Biography
Buell Kazee served as a minister while performing on banjo and delivering the time-honored ballads of his native Kentucky mountains throughout the 1920s. He ranks among America’s greatest folk vocalists and excelled at the high, “lonesome” delivery associated with Appalachian ballad singers. Born in the foothill community of Burton Fork, Kentucky, he absorbed nearly all his repertoire from relatives. At five he took up the banjo and soon performed at neighborhood events. Even in his teens he trained for the ministry, and after secondary school he enrolled at Georgetown College in Kentucky, where he pursued studies in English, Greek, and Latin. During that period he came to appreciate the deeper value of the traditional material handed down by his family and neighbors. He pursued formal vocal and musical instruction so he could notate the older pieces and adapt them for modern listeners. After receiving his degree in 1925 he presented a “folk music” program at the University of Kentucky, appearing in formal attire with tie and tails, accompanying himself on banjo and piano, employing his cultivated “concert” voice, and lecturing on the historical background of each song. The performance proved so popular that he repeated the format on several occasions in subsequent years.
In 1927 Brunswick invited him to New York to make recordings, offering a contract only if he adopted his high, tight “mountain” voice and abandoned his classical technique. Over the following two years he cut more than fifty sides, supported by studio musicians from the city. Religious material predominated, yet the sessions also included traditional and popular ballads such as “Lady Gay,” “The Sporting Bachelors,” and “The Orphan Girl.” His most successful release was the version of “On Top of Old Smoky” titled “Little Mohee,” which exceeded 15,000 copies sold. In the early thirties, newly married, Kazee abandoned professional touring and accepted the pulpit of a church in Morehead, Kentucky. For the next twenty-two years his only public singing occurred at revival services. Years afterward he began incorporating folk motifs into composed works, among them a cantata drawn from the Sacred Harp hymn “The White Pilgrim.” During the folk revival of the early sixties he returned to performance and numbered among the first artists featured at the Newport festivals. Besides preaching and singing, he authored three volumes on religious subjects and one instructional book on banjo technique. He died in 1976.
In 1927 Brunswick invited him to New York to make recordings, offering a contract only if he adopted his high, tight “mountain” voice and abandoned his classical technique. Over the following two years he cut more than fifty sides, supported by studio musicians from the city. Religious material predominated, yet the sessions also included traditional and popular ballads such as “Lady Gay,” “The Sporting Bachelors,” and “The Orphan Girl.” His most successful release was the version of “On Top of Old Smoky” titled “Little Mohee,” which exceeded 15,000 copies sold. In the early thirties, newly married, Kazee abandoned professional touring and accepted the pulpit of a church in Morehead, Kentucky. For the next twenty-two years his only public singing occurred at revival services. Years afterward he began incorporating folk motifs into composed works, among them a cantata drawn from the Sacred Harp hymn “The White Pilgrim.” During the folk revival of the early sixties he returned to performance and numbered among the first artists featured at the Newport festivals. Besides preaching and singing, he authored three volumes on religious subjects and one instructional book on banjo technique. He died in 1976.
Albums
Singles
