Classic Old-Time Music from Smithsonian Folkways

Smithsonian Folkways Classic Series

Smithsonian Folkways – SFW CD 40093

Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2003
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Fol, Old Timek
[Tracklist]
01 Sugar Hill: The Iron Mountain String Band (03:35)
02 Bill Morgan and His Gal: The New Lost City Ramblers (02:57)
03 Country Blues: Dock Boggs (03:52)
04 Little Sadie: Clarence Ashley (02:20)
05 Susannah Gal: Frank Bode and Tommy Jarrell (02:59)
06 Wednesday Night Waltz: Clark Kessinger (03:07)
07 Cyclone of Rye Cove: The New Lost City Ramblers (03:05)
08 I'm Leaving You This Lonesome Song: Maybelle Carter and Sara Carter Bayes (02:37)
09 Carroll County Blues: Doc Watson and Fred Price (01:42)
10 Don't Let Your Deal Go Down: Sam and Kirk McGee (03:03)
11 Trouble in Mind: Roscoe Holcomb (02:18)
12 Chilly Winds: Wade Ward (01:08)
13 Going Down the Road Feeling Bad: David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson (02:25)
14 Pretty Polly: Lee Sexton (02:13)
15 Bonaparte's Retreat: Mike Seeger (01:29)
16 Concord Rag: J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers (02:15)
17 John Henry: George Pegram (02:18)
18 Bowling Green: Cousin Emmy with The New Lost City Ramblers (01:49)
19 Fine Times in Our House: John W. Summers (03:12)
20 Streets of Glory: Old Reliable String Band (02:10)
21 Policeman: The Spare Change Boys (02:53)
22 Soldier's Joy: Joe and Tommy Thompson (02:15)
23 House of David Blues: Red Clay Ramblers with Al McCanless (01:27)
24 Ship in the Clouds: Andy Cahan, Lisa Ornstein and Laura Fishleder (01:46)
25 Late Last Night: Sam and Kirk McGee (02:26)
26 Look Down That Lonesome Road: Gaither Carlton (02:07)
27 Down Yonder: Gordon Tanner, Joe Miller, and John Patterson (02:38)
28 Jaybird March: Etta Baker and Cora Phillips (01:51)
29 John Brown's Dream: The New Lost City Ramblers (01:35)
[Credits]
Compiler and Liner Notes: Jeff Place
[Notes]
This collection of old-time social and instrumental string-band music spotlights instrumental prowess. Old-time music features playing styles that pre-date bluegrass, emerging from the string band tradition stretching back to the early years of United States history. Both African-American and Anglo-American ingredients are at its core, the banjo having African origins, the fiddle European. Some of the most revered sources of old-time roots music—Dock Boggs, Roscoe Holcomb, Wade Ward, Tommy Jarrell, and more—are heard playing in their original styles. The Grateful Dead's cover of "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" and Bob Dylan's rendition of Clarence Ashley's "Little Sadie" clearly attest to the continuing influence of these songs. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place.

Iron Mountain String Band: Someday We'll Meet Again

Old Time Music of the Southern Mountains

Folkways Records – FA 3836

Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1981
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Old Time
[Tracklist]
A1 Sally Anne (3:35)
A2 Peggy Dear (4:08)
A3 Chicken Reel (2:30)
A4 Poor Ellen Smith (3:48)
A5 Cruel War (2:38)
A6 Little Maggie (3:05)
A7 Waterbound (3:58)
B1 Lonesome Road Blues (2:20)
B2 Down Among The Budded Roses (3:04)
B3 Lord Thomas (6:05)
B4 Pretty Little Willow (2:04)
B5 I Am A Pilgrim (3:29)
B6 Sour Wood Mountains (2:20)
B7 The Time Has Come To Say Goodbye (2:55)
[Credits]
Eric Davidson (banjo/vocals) Caleb Finch (fiddle/vocals) Brooke Moyer (guitar/vocals)
Producer: Joe Thomas, Field Worker: Doris Finch, Designer: Ronald Clyne
[Notes]
In the final volume of three recorded for Folkways Records, the Iron Mountain String Band recreate the sound of old time Appalachian mountain music from the pre-bluegrass era. The band's repertoire is made up of distinctive ballads, songs, and dance tunes, learned from 1950s field recordings from rural southwestern Virginia. With guitar, fiddle, and banjo, intricate and rhythmic dance tunes are represented by tracks such as "Chicken Reel." You can also hear melancholic songs of local and world events including "Cruel War," a plaintive ballad originating from the British Isles. Liner notes include a history of Southern Appalachian mountain music and song notes and lyrics.

Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways

Smithsonian Folkways – SFW CD 40192

Series: Smithsonian Folkways Classic Series
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2006
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklist]
01 An excerpt from "Rail Dynamics": n/a (0:24)
02 Train 45: The New Lost City Ramblers (2:18)
03 Kassie Jones: Furry Lewis (2:56)
04 Jay Gould's Daughter: Pete Seeger (2:38)
05 Railroad Bill: Walt Robertson (2:08)
06 Linin' Track: Lead Belly (1:15)
07 Freight Train: Elizabeth Cotten (2:43)
08 Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill: Cisco Houston (2:30)
09 Zack, the Mormon Engineer: L. M. Hilton (2:02)
10 Lost Train Blues: Virginia Mountain Boys (2:57)
11 The FFV: Annie Watson (3:52)
12 He's Coming to Us Dead: The New Lost City Ramblers (3:15)
13 The Train That Carried My Girl from Town: Doc Watson (2:18)
14 Rock Island Line: Lead Belly (2:03)
15 Lonesome Train: Doc Watson, Woody Guthrie, and Cisco Houston (3:31)
16 John Henry: Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston (2:42)
17 The Wreck of the Number Nine: Rosalie Sorrels (1:36)
18 Freight Train Blues: Brownie McGhee (3:36)
19 The New Market Wreck: Mike Seeger (3:39)
20 Jerry, Go Oil That Car: Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock (2:37)
21 Way Out in Idaho: Rosalie Sorrels (3:34)
22 Old John Henry Died on the Mountain: Henry Grady Terrell (1:55)
23 Casey Jones: John D. Mounce (0:20)
24 Wreck of the Old 97: Ernest V. Stoneman (2:51)
25 Midnight Special: Lead Belly (2:03)
26 Wabash Cannonball: Doc Watson (3:17)
27 Lost Train Blues: Vernon Sutphin (1:13)
28 New River Train: Iron Mountain String Band (4:26)
29 Excerpt from "Three Little Engines and 33 Cars": n/a (0:25)
[Credits]
Compiler and Liner Notes: Jeff Place, Photographer: Jack Delano, Designer: Communication Visual, Engineer: Pete Reiniger
[Notes]
As 19th-century America expanded, so too did the "ribbons of iron" that crisscrossed the vast landscape and sparked the imagination of music-makers. Work songs, ballads recounting riveting exploits, and instrumental echoes of the once familiar sounds of the steam locomotive have enshrined the railroad in our musical memory. Classic Railroad Songs mines the Smithsonian Folkways archives to create this tribute to a favorite American source of inspiration. 36-page booklet. 71 minutes.

Iron Mountain String Band: An Old Time Southern Mountain String Band

Folkways Records FA-2473

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: United States
Released: 1973
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Old Time, & Country
[Tracklist]
A01 Western Country (2:42)
A02 Skip to My Lou (1:40)
A03 Sail Away Ladies (3:30)
A04 Louisville Burglar (3:10)
A05 Lonesome Day (3:04)
A06 Train on the Island (2:48)
A07 Short Life of Trouble (2:38)
A08 Merry Golden Tree (5:45)
B01 Black Eyed Suzy (2:42)
B02 Sally Goodin' (1:56)
B03 Lewis Collins (2:22)
B04 Little Sparrow (2:08)
B05 Johnson Boys (2:21)
B06 Omie Wise (2:59)
B07 Ground Hog (1:50)
B08 Pig in a Pen (2:16)
B09 Lone Prairie (1:20)
B10 Cluck Old Hen (2:45)
B11 Cumberland Gap (3:52)
[Credits]
Eric Davidson (banjo) Caleb Finch (fiddle) Peggy Haine (guitar)
Producer: Eric Davidson, Designer: Robert Clyne
[Notes]
Finch and Davidson started making field recordings of Southern Appalachian musicians in the 1950s, primarily those in Grayson and Carroll counties, Virginia, such as Wade Ward and Glen Smith. Those recordings became the basis for a series of albums published by Folkways. The Iron Mountain String Band was founded in 1963, in New York City, and began making its own Folkways albums 10 years later. Finch and Davidson moved to Southern California in the 1970s and recorded an album as recently as 2001.

