Roy Harvey Vol 1 1926 – 1927

This is the first of four volumes featuring the complete recorded works of the hillbilly recording artist, Roy Harvey. The 4 volume set follows Harvey’s recording career over a five year period from his first recordings in New York in September 1926 to his last recording session in Atlanta, October 1931 and includes some of the finest hillbilly recordings of the era. Roy Harvey was a good singer and an excellent guitarist and he made music his business. It was his good fortune that led him to the charismatic banjo player Charlie Poole. Their first session in the studio together was in September 1926 alongside Posey Rorer on fiddle to record “The Brave Engineer”, this track was coupled with a later recording “The Wreck of Virginian No. 3”, another railroad tragedy song. Roy and Posey recorded again in May 1927 in Atlanta. In the meantime Charlie Poole’s career was taking off and every label in the hillbilly business wanted a piece of North Carolina stringband action. Roy Harvey was able to use this to his advantage and he soon took over the band name of North Carolina Ramblers. Without Charlie Poole in the line-up perhaps the performances lacked some of Poole’s sparkle but then again the recordings are well-played, touching and evocative – just what you want to hear in this genre of music. Includes informative booklet notes by Tony Russell and full discographical details.