APFM2M Allen Lowe is a very busy man

The following quotation is from the Allen Lowe website 'About' page:

In 1996 he moved to South Portland Maine, and what followed was a period of involuntary musical retirement. There was little musical work, no interest in his music, and a local arts scene dominated by folk music, retro-Indie Rock, and people under the age of 30. Out of sheer boredom he took up the guitar and began composing again, and also taught himself the technique of sound restoration.

Nothing very special going on there: during a period of unemployment I learned how to construct bespoke computer databases in a 4GL between bouts of sitting on the couch for days at a time feeling sorry for myself. But wait, there's more:

During this time Lowe wrote 4 books…

Gulp. Not much couch & self-pity time for Lowe:

…'American Pop from Minstrel to Mojo' (a survey of American music from 1896-1946, published by Cadence and issued with a 9 CD set); 'That Devilin’ Tune: A Jazz History 1900-1950' (published by Music and Arts and issued with a 36 CD set); 'God Didn’t Like It: Electric Hillbillies, Singing Preachers, and the Beginning of Rock and Roll, 1950-1970' (unpublished); 'The Lost Generation: Jazz of the 1950s' (unpublished); and then, most recently, 'Really the Blues? A Blues History, 1893-1959' (with a 36 CD set and 80,000 words of notes). For all of these that were issued with compact discs sets Lowe did all mastering and sound restoration, and also began doing  freelance sound work, for Rhino, Shout, Rykodisc, Sony, Michael Feinstein, Terry Gross ('Fresh Air'), Venus Records, and others. The last two historical reissue projects he has done ('That Devilin Tune' and 'Really the Blues?') remain as two of the largest independent projects ever done on the history of American music, and were completed without any outside, institutional support.

Overwhelmed by the flood of Lowe's output and exhausted by just reading about such manic industry, I looked at a pair of works: the 'American Pop from Minstrel to Mojo 1896-1946' book available from the Lowe website 'For Sale' section and has an accompanying nine CD set ("all mastering and sound restoration" by Lowe you will remember) available from Amazon and other suppliers. There are many more things to be explored on the website, not least a generous selection of sample tunes from the author.

Try the website single question pop quiz:

Pop quiz: who was the first musician to record an alt. version of Blind Willie Johnson’s incredible gospel anthem, 'Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground'?

The answer is a sample on the 'American Song Project' webpage.

While obtaining a copy of the book was under consideration, I checked out that nine CD set on Amazon: $599.99 plus $3.99 shipping! At 215 tracks that is a base cost of around $2.79 per track, although there are three accompanying booklets to take into account. You may want to read the book before continuing: try the Brendan Foreman review available at the SleepingHedgehog.com website. I think Lowe's expertise may be a bit over my head, so it only makes sense to be able to listen to the accompanying music. The invaluable AllMusic.com website has a review of the recordings, written by William Ruhlmann: just reading the track list at that link may be enough for you to make a decision.

Someone referred to Lowe as the Harry Everett Smith (1923-1991) for the new millennium, a reference to Smith's 'Anthology of American Folk Music' in its various incarnations, most notably the Smithsonian Folkways Recording set of six CDs at a more modest base cost of $79.98 shipping charges unknown, which is 84 tracks for around 95 cents per track base cost. That's the good news, but the even better news is that the liner notes are available as a free 100-page 21.7MB PDF download. Please forgive the crass way I am reducing a cultural heitage to unit cost per track: that embarrasses even me. Just the numbers and the amount of material, let alone the breadth and scope of delights encompassed individually by Lowe and Smith, are daunting. It's great to have choice in our consumer society, even though that brings problems of its own; not least where and how to get enough money to buy these treasures!

 

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