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FOLKLIFE FOLKLIFE
ASSOCIATION
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ALBERT MACON AND ROBERT THOMAS MUSICS OF ALABAMA:
Macon, born in 1920 in Society Hill, played a type of music he called "boogie and blues," which he learned from his father, Buster Macon, at house parties and frolics in the rural Macon County community. They played old-time, country blues tunes, such as "John Henry," and "Staggerlee," in a rousing style intended for dancing. Albert Macon began teaching Robert Thomas to play blues guitar when Thomas, who was nine years younger than Macon, was about 15 years old. For over 40 years the two men played music together at fish fries, parties and festivals in the greater Auburn, Tuskegee, and Columbus, Georgia area. The two men also received national and international attention, playing such venues as the Knoxville World's Fair and the American Blues Festival in the Netherlands and the WDR Blues Festival in Bonn, Germany. Macon and Thomas recorded "Blues and Boogie from Alabama," on the Dutch Swingmaster label, and are also featured on "In Celebration of a Legacy: Traditional Music of the Chattahoochee River Valley," a two CD set of field recordings by George Mitchell. (above excerpted from Anne Kimzey's Folkways article found at this link) "Got to Move" is a traditional song arranged by
Albert Macon. The same song
was recorded on a 45rpm by McKinley James.
McKinley lived near Notasulga, Alabama (Macon County) and
was a friend of Albert Macon. Fred Fussel remembers
hearing this song performed at the Georgia Sea Island
Festival at St. Simons Island, Georgia, back around 1987
by, he believes, John Lee Zeigler. Zeigler called
it "Ain't Gone Drag No Sack." Other Links |
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