American Folk Songs Sung by the Seegers

Folkways Records – FA 2005

Format: Vinyl, LP, 10"
Country: US
Released: 1957
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklist]
A1 Old Molly Hare (2:32)
A2 When I First Came To This Land (2:33)
A3 Jane, Jane (1:35)
A4 The Rich Irish Lady (3:32)
A5 My Home Across The Smoky Mountain (2:35)
A6 Freight Train BLues (2:48)
B1 The Wedding Dress Song (2:11)
B2 Fair Ellender (3:57)
B3 Five Times Five (2:06)
B4 The Kicking Mule (2:39)
B5 Dance To Your Daddy (1:16)
B6 Goodbye, Little Bonnie (2:51)
[Credits]
Mike Seeger (autoharp/banjo/fiddle/guitar/mandolin/vocals) Peggy Seeger (banjo/guitar/vocals) Barbara Seeger (autoharp/vocals) Penny Seeger (guitar/vocals) Ralph Rinzler (guitar/mandolin/autoharp)
Liner Notes: Charles Seeger Sr.
[Notes]
Mike, Peggy, Barbara, and Penny Seeger join forces on this album of folk songs, which includes ballads, lullabies, and ring games. Particularly interesting is the accompanying essay by musicologist Charles Seeger, who writes about the communication between urban and rural musical forms.

Bluegrass at Carnegie Hall: John Duffey & Charlie Waller and The Country Gentlemen

Starday Records SLP-174

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1962
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 I Know I've Lost You (3:00)
A2 Nobody's Business (2:06)
A3 Down Where The Still Waters Flow (3:50)
A4 Country Concert (2:20)
A5 A Letter To Tom (2:58)
A6 Two Little Boys (3:10)
A7 These Men Of God (2:15)
B1 Red Rockin' Chair (2:03)
B2 I'll Never Marry (2:50)
B3 Willie Roy - The Crippled Boy (3:55)
B4 Sunrise (3:12)
B5 Silence Or Tears (2:37)
B6 New Freedom Bell (2:26)
B7 The Church Back Home (2:30)
[Credits]
Charlie Waller (guitar/vocals) John Duffey (mandolin/vocals) Eddie Adcock (banjo/vocals) Tom Gray (bass/vocals)
[Notes]
Originally released on Starday in 1962, Bluegrass at Carnegie Hall isn't a live album, even though the title suggests that it is. Instead, it is a collection of excellent studio recordings made around the same time as their 1961 appearance at Carnegie Hall, that rank among their finest early recordings. -- AllMusic Review by Thom Owens

Can The Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music's First Family

Legacy – CK 65707

Series: The American Milestones Series
Format: CD, Compilation, Remastered
Country: US
Released: 2000
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Country
[Tracklist]
01 Can The Circle Be Unbroken (3:06)
02 Lulu Wallis (2:52)
03 My Clinch Mountain Home (2:52)
04 Wildwood Flower (3:15)
05 Worried Man Blues (2:59)
06 Keep On The Sunny Side (2:49)
07 Gospel Ship (2:55)
08 My Texas Girl (3:04)
09 Sinking In The Lonesome Sea (3:14)
10 Cannon Ball Blues (2:53)
11 I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes (2:52)
12 River Of Jordan (2:43)
13 The Storms Are On The Ocean (3:05)
14 On The Rock Where Moses Stood (3:02)
15 The Little Black Train (2:52)
16 Single Girl, Married Girl (3:03)
17 Kissing Is A Crime (2:33)
18 Blackie's Gunman (2:41)
19 My Home Among The Hills (2:38)
20 Black Jack David (2:39)
[Credits]
Sara Carter (autoharp/guitar/vocals) Maybelle Carter (guitar/vocals) A.P. Carter (vocals)
Producer: Lawrence Cohn, Engineers: David Mitson and Stephan Mars
[Notes]
The second half of the Carter Family's recorded output largely rests with the contents of this CD. It's their output for Columbia's OKeh and Conqueror labels, 17 of the 20 recorded over five days in May 1935 and the final three from an October 1940 session. In typical Carter Family fashion, the material is wide ranging and eclectic, running from British folk music ("Black Jack David," "Sinking in the Lonesome Sea") to gospel ("On the Rock Where Moses Stood," "River of Jordan") to blues ("Worried Man Blues") and beyond. Along the way we're treated to re-cuts of notable Carter "hits" like "Can the Circle Be Unbroken," "Wildwood Flower," and "Keep on the Sunny Side." After you collect all of their Victor recordings from the 1920s, here's your next stop, an indispensable addition to any basic country collection. -- AllMusic Review by Cub Koda

Pete Seeger: Rainbow Quest

Folkways Records – FA 2454

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1960
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklist]
A1a Colorado Trail
A1b Spanish Is The Loving Tongue
A1c From Here On Up
A1d Texas Girls
A1e Swarthmore Girls
A1f We Pity Our Bosses Five
A1g The Scabs Crawl In
A2a Open The Door, Softly
A2b Road To Athay
A2c Why Do Scotsmen?
A2d Hold Up Your Petticoat
A2e Oh, There's Two On My Back
A3a Seek And You Shall Find
A3b Fare Well, Little Fishes
A3c Where Have All The Flowers Gone
A3d Never Again Shall We Allow Another Atom Bomb To Fall
A3e Step By Step
A3f Joe Hill's Last Will
A3g Seek And You Shall Find
B01 Oh, Had I A Golden Thread
B02 There's Better Things To Do
B03 The Dove
B04 Five Fingers
B05 To Everyone In All The World
B06 We Are Moving On To Victory (From Montgomery Bus Boycott)
B07 Don't You Weep After Me
[Credits]
Producer: Moses Asch, Designer: Designers Collaborative, Photographer: Raeburn Flerlage
[Notes]
"To everyone in all the world / I reach my hand, I shake their hand," sings Pete Seeger. The material performed on this album—from a Japanese song, "Never Again Shall We Allow Another Atom Bomb to Fall（原爆許すまじ）" to a refrain sung during the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955—expresses the theme "To Everyone In the World."

Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall

Columbia – CS 8845

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1963
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country, Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 Salty Dog Blues (1:57)
A2 Durham's Reel (1:04)
A3 Hot Corn, Cold Corn (2:21)
A4 Footprints In The Snow (2:37)
A5 Flint Hill Special (2:23)
A6 Dig A Hole In The Meadow (2:00)
B1 The Martha White Theme (1:13)
B2 I Wonder Where You Are Tonight (1:39)
B3 Mama Blues (1:25)
B4 Take This Hammer (2:06)
B5 Fiddle And Banjo (1:26)
B6 Yonder Stands Little Maggie (1:48)
B7 Let The Church Roll On (2:01)
[Credits]
Lester Flatt (guitar/vocals) Earl Scruggs (banjo/guitar/vocals) Josh Graves (dobro) Paul Warren (fiddle) Billy Powers (guitar) Cousin Jake (bass)
[Notes]
Recorded live at Carnegie Hall, New York, New York on December 8, 1962. Originally released on Columbia (8845). Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were big news at the height of the late '50s/early '60s folk revival. New York City was essentially ground zero for a mania that extended to all things musical and Southern. So something of a love-fest occurred when Flatt and Scruggs and their polished bluegrass band rolled into town on one December night in 1962 to play no less a venue than Carnegie Hall. There are screams from the crowd for "Martha White" (the theme song from the band's radio sponsor), and Scruggs has no choice but to encore the banjo showpiece "Flint Hill Special." To know what the Foggy Mountain Boys sounded like in their natural habitat, you'd have to go to transcripts of the band playing a school auditorium or radio hour somewhere south of the Jersey Turnpike. CARNEGIE HALL still gives you a taste of how Flatt and Scruggs put together a show before their original band disintegrated under the weight of the revival itself. As you might expect from a live recording of this era, the sound favors the top end. Vocals, fiddle, and banjo breaks come through best, especially as the band performs with only two microphones among its six performers.

Bluegrass Blast: A Mixed Bag of Ol' Timey Music

Folkways Records – FTS 31038

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1974
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass, Folk
[Tracklist]
A1 Comin' Round The Mountain (4:00)
A2 Cider Mill (1:15)
A3 Mountain Dew (2:52)
A4 Cousin Sally Brown (1:38)
A5 June Apple (1:45)
A6 Auld Lang Syne (4:07)
B1 John Hardy (2:06)
B2 Johnny Booker (1:45)
B3 Simple Gifts (3:15)
B4 Little Rabbit (2:30)
B5 Leaving Of Liverpool (3:30)
B6 Fortune (1:15)
B7 Grandfather's Clock (3:35)
[Credits]
Roger Sprung (banjo/autoharp) Hal Wylie (guitar) Arnie Feldman (banjo) Ken Kosek (fiddle) Richard Smith (mandolin) Corky Ballard (bass)
Liner Notes: Roger Sprung and Ron Norman, Photographer: Ron Norman
[Notes]
Banjo virtuoso Roger Sprung joins with guitarist Hal Wylie and the Progressive Bluegrassers quintet in the instrumental performance of a baker's dozen of old time mountain and bluegrass music. Although born in New York City, Sprung learned to play in the bluegrass style by listening to Earl Scruggs, Pete Seeger and Tom Paley. He is sometimes referred to as being "the father of New England bluegrass." An added note: his 1927 Gibson banjo was built from the parts of two other banjos.

