J.W. Day

Norm,

My Great Grandfather is James William Day (aka) J.W. Day, Jilson Setters from Ashland Ky.

He recorded 10 songs on 5, 78 records for Victor in 1928.

I have three of the records and am looking for the other two.

I need :
1) The Wild Wagoner / Marthis Campbell
2) Way up on Clinch Mountain / The Arkansas Traveller

My sister and I have found about 60 pictures of him in a collection on the web. We found a book written about him called "The singin' Fiddler of Lost Hope Hollow" by Jean Thomas, plus three other books written by her that include him, a poster of J.W. called "The Fiddler" and recordings he made for The Library of Congress in 1934 and 1937. The records I have now have been matted and framed with details and a picture. They turned out very nice. We have been able to locate his marriage cert. to my Great Grandmother from 1886 and his death cert. from 1942 We intend to donate all these items to the museum in Ashland KY when we pass away. They already have a very nice display about him and Jean Thomas and these items will fit nicely.

Here is the link to the pictures.

http://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOBOX1=jilson+setters&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=all&CISOSTART=1,1

It is to The University of Louisville.

The pictures are in the Jean Thomas Collection.

Jean Thomas "discovered" J.W. and was his manager from the late 1920s until his death in 1942.

Many people don't know that his stage name, Jilson Setters, comes from his father Jilson Day and his mother Elizabeth Setters.

One of the records I need is on ebay. I think I will bid on it and see what happens.

Thanks again.

Jim Carpenter

Norm

Got the CD's yesterday. They were more than I had hoped for. Thank you so much. The sound was much better than I thought it would be. There were 3 songs from the LOC that I did not have. Thanks to you, I now have all ten of the songs he recorded for Victor on CD.

I also have 4 out of 5 Victor 78s he recorded. I was able to win the one on eBay last Sun. So, our collection is coming along well.

You talked about seeing the Albert Hall while in London. J.W. had quite a trip over there. He wrote the song Fiddler of Lost Hope Hollow while on the ship going over. He told my Mom that he was the only one in his party that did not get sea sick on the ship.

Congrats on your 25th wedding anniversary.

Thanks again,

Jim

Moatsville String Ticklers

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Hi, Tom

Yes, I have a photo of the Moatsville String Ticklers.

The members of the group are:
Standing: Zel Frye, Doyle Shaffer, Brooks Ritter (my uncle), and Floyd Frye
Seated: Marshall Summers, Harold Ritter (my uncle), Cecil Frye, and Gordon Frye.

Both of my uncles learned carpentry and loved working with wood. Uncle Brooks created spinning wheels, among other items.

Uncle Harold worked construction. He was involved in a horrific accident, around the time of WWII, and crushed his arms and chest. Doctors didn't think he'd ever be able to use his arms again. After he recuperated, Uncle Harold began to make violins, violas, cellos, and guitars. All were/are excellently crafted.

Thanks for your interest!

Kathy McBee of Canton Ohio

New Home Page and previous visitors

I've simplified the Juneberry78s home page so it is far less 'cluttered'. I'm keeping the old home page for a while and will update it to allow for the new guest book and this blog.

Over the last several years descendants of the following artists have visited the Juneberry78s.com website. In some cases we have provided original 78s from the era for a family treasure. In almost every case we have provided digital copies of the 1920s music that no one in the family had heard for many years. Some photos were forwarded to us that I will post shortly.

Albertville Quartet
Ashley's Melody Men
Big Chief Henry's Indian String Band
Binkley Brothers Dixie Clodhoppers
Brammer Brothers (early bluegrass band)
Buffalo Ragged Five
Deal Family
Grady Family
Happy Hayseeds
Haywire Mac's Orchestra
Bill Lamey (Cape Breton fiddler)
Fiddling Bob Larkan
Fiddling Sam Long
Emmett Lundy
Earl McCoy, Alfred Meng & Clem Garner
Moatsville String Ticklers
North Canton Quartet
Red Patterson's Piedmont Log Rollers
Payne Family Quartet
Holland Puckett
Edd Rice
Jilson Setters (J.W. Day)
Taylor-Griggs Louisiana Melody Makers
Tobbaco Tags
Walburn & Hethcox
Ira & Eugene Yates
Young Brothers
Jess Young

We were also contacted by the descendant by marriage of Gervis Bloodworth from the sensational Jones and Bloodworth Murder Case. Avoline Bloodworth wrote an excellent true crime book about the case- Murder At The County Line. Both Carl Conner and Vernon Dalhart made a record about the case.

It has been an honor and pleasure to be of service to these families.

Introduction and recent activity

This my blog for the Juneberry78s website. Let me introduce myself. I am Tom 'Norm' Morrison. I love Roots Music from the 1920s and 30s and wish to help provide access to these treasures. I started collecting roots music in 1964 when I was still in high school. Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rodgers were early favorites. I also watched Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest every week on KQED. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area provided the necessary access. I loved taking the bus from my parent's home in Alameda to Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. At the time there were several very good independent record stores there. Also there was Moe's Book Store that also let you trade, buy and sell used records. The main branch of the Oakland Public Library had literally many thousands of LPs of all types. This included lots of the good stuff on labels such as Folkways, Folk Legacy, RBF, OJL, Milestone, Biograph and other independent labels. I used a Reel to Reel Tape deck to capture the many new and exciting sounds. If I liked the album enough I'd buy it (often at Moe's). Collecting 78s was still several years away.

Getting to the present I've begun working on an album of early Riley Puckett and Gid Tanner tracks not on previous Juneberry albums. Riley is one of my favorite old time singers. I also enjoy Gid's rustic playing and singing. This material comes from my friend Brett who lives up in Chico California.

I've also been listening to some great interviews from the 1960s of Old Time Artists who recorded in the 1920s. These were provided by Kilby from North Carolina. One has my buddy Robert Nobley interviewing Tom Darby. Tom also played and sang some of the songs that he and Jimmie Tarlton recorded many years prior. The Red Steeley (of Red Headed Fiddlers fame) interview was great because he also played fiddle and was still in fine form. Other interviews included Bill Helms, Clayton McMichen, Charles and Ira Stripling.