The Blue Sky Boys – by Dick Spottswood
now in stock at the Down Home Music Store in El Cerrito, CA
A delightful read about this superb brothers Bill and Earl Bollick vocal and instr. duet who were all over southern radio back in the 1930s and continued with some interruptions right into the 1960s and the era of the Folk Festivals. The first third of this 300 some page book is a superb first hand or autobiographical account of their prime singing and recording career from Bill’s own voice which Dick has made into a flowing narrative from taped and written records left by Bill. This is indeed a rare treat in these days when most books about vernacular musicians are told by outsiders who pontificate about them. I was especially taken by Bill’s recollections about Eli Oberstein who supervised all the Blue Bird location sessions. But all of Bill’s recollections give a wonderful picture of how commercial and competitive the country music business was already in the 1930s even though they never deviated from the purity and originality of their music.
The second third of the book deals with amazing research into the origins of their entire song repertoire followed finally by a complete discography of ALL their recordings including radio transcriptions and their present availability – plus an index!
Thanks for listening!
