Lonnie Robertson - His Unheard Recordings

 


For anyone who knows me or follows this blog knows that Lonnie Robertson's music holds a very special place in my musical, nerdy soul.  His music has had a profound impact on my own playing style and ever since a dear friend introduced me to his fiddling several years ago, I've been captivated.  What sets Lonnie apart is not just his incredible drive and impeccable phrasing but the remarkable sense of space he wove into his music – something truly unmatched and extraordinary.
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Photo credit: Ellen Gomez

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Here's a wonderful article about Lonnie I found online (author unknown). Email me if you know so I can give proper credit.

"Lonnie Robertson (1908-1981) rose to the national stage in the golden age of live AM radio, performing live over stations in Virginia, Illinois, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, and issuing numerous recordings that sold across North America. Robertson recorded and performed with his radio broadcast partner, Roy McGeorge, as well as with his wife, Thelma, and others. His radio career was focused on Springfield, Missouri's KWTO, a pioneer in country music programming and live "oprys." Lonnie and Thelma published several booklets of folk and gospel songs they performed on radio shows and records. Lonnie Robertson was also active in the fiddle contest scene, as a frequent champion and also as a contest judge. In the 1960s and 1970s, Lonnie was featured in folk festivals and documentaries. 

Lonnie was born on the family farm at Longrun, in the green folds of Taney County, some fifty miles southeast of Springfield and near the Arkansas line. The Robertson family in Missouri began with Lonnie’s grandfather coming from Georgia to Webster County in 1860. He began learning guitar as a child from local dance musicians and played for square dances and house parties. Lonnie began playing fiddle at thirteen when he inherited his father Jarrett's violin and began picking up tunes from radio broadcasts and records as well as participating in jam sessions and fiddling for dances. Born on January 8, Lonnie enjoyed fiddling the ironclad American square dance tune, "The Eighth of January," every year on his birthday. Lonnie's first fiddle tunes were the big breakdowns for square dancing that every fiddler is expected to be able to play -- “Arkansas Traveler,” “Tennessee Wagoner,” and “Soldier’s Joy.” He also learned to play tunes from his father in "dischord" (scordatura, cross-tuning), such as “Arkansas Traveler,” “Fisher’s Hornpipe,” “Drunkard’s Hiccups,” “Cluck Old Hen,” “Dry and Dusty,” “and “Cotton-Eyed Joe.” 

Robertson's old-time square dance repertoire was vast and varied, and an important feature of his musical life, typical of most old-time fiddlers of his generation, is that he embraced a variety of styles and genres, from Jazz Age rags and foxtrots and the old-time square dances and waltzes of his youth, and the emerging genres of western swing and bluegrass music in the 1940s and 1950s. Collector-scholar R.P. Christeson, who published two landmark books of fiddle tunes, considered Lonnie Robertson "the best Missouri fiddler I ever heard." Historian Charles Wolfe wrote that, for many people in south Missouri, “the name Lonnie Robertson has become synonymous with old-time fiddling.” Robertson is among the most-documented and recorded Midwest fiddlers, featured in Drew Beisswenger and Gordon McCann’s Ozarks Fiddle Music (Mel Bay Publications, 2008), Howard Marshall's Fiddler's Dream (University of Missouri Press, 2012), and other publications. Christeson said of Robertson: “He knew an inordinate number of good tunes, could play them all well, and probably took more tunes to the cemetery than any other Missouri fiddler.”  When I recorded Lonnie Robertson at his home in Springfield for the Smithsonian Institution in 1975, he was in his prime and performing in festivals and making records. His favorite venue remained the "music party" (jam session) with friends in the comfort and conviviality of a front parlor, porch, or kitchen." 
- Cited from this online post about Missouri fiddling HERE

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I think this music should be accessible to anyone and everyone interested, so I've compiled 20 tunes that Lonnie never released on his Caney Mountain Records nor was released by Rounder on "Lonnie's Breakdown" available here.

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You can access the folder by clicking the cover art below.  This folder contains a compressed .zip file of the album for easy download and also a separate folder so you can listen online.  These recordings here are free to listen to and share as always.  Spread the gospel!  You can also find more of Lonnie's recordings in older postings on my blog as well.

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You can find all of Lonnie's 45 EPs on our Missouri State Old-Time Fiddler's Association Bandcamp HERE.  You can find "Fiddle Tunes - Ozark Style" HERE.  And "Fiddle Tunes - Ozark Style Vol. 2" HERE.  These are all free to stream online, but if you have a couple bucks burning a hole in your pocket, all proceeds go towards future projects of MSOTFA.

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As the "Dean of Missouri Fiddling" stated in his book, "The Old-Time Fiddler's Repertory", Lonnie probably took more tunes to the cemetery than any other Missouri fiddler.  Here's hoping these 20 tune selections get passed around and keep the Lonnie Robertson legacy alive.


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Thanks to each and everyone of you that follows this blog, helps me with the research involved, and all of my fellow music nerds who help support my efforts here. There's a lot of hours, weekends, and a bit of money that goes into this site and storage. I always enjoy getting feedback, stories, and whatever so please leave a comment or email me at - BrokenBowFiddleCo@gmail.com




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