The Mississippi River of Song

A Musical Journey Down the Mississippi

Smithsonian Folkways – SFW 40086

Format: 2 x CD, Album
Country: United States
Released: 1998
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Indigenous, Blues, Cajun & Zydeco
[Tracklist]
1-01 Pow Wow Song: Chippewa Nation (02:50)
1-02 22: Babes in Toyland (03:20)
1-03 Sail Away Ladies: Spider John Koerner (03:30)
1-04 I Did My Best: Soul Asylum (03:58)
1-05 Red-Headed Swede: The Skål Club Spelmanslag (03:23)
1-06 The Singing Leaf: Wang Chong Lor (02:28)
1-07 I'll Open My Heart to the Lord / I'll Be Ready: Sounds of Blackness (01:56)
1-08 Kim Marie: Karl Hartwich (03:01)
1-09 Jazz Me Blues: Manny Lopez (04:32)
1-10 La Unica Estrella: La Otra Mitad (05:26)
1-11 Flat Stuff: Greg Brown (03:43)
1-12 Miss Ferris: John Hartford (03:55)
1-13 Born to Be with You: The Bob Lewis Family (02:17)
1-14 Milestone: Eugene Redmond and Sylvester "Sunshine" Lee (02:46)
1-15 I'm So Grateful: Fontella and Martha Bass (04:20)
1-16 Stop Breaking Down: Oliver Sain (05:10)
1-17 Get Down River: The Bottle Rockets (03:05)
1-18 La Guignolée: The Ste. Genevieve Guignolée Singers (03:43)
2-01 The Sweetest Song I Know: The Boundless Love Quartet (02:30)
2-02 Blue Yodel #1 (T for Texas): Sonny Burgess (03:54)
2-03 St. Louis Blues: Ann Peebles and the Memphis Horns (05:49)
2-04 Going Back to Memphis: Levon Helm and James Cotton (04:41)
2-05 Take a Little Walk with Me: Robert Lockwood, Jr. (02:50)
2-06 Catfish: Big Jack Johnson (03:31)
2-07 Shake Your Moneymaker: Big Jack Johnson with Frank Frost & the Jelly Roll Kings (03:06)
2-08 Grits Ain't Groceries: Little Milton (04:23)
2-09 We Praise Your Holy Name: The Mississippi Mass Choir (05:52)
2-10 Taters and Gravy and Chicken Fried Steak: Kenny Bill Stinson (02:52)
2-11 The Back Door (La Porte d'en Arrière): D.L. Menard (03:49)
2-12 Bon Chien: Geno Delafose (02:49)
2-13 Marie Lavaux: David & Roselyn (03:28)
2-14 Basin Street Blues: Henry Butler (03:58)
2-15 Time is on My Side: Irma Thomas (02:47)
2-16 Check Your Bucket: Eddie Bo and Henry Butler (04:39)
2-17 Let Your Mind Be Free: The Soul Rebels (02:56)
2-18 La Vida de un Jaibero (The Crab Fisherman's Song): Irvan Perez (02:49)
[Credits]
Compiler, Liner Notes & Producer: Elijah Wald, Producer: John Junkerman & Toshio Murayama, Photographer: Theo Pelletier, Mastering Engineer: Charlie Pilzer
[Notes]
This two-hour, 36 track, musical journey down the Mississippi from the headwaters to the delta captures the power and diversity of American music in the late 20th century. The music, recorded between 1995 and 1997 in small towns and large cities along the river, reflects centuries of interaction and experimentation along America’s great waterway. 48-page booklet.

John Hartford: Mark Twang

Flying Fish – FF 020

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1976
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 Skippin In The Mississippi Dew (3:00)
A2 Long Hot Summer Days (3:38)
A3 Let Him Go On Mama (3:50)
A4 Don't Leave Your Records In The Sun (2:25)
A5 Tater Tate And Allen Mundy (3:40)
B1 The Julia Belle Swain (3:45)
B2 Little Cabin Home On The Hill Waugh Waugh (1:12)
B3 Austin Minor Sympathy (6:45)
B4 The Lowest Pair (1:05)
B5 Tryin' To Do Something To Get Your Attention (5:30)
[Credits]
John Hartford (banjo/guitar/fiddle/plywood/vocals)
Producer: Mike Melford, Liner Notes: John Hartford, Cover Art: W.C. Matthews, Illustratior: Willy Matthe, Photographers: Marty Gurnik, Michelle Kingsley & Fred Way Jr., Engineer: Claude Hill
[Notes]
Mark Twang is a 1976 album by American bluegrass singer-songwriter and instrumentalist John Hartford. Much of his songs for the album were inspired by Hartford's experiences working on a riverboat. The album was recorded all acoustic in the studio with Hartford by himself on all instruments and vocals. At the Grammy Awards of 1977, Mark Twang won the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording.

