| County Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Founder | David Freeman |
| Defunct | 2018 |
| Distributor(s) | County Sales (retail) Record Depot (wholesale) |
| Genre | Old-time, bluegrass, country |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Official website | countysales |
County Records was a Virginia-based independent American record label founded by David Freeman in 1963. The label specialised in old-time and traditional bluegrass music. [1]
Old-time music collector David Freeman started the County Records label in 1963 to focus on music from the rural Southeastern United States. He told an interviewer that he selected the name "County" because it evoked the rural, regional and local aspects of old-time music. [1] Living in New York, Freeman avidly collected recordings from Southern musicians including old-time, bluegrass, country and blues artists. His new label's first release was a reissue of old-time music drawn from his personal collection of 78 rpm recordings from the 1920s and 1930s by Charlie Poole, the Leake County Revelers, Crockett's Mountaineers and similar string bands. A Collection of Mountain Fiddle Music (County 501) was released in 1964, and several similar reissues followed within the 500 series.[ citation needed ]
Around the same time, Freeman met Charles Faurot, an old-time banjo player from Chicago who was also living in New York. Faurot proposed that he make some new recordings of the old-time musicians who were still performing in Virginia and North Carolina. Freeman agreed, and Faurot traveled south to make field recordings of 15 artists. The first County Records release of new music was Clawhammer Banjo: Old Time Banjo and Fiddle Tunes (County 701) in 1965, recorded and produced by Faurot. [2] This LP album included new recordings by Wade Ward, who had previously been recorded by John Lomax and Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. The album was also the recording debut for fiddle and banjo players Fred Cockerham and Kyle Creed. Additional Faurot field recordings were released on More Clawhammer Banjo (Volume 2) (County 717) in 1969 and Clawhammer Banjo Volume 3 (County 757) in 1978. Faurot eventually recorded and produced more than a dozen of County Records' early releases, all numbered in the 700 series to indicate non-reissues. [3]
County Records also expanded into the bluegrass music genre, although Freeman preferred those artists who stayed the closest to their old-time roots. The label's first bluegrass release was 1965's Blue Ridge Bluegrass (County 702) featuring Larry Richardson and the Blue Ridge Boys.[ citation needed ]
It was announced that County Records went out of business and permanently shut down on 17 January 2018 after over 50 years of operation. [4] [5] [6]
Freeman ran County Records as a sideline while working for the railway post office. In 1965, he started a companion business, County Sales, to provide a mail-order retail outlet for his County Records releases and other hard-to-find titles. This enabled him to quit the railway job and focus on music full-time. Both businesses operated from a single room in his father's printing business on East 37th Street in New York. [1] In 1974 Freeman relocated his family, the record label and the distribution business to Floyd, Virginia. In 1977, he started a regional wholesale distribution business for old-time and bluegrass music, Record Depot, in Roanoke, Virginia. In 1978, Freeman helped his graphic artist Barry Poss start a new label in Durham, North Carolina called Sugar Hill Records. [7] In contrast to County's focus on old-time and traditional bluegrass, Sugar Hill would specialize in the more modern and progressive bluegrass genres. In 1980, Freeman bought a pioneering bluegrass record label, Rebel Records, from Dick Freeland, one of the label's founders. Rebel's focus is mainstream bluegrass, somewhere between the traditional sound of County and the progressive sound of Sugar Hill. [1]
County Records founder David Freeman was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 2002. [8]
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Together, they form an ensemble called the string band, which along with the simple banjo–fiddle duet have historically been the most common configurations to play old-time music. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music.
Wade Ward (1892–1971) was an American old-time music banjo player and fiddler from Independence, Virginia. He was widely known playing the clawhammer banjo and frequently won the Galax, Virginia Old Time Fiddler's Convention. His instrument, a Gibson RB-11 5-string banjo, is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. Along with Kyle Creed, Wade Ward is known for his 'Galax' style of playing the clawhammer banjo.
