Laugh Your Blues Away

Laugh Your Blues Away (Rounder 1028, 1979) gathers seventeen Uncle Dave Macon performances that, according to the label’s notes, had never appeared on record before. They were made over twenty years: the first four tracks, including “Oh Lovin’ Babe,” on 17 December 1930; most of the next group on 15 February 1945; and others in 1939, the summer of 1946, around 1946 and on 25 November 1950. Charles Wolfe produced and annotated the collection, and John Nagy remastered it.

Macon plays banjo and sings throughout. Sam McGee plays guitar and banjo on the 1930 tracks and on “Death of John Henry,” where Kirk McGee also plays guitar, and Macon’s son Dorris Macon plays guitar and sings on most of the later tracks. Dorris Macon often accompanied his father between 1930 and Macon’s death on 22 March 1952. Macon had first appeared on WSM on 26 December 1925, and in early 1927 he formed the Fruit Jar Drinkers with Sam McGee, Kirk McGee and Mazy Todd.