Classic American Ballads from Smithsonian Folkways

Smithsonian Folkways – SFW40215

Series: Smithsonian Folkways Classic Series
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2015
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country Style: Folk, Country [Tracklist}
01 Banks of the Ohio: Doc Watson and Bill Monroe (3:32)
02 Blue Mountain Lake: Pete Seeger (2:47)
03 Claude Allen: Hobart Smith (3:50)
04 Cole Younger: Dock Boggs (1:50)
05 Cowboy’s Lament (Streets of Laredo): Buck Ramsey (3:21)
06 Boll Weevil: Sam Hinton (2:12)
07 Duncan and Brady: Lead Belly (1:08)
08 Floyd Collins: Paul Clayton (3:27)
09 Frankie and Johnny: Rolf Cahn and Eric Von Schmidt (6:39)
10 John Henry: John Jackson (3:22)
11 Jesse James: Sis Cunningham, Mike Millius, and Wes Houston (3:51)
12 Billy the Kid: Woody Guthrie (2:04)
13 The Death of the Lawson Family: Glen Neaves (1:54)
14 Naomi Wise: Doug Wallin (3:06)
15 Pearl Bryan: Bruce Buckley (2:54)
16 Sam Bass: Hermes Nye (1:59)
17 Springfield Mountain: Bascom Lamar Lunsford (2:31)
18 Tom Dooley: Glen Neaves, Roscoe Russell, Ivor Melton, Warren Brown, Ted Lundy (2:11)
19 Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail: Cisco Houston (2:14)
20 Young Charlotte: Pete Seeger (4:05)
21 Wasn't That a Mighty Storm?: The Tex-i-an Boys (2:41)
22 Zebra Dun: Joan O'Bryant (2:32)
23 The Titanic: Pink Anderson (2:52)
24 The Louisville Burglar: The Iron Mountain String Band (3:09)
25 The F.F.V. (Engine 143): Annie Watson (3:56)
[Credits]
Compilers: Jeff Place, Katie Ortiz and Max Smith, Editor: Carla Borden, Designer: Joe Parisi
[Notes]
Born of the British ballad, its American offspring was the blank canvas for all type of tale, the more calami­tous or scandalous, the better. Jesse James and Billy the Kid, train wrecks and hurricanes, the Titanic and Tom Dooley, fatal lovers' quarrels and foiling the devil, all and more were normal fare, served up in a song. Classic American Balla

Walkin' in the Parlor: Iron Mountain String Band

Old Time Music of the Southern Mountains

Folkways Records FA-2477

Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: United States
Released: 1975
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, & Old Time
[Tracklist]
A1 Sugar Hill (3:39)
A2 East Virginia (3:09)
A3 Little Willie (2:24)
A4 Old Arkansas (2:48)
A5 Walkin' in the Parlor (1:50)
A6 Little Birdie (1:52)
A7 Down in the Willow Garden (3:17)
A8 John Hardy (4:26)
B1 New River Train (4:34)
B2 The Hanging of Georgie (1:56)
B3 John Lover Is Gone (1:30)
B4 Sandy River (1:18)
B5 Pretty Polly (3:40)
B6 Banks of the Ohio (3:55)
B7 Ida Red (2:29)
B8 Goin' Round This World (3:37)
[Credits]
Brooke Moyer (guitar/vocals) Eric Davidson (banjo/vocals) Caleb Finch (fiddle/vocals)
[Notes]
This album presents material learned from field recordings from southwestern Virginia and the adjacent parts of North Carolina and features tunes played on the fretless banjo, as well as examples of the Galax string band style, with its characteristic flatpicked guitar. Recorded at Conway Recorders Inc., Los Angels, Calif.