched his lifestyle.
Titles like "Take A Drink On Me," "Ramblin' Blues"
and "If The River Was Whiskey" illustrate this point.
Poole finally drank himself to death in 1931 at the age of 39
just a couple months after landing a deal to provide music
for a Hollywood film. Though loved by the public in his time,
Poole's importance continued to grow over the years. His music
and his life story became legendary when scholars recognized
just how important he was in developing the sound of country
music. This box set is a testament to that legacy.
Though not a comprehensive career retrospective, You Ain't
Talkin' To Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music
shines a new light on the life and music of this American legend
and is sure to win over a whole new crop of fans in the process.
www.legacyrecordings.com
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