Jim Kweskin

Before groups like the Jim Kweskin Jug Band arrived on the scene, folk revival performers came in two varieties. First, there were the popular folk groups like the Kingston Trio and the Brothers Four who sang it pretty and annoyed the hardcore folkniks, and then there was the emulators like Dave Van Ronk and Hedy West who tried to fit snuggly into folk traditions of old. Jim Kweskin and his wacky crew fit somewhere between he two, and even on their first album, Unblushing Brassiness, they proudly thumbed their noses at folk seriousness. At the same time, it was clear that Kweskin, Geoff Muldaur, Bob Siggins, Fritz Richmond, and Bruno Wolf knew what they were doing. Wonderful nonsense like "My Gal" featured free-for-all vocals accompanied by kazoo and washboard, while "Borneo" included some nifty steel guitar work. There are also oddly beautiful songs like "Newport News," a laid-back bit of blues with mandolin and harmonica, and the danceable "My Gal" with the quirky lines, "I'll be there in the morning if I live...I'll be there in the morning if I don't get killed." While some folks prefer the later version of the band with Maria Muldaur, Unblushing Brassiness is as good as anything the Jim Kweskin Jug Band would put out. The band's wide arsenal of unusual instruments, humorous material, and professional approach represented a quantum leap for folk music in 1963. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi