Everyone who knows me (and who doesn't know me? I'm the cat with a bazillion friends!) knows that I really dig emanations from what Greil Marcus called "the old, weird America." Whether it's the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the half-fried blues stylings of the late R.L. Burnside, or video footage of the great Bobby Rush taming the wild booty ooty ooty.
Cast King, a 79 year old native of Old Sand Mountain, Alabama - a place too small and remote to show up on maps readily available on the newfangled interweb - has been making music on his own for sixty-five years now. He toured extensively in the 1940s and 1950s with his band, "Cast King and the Country Drifters" and even recorded a few sides for Sam Phillips at the Sun studios in Memphis. But nothing really came of those sessions and King settled down to life on Old Sand Mountain, writing songs for the benefit of himself and those around him.
He was rediscovered, according to the presskit I have, when a musician named Matt Downer began making field recordings of local musicians in and around Old Sand Mountain, and on the recommendation of practically every other musician around tracked down Cast King and his "sackful of songs." Downer eventually persuaded King to sit down and record some of these in a shed next to his house, and the result is now an album, Saw Mill Man.
Cast King's debut is a interesting document, literally a transmission from the old weird America like a lost fragment of the Harry Smith or Lomax brothers collections. At 79, King's voice is soft and tremulous, underscoring the fragility and plaintiveness of the songs he has written, every one of which is about drinking, death, heartbreak, or the futility of living on another day. (Now that's entertainment!) His homegrown style of songwriting has a great deal in common with the folk-infused country that eventually catapulted Johnny Cash to fame - a sound that has long transcended fashion and cliche to become part of the DNA of the American songbook. Some of the songs feature Matt Downer helping out on his Stratocaster, but mostly they float past one by one bouyed by the quiet strum of King's guitar and swaying lilt of his hoary voice.
Article comments
1 - billy king
to whom it may concern; My dad (Cast King) recorded at Sun studiobefore Elvis and Johnny Cash arrived. Eight of these songs are now in a collection on Bear family records in West Germany. Sam Phillips was a clever man but not smart enough to sign my dad. Too bad for both. I would like to see him picked upy a major recording company and maybe get some airtime, he deserves it god bless and thanks for the great reviews the old sawmill man appreciates it!
2 - Tom Russell
FANTASTIC!!!!!!
3 - Billy King
My name is billy king, the son of "Cast King. I'd like to thank everyone especially all the Cast king fans who have listened to his music and gave all the nice comments.My dad and I recorded many songs here at my home, most of which were recorded in 2007. if any of you are interested in hearing these songs on a brand new CD contact me [Personal contact info deleted]
4 - J. Fowler
Ney Billy King, your contact info has been deleted, but I would love to purchase any music you have to sell by Cast King!!! Saw Mill Man is one of the best records I've bought in years...
if there is anyway you can post your info again that would be amazing. Thanks!!!