Joe Glazer Sings Labor Songs

Collector Records 1918

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, Remastered
Country: US
Released: 1971
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklist]
A1 We Shall Not Be Moved (2:26)
A2 Hold The Fort (1:55)
A3 That's All (1:41)
A4 Joe Hill (2:35)
A5 Union Maid (2:06)
A6 Casey Jones (2:05)
A7 Which Side Are You On (2:54)
A8 The Mill Was Made Of Marble (3:56)
B1 Solidarity Forever (2:30)
B2 Automation (2:36)
B3 Hard Times In The Mill (2:16)
B4 Look For The Union Lable (2:44)
B5 John Henry (4:04)
B6 Too Old To Work (2:54)
B7 Union Buster (2:45)
[Credits]
Joe Glazer (guitar/vocals)
[Notes]
The first album in Collector Records’ series on industrial folklore and folksong, Joe Glazer Sings Labor Songs was recorded live in 1967 during a training program for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees held in Washington, DC. Including songs such as "We Shall Not be Moved," "We Are Building a Strong Union," "John Henry" and Glazer’s own "Too Old to Work." Listeners are guaranteed to be inspired to continue the "battle for social justice."

The Golden Eagle String Band: Grand Canal Ballads - History of the Erie Canal

Folkways Records – FTS 32318

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1981
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklist]
A1 Oh! Dat Low Bridge (2:54)
A2 Paddy On The Canal (4:00)
A3 Dark-eyed Canaller (1:47)
A4 I'm Afloat On The Erie Canal (2:09)
A5 Ballad Of The Erie Canal (2:44)
A6 Boating On A Bull-head (3:48)
A7 Meeting On The Waters Of The Hudson And Erie (2:33)
B1 The Er-i-e (3:30)
B2 A Trip On The Erie (1:18)
B3 That Long Canal (3:57)
B4 Canawler, Canawler-Hoggee On The Towpath (1:54)
B5 The Raging Canal (5:33)
B6 The Aged Pilot Man (3:19)
B7 Low Bridge, Everybody Down (3:11)
[Credits]
William Hullfish (banjo/vocals) Larry Chechak (guitar/harmonica/banjo/vocals) Laurie Outermans (autoharp/vocals) Susan Clark (dulcimer/vocals) Daniel Flanigan (guitar/whistle/vocals) Mike Mumford (mandolin/vocals) Shary Sanduski (mandolin/vocals) Stephan Hullfish (bass/vocals) Jim Riley (guitar/vocals) Shows Leary (jew's harp/spoons/washboard) Lynn Pilaroscia (fiddle) Stuart Durell (guitar) Mike Ryan (banjo) Brent Bassi, Christine Fraleigh, John Rose, Kathleen Anne Kubarycz, Kim Bassi, and Matt Hullfish (vocals)
Read: John Price, Liner Notes: Jean Papalia, Engineer: Billie Michie, Fred Wagner, Lloyd Graf, and Russell Salerno
[Notes]
The Golden Eagle String Band presents stories about the Erie Canal through song. Opening in 1825 and linking Lake Erie to New York City by way of the Hudson River, the Erie Canal was a major force in the commercial life of New York State, creating many jobs as well as rich folklore. The album includes perhaps the best known and best loved canal song, "Low Bridge, Everybody Down."The Golden Eagle String Band is composed of 16 musicians (plus four children), who, in addition to singing, perform on 12 different folk instruments. For another Smithsonian Folkways recording of New York State songs performed by the Golden Eagle String Band, see Body, Boots and Britches: Folk Songs of New York State (FW32317). Liner notes detail the history of the canal (including historic photos) and provide the background and lyrics for each song.

The Country Gentlemen: On The Road (And More)

Folkways Records – FA 2411

Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1963
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass, Folk
[Tracklist]
A1 Handsome Molly (2:59)
A2 The Sunny Side Of Life (2:33)
A3 Poor Ellen Smith (2:28)
A4 The Long Black Veil (4:10)
A5 Grandfather's Clock (3:14)
A6 Ain't Got A Home (3:48)
B1 Heartaches (2:51)
B2 Glass Of Wine (3:38)
B3 Walking In Jerusalem (2:22)
B4 I Am A Pilgrim (3:00)
B5 A Letter To Tom (3:47)
B6 Rawhide (3:00)
B7 Blue Ridge Mountain Blues (2:59)
[Credits]
Charlie Waller (guitar/vocals) John Duffey (mandolin/vocals) Eddie Adcock (banjo/vocals) Tom Gray (bass/vocals)
[Notes]
Universally acclaimed as one of the most important progressive bluegrass bands, The Country Gentlemen brilliantly encompass a unique blend of folk and bluegrass. Originally released in 1963 by Folkways Records at the height of folk and bluegrass music's popularity, On The Road is an essential example of the Country Gentlemen's definitive style. This album is comprised of excerpts from two live concerts recorded in 1962-63 and six never before released bonus tracks recorded in 1961 at the band's appearance at Carnegie Hall. This reissue offers a rare glimpse of the Country Gentlemen as they appeared on stage at the peak of their creativity. 61 minutes. 32-page booklet with extensive notes.