― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 25 April 2005 16:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 25 April 2005 17:02 (nineteen years ago) link
― xhuxk, Monday, 25 April 2005 17:11 (nineteen years ago) link
(not that I know many great Autoharp albums. But somebody might.)
― xhuxk, Monday, 25 April 2005 17:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 25 April 2005 17:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 25 April 2005 17:15 (nineteen years ago) link
that washington philips record looks great
I love all Ruth Welcome albums I've heard but Zither Magic is the mindbender
― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 25 April 2005 18:00 (nineteen years ago) link
At least we can agree that her Latin album is not the greatest.
― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Monday, 25 April 2005 18:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 25 April 2005 19:17 (nineteen years ago) link
RUTH WELCOME!!!
5. Ruth Welcome - Hi-Fi Zither
― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 25 April 2005 19:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Monday, 25 April 2005 21:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ian John50n (orion), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 00:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 00:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ian John50n (orion), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 00:27 (nineteen years ago) link
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00000C2IB.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
― Lemonade Salesman (Eleventy-Twelve), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 17:54 (nineteen years ago) link
In Search of Ruth Welcome
― Milton Parker, Monday, 26 January 2009 20:14 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh hell yeah. Thanks for posting that. "Hi Fi Zither" is one of my favorite albums of all time, by any one, ever. In fact I think my boyfriend might be making a little samizdat edition of it for a certain hipster Baltimore record store. It's just too great to go unnoticed and unloved, and it's NOT just kitsch or wallpaper, it's truly soulful and beautiful.
unrelated question: are cembaloms like zithers?
― Neotropical pygmy squirrel, Monday, 26 January 2009 20:19 (fifteen years ago) link
zither was an NY Times crossword answer today ("instrument with 30+ strings" or something)
― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Monday, 26 January 2009 20:20 (fifteen years ago) link
dorothy carter made a couple of amazing zither records in the seventies.
― ian, Monday, 26 January 2009 20:23 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost they are basically super zithers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbalom
after years of seeing that guy play around Berkeley and San Francisco, someone made a film about michael masley! remember him outside the whole earth expo when we went on the Unarius pilgrimage?
but anyway yeah there are EIGHTEEN Ruth Welcome albums out there and there's a new generation that's got to know. I agree this is not about kitsch or retro, it's just timeless
― Milton Parker, Monday, 26 January 2009 20:26 (fifteen years ago) link
No matter what I try to write, nothing comes closer than this description on the web from Sorian’s Occasional Review of the album Zither Magic! on October 16, 2002: “a sound that meshes psychedelia, Hawaiian slack key guitar, and Middle Eastern oud music.” And that’s exactly what it sounds like.
― Milton Parker, Monday, 26 January 2009 20:35 (fifteen years ago) link
http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/imageserver.x/00000000/goldrecords/HZITHERMAGIC1.jpg
― Milton Parker, Monday, 26 January 2009 21:01 (fifteen years ago) link
I have a great CD of Bach's Goldberg Variations being played by two cimbaloms, great stuff too.
― Neotropical pygmy squirrel, Monday, 26 January 2009 21:09 (fifteen years ago) link
!!! would love to hear that. I also haven't heard any Ruth Welcome LPs aside from Zither Magic--recommendations?
― ian, Monday, 26 January 2009 21:12 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm first in line for that bootleg of 'Hi-Fi Zither'
She takes a different approach for her Spanish-themed albums, so I wouldn't call those representative. I'm on the search for all the others, though.
― Milton Parker, Monday, 26 January 2009 21:48 (fifteen years ago) link
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Qo9ZaUAZL._SL500_AA240_.jpg
Are we counting African and Asian species of zither here? If so, ^^^ this guy Rakotozafy is pretty great. He's quite a mysterious and revered figure who's been described by some as sort of the Robert Johnson of Madagascar. He was obviously hugely gifted, but only cut about 20 tracks in the 60s before totally disappearing and drinking himself to an early death. The vahila is basically a big bamboo pipe strung with bike cables and has this really lovely bright warm tone to it. There was actually a really good TV documentary about him that came out ten years or so ago called Like A God When He Plays. It's basically Paddy Bush (Kate's brother) searching for trace of him and his kin in remote parts of the island. Sadly there's only a frustratingly small bit of it up on YouTube:
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Monday, 26 January 2009 21:53 (fifteen years ago) link
More about the documentary here.
In Madagascar death is celebrated, not mourned. When a family has enough money they dig up the corpse, douse it in rum and have a party before wrapping it up in a new shroud and burying it again. In "Like a God When He Plays" musician PADDY BUSH is invited to Madagascar to follow the 'famadihana' or re-burial of Madagascar's most famous musician Rakotozafy, who died 25 years ago.
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Monday, 26 January 2009 21:57 (fifteen years ago) link
http://musicformaniacs.blogspot.com/2009/12/museum-of-obsolete-intruments-zither.html
so the world's still waiting on that bootleg edition of 'hi-fi zither'
― Milton Parker, Thursday, 25 March 2010 09:14 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inw_U2jNHfgotr again
― bamcquern, Thursday, 28 April 2011 06:26 (thirteen years ago) link
got for $1 at record swap yesterday:
Ruth Welcome: Zither in 3/4 Time & Continental Zither
― sarahel, Sunday, 10 July 2011 20:36 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/sep/04/101-strangest-spotify-ruth-welcome
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 23 April 2014 19:29 (ten years ago) link
Zither? I hardly knew her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
― the burrito that defined a generation, Sunday, 1 November 2020 04:14 (three years ago) link
How is Laraaji not mentioned in this thread?
― octobeard, Sunday, 1 November 2020 22:40 (three years ago) link
I cant remember! Looking....
― | (Latham Green), Thursday, 20 October 2022 12:03 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q3HG5VC5Uc
― | (Latham Green), Thursday, 20 October 2022 21:01 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5W147PiYuc
― houdini said, Thursday, 20 October 2022 22:06 (one year ago) link