Search - Clark Kessinger :: Legend of

Marvelous Execution by a Master Fiddler; Mediochre Recording

Alex Scarbrough | Denver, Colorado | 02/08/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Clark Kessinger was one of the truly great old-time fiddlers from West Virginia. His incredible energy, talent, and repertory were phenomenal and spanned the course of two recording careers. Although this album captures all of those qualities, the individual who recorded these tunes (apparently in the field) could have done a better job of mixing the insturments (fiddle, guitar, and banjo) and balancing the treble and bass. Unfortunately, the resulting end product gives us only a shadow of what the performances must have actually sounded like. Gene Meade's flat-picking of an absolutely phrenetic moving bass-line on his guitar is a little too far in the background while Wayne Hauser's great Scruggs-style banjo also comes across somewhat muddied and not as distinct as it should be. None-the-less this is a great CD which was originally released as an LP and a must for anyone into old-time fiddle music. The selection of tunes is marvelous and includes many of the old-time fiddle classics such as Ragtime Annie, Red Bird, Salt River, Chinky-Pin, Flop Eared Mule, Leather Britches, Billy in the Low Ground, Hell Among The Yearlings, Sally Goodwin and others; all are technically executed extremely well - only the sound engineering on them is somewhat lacking. Two waltzes, Over The Waves and Wednesday Night Waltz, also appear in the album's selection and have a better sound balance than the fast-paced reels and breakdowns; these give a much better testimony to Mr. Kessinger's legendary talent."