Times were hard in 1931 when this record was recorded and issued on at least four different labels - Banner, Romeo, Oriole, and Paramount. This was the Romeo issue, released on their "Hillbilly" series in August of 1931. The quality of the recording
leaves no doubt that it was the same prototype electric equipment that Romeo had been using in late 1925. James Roberts, who sounds like he's about 14 on this side, was the son of fiddler "Doc" Roberts and would become a regular performer on radio station
WSB (thanks to "Rocky" for sharing that info). His performance is unsophisticated, but genuine, and whether or not you like country you gotta love the honesty. The record itself was played hard in its life, but the noise-to-music ratio is improved quite
a lot after taming the static and providing some gentle EQ to tame the pinched sound of the recording. (The "B" side of this record, "Crepe on the Cabin Door", can be heard at
HonkingDuck, along with lots of other vintage Country sides.)