Brad Leftwich is an American old-time fiddler, banjo player, singer and teacher of traditional old-time style. He is originally from Oklahoma but has resided in Bloomington, Indiana for most of his life. He performs solo and with his long-time musical partner and wife, Linda Higginbotham, and with his band, The Humdingers, which also includes Sam Bartlett and Abby Ladin.
Dan Levenson is an American old-time musician, storyteller, writer and educator. Specializing in Appalachian music, he sings, dances, and plays the five-string banjo, fiddle, and guitar.
David Freeman was an American collector, historian, and authority on old-time and bluegrass music. Freeman started the County Records label in 1963 in his native New York to focus on Southern string band music, and began the companion mail-order record retail company County Sales in 1965. He moved both businesses to Floyd, Virginia, in 1974. In 1977, Freeman started the Record Depot wholesale distribution company in Roanoke, Virginia, specializing in bluegrass and old-time music. In 1978 he helped his graphic artist Barry Poss start a bluegrass music record label, Sugar Hill Records, in Durham, North Carolina. In 1980, Freeman bought Charlottesville-based Rebel Records, a pioneering bluegrass label, from Charles Freeland, one of the label's founders. Freeman was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 2002. Freeman died on December 25, 2023, at the age of 84.
Matokie Worrell Slaughter, sometimes known as "Tokie" Slaughter, was an American clawhammer banjo player.
Hobart Smith was an American old-time musician. He was most notable for his appearance with his sister Texas Gladden on a series of Library of Congress recordings in the 1940s and his later appearances at various festivals during the folk music revival of the 1960s. Smith is often remembered for his virtuosic performances on the banjo, and had also mastered various other instruments, including the fiddle, guitar, piano, harmonica, accordion and organ.
Ola Belle Reed was an American Appalachian folk singer, songwriter and banjo player.
Estil Cortez Ball (1913–1978) was an American singer-songwriter, fingerstyle guitarist, and country gospel and folk musician from Rugby in Grayson County, Virginia.
James Benton Flippen was an American old-time fiddler from Mount Airy, North Carolina. He was one of the last surviving members of a generation of performers born in the early 20th century playing in the Round Peak style centering on Surry County, North Carolina. His contemporaries included Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed, and Earnest East.
Kyle Creed (1912–1982) was an influential musician and banjo luthier of 20th century Appalachia. Along with Tommy Jarrell, and Fred Cockerham, he was a central figure of the Roundpeak-style old-time music that began to find an outside audience in the 1960s, and his clawhammer banjo playing came to shape banjo practices in the Old-time music tradition.
Jerome Henry "Butch" Baldassari was an American mandolinist, recording artist, composer, and music teacher.
James Arnott “Jimmy” Gaudreau is a singer and mandolinist playing traditional and progressive bluegrass music. He is best known for his solo albums, and his work with The Country Gentlemen, Tony Rice, and J. D. Crowe.
Terry Baucom was an American bluegrass singer, banjo player, and band leader. He was nicknamed "The Duke of Drive" for his propelling banjo style. He led his band, The Dukes of Drive, and was a founding member of Boone Creek, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, and IIIrd Tyme Out.
Donald Glen Rigsby is an American mandolinist, fiddler, guitarist, vocalist, and producer in the bluegrass tradition. He is known for his solo career, and for his work with the Lonesome River Band and Longview.
Kenny Smith is an American guitarist and vocalist in the bluegrass tradition.
Ron Stewart is an American multi-instrumentalist in the bluegrass tradition. He plays fiddle, guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and has won the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award for Fiddle Player of the Year in 2000 and Banjo Player of the Year in 2011.
David L. Parmley is a bluegrass vocalist, guitarist, and award-winning bandleader. He is best known for being a co-founder of both the Bluegrass Cardinals and Continental Divide.
Alan Daniel Bibey is a mandolinist, singer, songwriter, and band leader in the bluegrass tradition.
Rickie Hal Simpkins is an American fiddler and mandolinist in the bluegrass tradition. He is best known for his solo albums and his work with the Lonesome River Band and the Seldom Scene.