Charlie Poole's story resonates with me in numerous ways: the regional aesthetic I've lived in for 25 years, the musical legacy I hear every time I drive into the county to pick with old timers, his descendants I have met and grand-nephew (who performed as an 8th grader w Doc Watson at our high school here) that I taught, and finally his fatal alcoholism, yet hopeful outlook.
A deep study, this guy.
From about 1999 thru' the Oughts, there was a Charlie Poole Music Festival here in Poole's north-central NC stomping grounds and I competed and did stage setups there many times, meeting performers and banjo music enthusiasts year after year.
[charlie-poole.com/about-cpmf] One year, headliner Tony Trischka ended up visiting my house after the festival and improvised two banjo tracks onto a song I'd written about my father. One year the stage crew almost got hit by lightning and fended-off the storm with a rousing version of 'Amazing Grace' and half the vendors couldn't get out of the mud to go home. For three summers I was 'the NC Ramblers' grave-keeper', mowing, raking, and removing litter from their resting places in the Spray cemetery. In 2023, the CPMF was resurrected by organizer Louise Price and took place again at a local community college. This song was an historical poem first published in a 'zine about southern mill culture, then the circling four chords came to me and it became this song. - bhh
MILL THOUGHTS OF CHARLIE POOLE
by bret harold hart
........
to the rhythm of the bobbin and the snapping of the yarn
in my head, I'm pickin' banjo with some friends behind the barn
the machines are crowded 'round me like the grain around a stalk
my feet are numb as dead men's but I'm fixin' for a walk
to the rhythm of the bobbin and the whistlin' of the steam
I'm far from Spray and Leaksville on the wings of my dream
my wife's brother has a fiddle and I just know that boy can play
got a neighbor with a flattop box and a map that knows the way
William Byrd, he never knew, and Guv'nor Morehead couldn't say
but the rhythm of the bobbin surely takes your soul away...
I'm thinkin' 'bout that wax-paper sandwich in my pocket,
this Reidsville tobacco, and her picture in this locket...
the rhythm of the bobbin and the ache in my back
has me thinkin' about the company team and when I'll be at bat
the uniforms have stripes and there's fine ladies in the stands
and when the game is over a bottle changes hands
when I get some breathin' room, I'll turn my life around
I won't be nobody's boy I won't let my deal go down
Posey, me, and that strummer's gonna leave this heat behind
'stead of sweat drippin' off our brow clear water's what we'll find
the rhythm of the bobbin and the humming of this mill
my heart taps out a beat like a banker's pennies in a till
I don't see no fame or fortune in this dust and dirt and pain
my feet are numb as dead men's...
got them walkin' blues again... them walkin' blues
them walkin' blues again
I don't know where I'm goin', but I know for sure I will
end up underneath some headstone on some outta town hill
'til my liver turns to wood and I'm called up to my Lord
I'll thank you for another pull on that ol' drinkin' gourd (you got there in your hand)
that ol' drinkin' gourd...
William Byrd, he never knew, and Guv'nor Morehead couldn't say
but the rhythm of the bobbin surely takes your soul away...
I'm thinkin' 'bout that wax-paper sandwich in my pocket,
this Reidsville tobacco, and her picture in this locket
Players:
bhh: voice, resonator guitar, modified Telecaster
dennis james: bass
sonny sherrill: face-harp
bill smith: drumming
jim eanes: banjo
basic tracks and guest overdubs recorded by Glenn Denny at G&D Recording, Eden NC Nov 2022, with subsequent guitar and percussion tracks recorded and mixed by bhh at HipWorks thru July 2023.
........
Home recorded arrangement from when it was brand new in 2001:
archive.org/details/SomeMill-...
........
A great overview of the Charlie Poole story can be found at Loudon Wainwright III's "High Wide & Handsome'' site here:
http://www.thecharliepooleproject.com...
