# Charlie Poole

Charles Cleveland Poole (March 22, 1892 – May 21, 1931) was an American old-time musician and leader of the North Carolina Ramblers, a string band that recorded many popular hillbilly songs between 1925 and 1930.
Poole has been regarded as a pioneer of country, bluegrass and folk music.

## Biography

Poole was born near the mill town of Franklinville, North Carolina. He was the son of John Philip Poole and Elizabeth Johnson. In 1918, he moved to the town of Spray, North Carolina, now part of Eden. As a child, he learned to play the banjo. He played baseball, and his three-fingered technique was the result of an accident. Whilst betting that he could catch a baseball without a glove, the ball broke his thumb as he closed his hand too soon, resulting in a permanent arch in his right hand.
Poole bought his first banjo, an Orpheum No. 3 Special, with profits from making moonshine. He later appeared in the 1929 Gibson Company catalog to promote their banjo.
He spent much of his adult life working in textile mills.

### The North Carolina Ramblers

Poole and his brother-in-law, fiddle player Posey Rorer, whom he had met in West Virginia in 1917 and whose sister he married, formed a trio with guitarist Norman Woodlief called the North Carolina Ramblers. They auditioned in New York for Columbia Records. After signing a contract, they recorded "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues" on July 27 1925. This song was successful, selling over 106,000 copies at a time when there were estimated to be only 6,000 phonographs in the southern United States, according to Poole's biographer and great-nephew, Kinney Rorrer. The band was paid $75 for the session.
For the next five years, Poole and the Ramblers were a popular band. The band's sound remained consistent, although several members came and left (including Posey Rorer and Norm Woodlief). The band recorded over 60 songs for Columbia Records during the 1920s, including "Sweet Sunny South", "White House Blues", "He Rambled", and "Take a Drink on Me". Former railroad engineer Roy Harvey was one of the guitarists. Fiddlers in various recording sessions were Posey Rorer, Lonnie Austin and Odell Smith.
Bill C. Malone, in his history of country music, Country Music, U.S.A., says, "The Rambler sound was predictable: a bluesy fiddle lead, backed up by long, flowing, melodic guitar runs and the finger-style banjo picking of Poole. Predictable as it may be, it was nonetheless outstanding. No string band in early country music equaled the Ramblers' controlled, clean, well-patterned sound."
Poole composed few of his recordings, mostly covering old folk songs. Nevertheless, his dynamic renditions were popular with a broad audience in the Southeast United States. He is considered a primary source for old-time music revivalists and aficionados. Songs like "Bill Morgan and His Gal", "Milwaukee Blues", and "Leavin' Home", have been resurrected by banjo players. Poole developed a unique fingerpicking style, a blend of melody, arpeggio, and rhythm (distinct from clawhammer/ frailing and Scruggs' variations).
Poole had been invited to Hollywood to play background music for a film, but died before this could happen in May 1931. His cause of death was a heart attack due to alcohol poisoning. According to some reports, he had been disheartened by the slump in record sales due to the Depression.

## Legacy

Poole's music saw a revival in the 1960s, most likely due to his inclusion on the 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, and his renditions have been re-recorded by numerous artists, such as John Mellencamp with "White House Blues", The Chieftains, New Lost City Ramblers, Holy Modal Rounders and Hot Tuna with "Hesitation Blues", and Joan Baez with "Sweet Sunny South". The Grateful Dead's popular song "Deal" was influenced by "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down". His recordings have also appeared on numerous compilations of old-time music. Since 1995, Poole's legacy has been carried on every year in Eden, North Carolina, during the month of June when the Piedmont Folk Legacies, Inc, a non-profit organization, hosts the Charlie Poole Music Festival. Bob Dylan in his Nobel Lecture acknowledged Poole and several lyrics of his song "You Ain't Talkin To Me".
Columbia issued a three-CD box set of his music, entitled You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music in 2005. The album, produced by Henry "Hank" Sapoznik, was nominated for three Grammy Awards. It chronicles the music made for Columbia by Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers between 1925 and 1931, including such important songs as "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down", "Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister?", "Old and Only in the Way" (the title of which was used by Jerry Garcia to name his 1970s bluegrass band with David Grisman, Old and in the Way), and "White House Blues", adapted by John Mellencamp, who in 2004 updated the politically charged lyrics and changed the title to "To Washington". In addition to 43 of Poole's original recordings, the package features performances by other early roots music players and singers, including Fred Van Eps, Arthur Collins, Billy Murray, Floyd Country Ramblers, Uncle Dave Macon and The Red Fox Chasers.
The original liner notes, by Peter Stampfel, state, "Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers recorded an incredible number of songs that are personal favorites of mine. Poole is, in fact, one of the great musicians of the century. No doubt about it." The album's cover art was created by Robert Crumb, the celebrated illustrator and an old-time music aficionado.
Kinney Rorer penned a biography of Charlie Poole, entitled Ramblin' Blues: The Life and Songs of Charlie Poole in 1982. Rorer is a descendant of Poole's fiddler Posey Rorer, and is the banjo player for the old-time music group The New North Carolina Ramblers.
A double-CD album paying tribute to Poole was released by singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III in August 2009. The album, entitled High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project, features 30 tracks, including new versions of songs originally recorded by Poole, as well as tunes composed by Wainwright and producer Dick Connette on the artist's life and times; it was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

