JA049 (Uncle Charlie Osborne - Relics and Treasures)
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Charles Nelson Osborne, (December 26, 1890 – May 27, 1992), affectionately known as "Uncle Charlie," was a musician in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia. He was born in what is now known as Cowan Osborne Hollow, named for his father, in Copper Creek, Virginia. He was regionally famous from the time he was about 15 until his death at age 101 in 1992. Charlie had a unique style of playing the fiddle with his left hand, on a right-handed fiddle. He and his brother, Emmett Osborne, played on WOPI radio station in Bristol, Tennessee, from the early 1920s until the early 1930s. They were contemporaries of country music founders Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, and occasionally gave advice to Tennessee Ernie Ford on his music. Uncle Charlie played numerous shows at the Carter Family Fold in Scott County, Virginia, a theatre showcasing traditional music ran by Janette Carter, one of the daughters of the original Carter Family. On one occasion, Johnny Cash was Uncle Charlie's "opening act". He was a regular performer at Mountain Empire Community College's annual Home Craft Days festivals from 1985 until his death. Other performances included the Brandywine Festival, Appalshop's Seedtime on the Cumberland festival and a campaign rally for Jesse Jackson in Hazard, KY. In 1985, in conjunction with East Tennessee State University, Appalshop's June Appal Recordings recorded Uncle Charlie's first album, "Relics And Treasures." The album contained over a dozen traditional mountain songs, including "Ida Red", "Brown's Dream", and "Old Joe Clark". Uncle Charlie recorded two more albums with the label; his final was 1991's "One Hundred Years Farther On", which included the powerful and mournful mountain gospel song "Farther On," which Uncle Charlie called "As We Travel Through The Desert". Also featured on the recordings were his son, Johnny C. Osborne, on clawhammer banjo, and Tommy Bledsoe, on guitar and banjo. These recordings were reissued in 2009 by June Appal Recordings as "Uncle Charlie Osborne: The June Appal Recordings."
Recordings for the 1985 release JA049, Relics and Treasure, were recorded at Maggard Sound Studios in Big Stone Gap Virginia by Alan and Charlie Maggard, and Doug Dorschug. "Old Aunt Katy" "Frolic/Calahans' Reel" and "Never Miss Your Mother" were recorded at Minor Blue Studios in Gate City, Virginia by Larry Gillenwater, and "Dan Tucker" was recorded at the Osborne home by Tom Bledsoe. The release was mixed by Doug Dorschug, Alan Maggard, Larry Gillenwater and Tom Bledsoe, and edited by Charlie Maggard and Tom Bledsoe. It was mastered at Masterfonics in Nashville,TN. Musicians included Charlie N. Osborne on fiddle and vocals, Johnny C. Osborne on banjo, and Tommy R. Bledsoe on banjo and guitar.
This audio collection consists of ¼-inch production masters, preservation DVD-R, and preservation CD-R access copies.