Shenandoa - Music

Abner Wingate Jay July 15 1921 – November 4 1993 Was An American Multi-Instrumentalist From Georgia Best Known For Performing Eccentric Blues Infused Folk Music As A One Man Band. Common Instruments On Jay's Recordings Include Harmonica Drum Kit A Six-String Banjo That Jay Claimed Was Made In 1748 And The “bones” Which Were Chicken And Cow Bones That Had Been Bleached In The Sun And Used To Create Percussion. Jay Was Born In Fitzgerald Georgia. His Father And Grandfather Were Both Slaves In Washington County Georgia. His Grandfather Was Also A Banjo Player And Imparted A Vast Repertoire Of Old-Time And Folk Songs To Abner. Abner Jay Began Playing In Medicine Shows At The Age Of 5 And In 1932 Joined The Silas Green From New Orleans Minstrel Show. Jay Went On To Lead The WMAZ Minstrels On Macon Radio From 1946–56 Before Going Solo. He Spent Many Years Traveling The American South And Playing Concerts From His “converted Mobile Home That Opened Up Into A Portable Stage Complete With Amplification And Home Furnishings”. These Concerts As Evidenced In His Recordings Were Often Equal Parts Spoken Word Jokes Philosophical Asides Rants And Music. Jay’s Song Repertoire Included Field Songs Pentecostal Hymns And Minstrel Tunes. He Once Described Himself As The “last Working Southern Black Minstrel” And In A Self-Penned Leaflet Handed Out At Concerts He Expanded On His Biography With Claims That He Was The "World's Champion Cotton Picker And Pea Picker World's Fastest Tobacco Crapper World's Greatest Jaw Bone Player World's Fastest Mule Skinner... THE WORLD'S WORSE BUSINESS MAN". He Also Performed Original Material That Was Mostly Secular And Subjects Ranged From Politics Relationships War The Bible The 1969 Moon Landing Ethnomusicology Southern Culture And Depression. In Later Years He Held A Residency Playing Shows And Selling His LPs And Cassette Tapes At Tom Flynn's Plantation Restaurant In Stone Mountain Georgia. Anthony Braxton Renowned American Composer And Philosopher Called Jay An "American Master".
His Idiosyncratic Lyrics And Style Have Led Some To Consider His Work Outsider Music. He Died In 1993. For Many Years Jay Released His Music And Monologues Through His Own Record Label Brandie Records So-Named For His Daughter . In 2003 Subliminal Sounds From Sweden Released A Compilation Of His Work Which Had Been Out Of Print Since The 1970s Drawing From Three Of Jay’s Best Recordings. In 2009 Portland-Based Label Mississippi Records Released Another Compilation Of His Work This Time On Vinyl. These Re-Releases Helped Garner A Degree Of Renewed Interest In The Artist Including Vice Magazine Naming It Album Of The Month Vol. 10 #11 . Recordings Jay Made Three Months Prior To His Death Are Currently Being Prepared For Release By Mississippi Records. Discography Albums
Folk Song Stylist Wing Gate Records 1963 Terrible Comedy Blues Poison Apple Records 1968 True Story Of Dixie Brandie Records 1974 Swaunee Water And Cocaine Blues Brandie Records 1976 The Backbone Of America Is A Mule And Cotton Brandie Records 1976 Live From Stephen Foster Center Kitchen Brandie Records N.D. Sings And Plays Stephen Fosters Favorites Plantation Records N.D. EPs
Last Ole Minstrel Man Mississippi Records 2011 Hambone And Rattle The Bones Brandie Records/Social Music Records 2012 Singles
"My Mule"/"Don't Mess With Me Baby" Peacock Records 1961 "Cleo"/"The Thresher" London Records 1963 "Depression"/"I'm So Depressed" Mississippi Records 2009 "I Trust In God" Delden Records N.D. "I Wanna Job" Wing Gate Records N.D. Compilation Albums
One Man Band Compilation Subliminal Sounds 2003 True Story Of Abner Jay Mississippi Records 2009 read less