## Discography

| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date |
| 140786 | "The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee" | Columbia 15043-D | July 27, 1925 |
| 140787 | "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World" | Columbia 15043-D | July 27, 1925 |
| 140788 | "Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister?" | Columbia 15038-D | July 27, 1925 |
| 140789 | "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues" | Columbia 15038-D | July 27, 1925 |
| 142627 | "Flying Clouds" | Columbia 15106-D | September 16, 1926 |
| 142631 | "Wild Horse" | Columbia 15279-D | September 16, 1926 |
| 142632 | "Forks of Sandy" | Columbia 15106-D | September 16, 1926 |
| 142633 | "Mountain Reel" | Columbia 15279-D | September 16, 1926 |
| 142637 | "Good-Bye Booze" | Columbia 15138-D | September 17, 1926 |
| 142638 | "Monkey on a String" | Columbia 15099-D | September 17, 1926 |
| 142641 | "Too Young To Marry" | Columbia15127-D | September 18, 1926 |
| 142642 | "Ragtime Annie" | Columbia 15127-D | September 18, 1926 |
| 142643 | "Little Dog Waltz" | Unissued | September 18, 1926 |
| 142644 | "A Kiss Waltz" | Unissued | September 18, 1926 |
| 142645 | "Leaving Home" | Columbia 15116-D | September 18, 1926 |
| 142646 | "Budded Rose" | Columbia 15138-D | September 18, 1926 |
| 142657 | "There'll Come A Time" | Columbia 15116-D | September 20, 1926 |
| 142658 | "White House Blues" | Columbia 15099-D | September 20, 1926 |
| 142659 | "The Highway Man" | Columbia 15160-D | September 20, 1926 |
| 142660 | "Hungry Hash House" | Columbia 15160-D | September 20, 1926 |
| 144509 | "If I Lose, I Don't Care" | Columbia 15215-D | July 25, 1927 |
| 144510 | "On the Battle Fields of Belgium" | Unissued | July 25, 1927 |
| 144511 | "You Ain't Talkin' To Me" | Columbia 15193-D | July 25, 1927 |
| 144512 | "Coon From Tennessee" | Columbia 15215-D | July 25, 1927 |
| 144513 | "When I Left My Good Old Home" | Unissued | July 25, 1927 |
| 144514 | "The Letter That Never Came" | Columbia 15179-D | July 25, 1927 |
| 144515 | "Take A Drink On Me" | Columbia 15193-D | July 25, 1927 |
| 144516 | "Falling By the Wayside" | Columbia 15179-D | July 25, 1927 |
| 144517 | "Down in Georgia" | Unissued | July 25, 1927 |
| 144518 | "Sunset March" | Columbia 15184-D | July 26, 1927 |
| 144519 | "Teasin' Fritz" | Unissued | July 26, 1927 |
| 144521 | "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Medley" | Columbia 15184-D | July 26, 1927 |
| 146767 | "A Young Boy Left His Home One Day" | Columbia 15584-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146768 | "My Wife Went Away and Left Me" | Columbia 15584-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146769 | "I Cannot Call Her Mother" | Columbia 15307-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146770 | "I Once Loved A Sailor" | Columbia 15385-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146771 | "Husband and Wife Were Angry One Night" | Columbia 15342-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146772 | "Hangman, Hangman, Slack the Rope" | Columbia 15385-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146773 | "Ramblin' Blues" | Columbia 15286-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146774 | "Took My Gal A-Walking" | Columbia 15672-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146775 | "What Is Home Without Babies" | Columbia 15307-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146776 | "Jealous Mary" | Columbia 15342-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146778 | "Old and Only in the Way" | Columbia 15672-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 146779 | "Shootin' Creek" | Columbia 15286-D | July 23, 1928 |
| 148469 | "Bill Mason" | Columbia 15407-D | May 6, 1929 |
| 148470 | "Goodbye Mary Dear" | Columbia 15456-D | May 6, 1929 |
| 148471 | "Leaving Dear Old Ireland" | Columbia 15425-D | May 6, 1929 |
| 148472 | "Baltimore Fire" | Columbia 15509-D | May 6, 1929 |
| 148474 | "The Wayward Boy" | Columbia 15456-D | May 7, 1929 |
| 148475 | "Sweet Sunny South" | Columbia 15425-D | May 7, 1929 |
| 148476 | "He Rambled" | Columbia 15407-D | May 7, 1929 |
| 148477 | "The Mother's Plea For Her Son" | Columbia 15509-D | May 7, 1929 |
| 2913 | "San Antonio" | Broadway 8288 | May 9, 1929 |
| 149900 | "Sweet Sixteen" | Columbia 15519-D | January 23, 1930 |
| 149901 | "My Gypsy Girl" | Columbia 15519-D | January 23, 1930 |
| 149902 | "The Only Girl I Ever Loved" | Columbia 15711-D | January 23, 1930 |
| 149904 | "Write Letter to My Mother" | Columbia 15711-D | January 23, 1930 |
| 149906 | "If the River Was Whiskey" | Columbia 15545-D | January 23, 1930 |
| 149907 | "It's Movin' Day" | Columbia 15545-D | January 23, 1930 |
| 149908 | "Southern Medley" | Columbia 15615-D | January 23, 1930 |
| 149909 | "Honeysuckle" | Columbia 15615-D | January 23, 1930 |
| 150773 | "Goodbye Sweet Liza Jane" | Columbia 15601-D | September 9, 1930 |
| 150774 | "Look Before You Leap" | Columbia 15601-D | September 9, 1930 |
| 150775 | "One Moonlit Night" | Columbia 15688-D | September 9, 1930 |
| 150777 | "Just Keep Waiting Till the Good Times Come" | Columbia 15636-D | September 9, 1930 |
| 150779 | "Milwaukee Blues" | Columbia 15688-D | September 9, 1930 |
| 150780 | "Where the Whippoorwill Is Whispering Goodnight" | Columbia 15636-D | September 9, 1930 |

### Compilations

* Charlie Poole and the Highlanders: The Complete Paramount and Brunswick Recordings 1929 (Tompkins Square Records, April 20, 2013)