John Hartford: Gum Tree Canoe

Flying Fish – FF289

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
A1 I'm Still Here (2:53)
A2 Way Down The River Road (2:17)
A3 Gum Tree Canoe (4:05)
A4 Your Long Journey (2:25)
A5 Jug Harris (2:24)
B1 Little Piece Of My Heart (3:11)
B2 Take Me Back To My Mississippi River Home (3:53)
B3 Lorena (4:44)
B4 Wrong Road Again (2:49)
B5 No Expectations (4:06)
[Credits]
John Hartford (banjo/guitar/fiddle/plywood/vocals) Sam Bush (mandolin) Roy Huskey (bass) Jack Clement (dobro/guitar/ukulele) Jerry Douglas (dobro) Mark Howard (guitar) Marty Stuart (mandolin) Kenny Malone (drums/percussion) Mark O'Connor (fiddle/guitar/mandolin) Billy Lee Riley (french harp) Richard Schulman (vocals) Jeannie Seely (vocals) Tommy Hannum (vocals)
[Notes]
Hartford's most even Flying Fish album, with equal measures of songwriting whimsy and expert musicianship, Gum Tree Canoe includes a number of tunes that would remain concert staples for the length of his career. From the relaxed stroll of the album's title track to a rendition of Doc Watson's "Your Long Journey" to an original breakneck bluegrass instrumental, "Jug Harris," there's not a clinker to be heard. Hartford's banjo playing is exceptional, as is the accompaniment provided by a host of fine country, bluegrass, and newgrass pickers, Roy Huskey, Jr., Sam Bush, and Jerry Douglas among them. Riverboat tales, an R&B staple, and the Rolling Stones couldn't sound more at home together than they do on this fine album from one of roots music's genuine originals. Flying Fish's remastered CD, issued in 2001, includes two previously unreleased tunes and a short written tribute by Hartford String Band banjo player Bob Carlin.-- AllMusic Review by Brian Beatty

John Hartford – The Rare & Unreleased John Hartford: Backroads, Rivers & Memories

Real Gone Music – RGM-0848

Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2019
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
01 Towboat River (02:01)
02 Tall Tall Grass (02:12)
03 Front Porch (02:35)
04 Eve of My Multiplication (01:50)
05 California Earthquake (02:16)
06 Left Handed Woman (01:55)
07 George (02:50)
08 Run (01:55)
09 This Eve of Parting (02:34)
10 Self Made Man (02:44)
11 Minus the Woman (03:09)
12 Like Unto a Mockingbird (02:54)
13 Grownup Man (01:49)
14 Gentle on My Mind (03:02)
15 Steam Powered Aereo Plain (00:37)
16 Station Break (01:51)
17 Ice Cold Love (02:11)
18 Matthew 24 (03:12)
19 Greensleeves (02:29)
20 Corrina (02:05)
21 Greenback Dollar (02:51)
22 Jesus Loves Everybody (02:23)
23 I Forgot to Forget (02:58)
24 The Way Is Narrow (02:36)
25 Short Life of Trouble (02:30)
26 That Great Day Is Coming (02:37)
27 When I Feel the Hand of My Saviour (01:28)
[Credits]
John Hartford (banjo/fiddle/vocals)
Producer: Gordon Anderson and Skip Heller, Designer: John Sellards, Engineer: Kevin Chubirka
[Notes]
Though he was a prolific recording artist, songwriter, sideman, and producer, Grammy-winner John Hartford's career can't be summed up on a single disc; it would take a multi-volume box set to accomplish that. Initial and lasting fame was granted him for penning "Gentle on My Mind," resulting in his placement as Glen Campbell's banjo-playing sidekick on the singer's weekly television program for four years. But Hartford's founding role in the creation of "newgrass" on 1971's brilliant Aereo-Plain a few years later won him notice because the album subsequently influenced three generations of musicians. Then there are his dozens of session appearances on seminal recordings by the Byrds, James Taylor, Delaney and Bonnie, Rhonda Vincent, Guthrie Thomas, Benny Martin, David Bromberg, Nanci Griffith, Johnny Cash, and David Allan Coe, to name a few, that also ensure his place in musical history. Much of his wonderfully eclectic catalog has been reissued, including an album of rare Aereo-Plain outtakes entitled Steam Powered Aereo-Takes. All said, though, there hasn't yet been a document that delved deeply into Hartford's early career for the sole purpose of revealing that, although an artist in constant evolution, his music remained rooted in the folk music, river songs, and primal bluegrass he discovered as a youth. Until now, that is. -- AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek

John Hartford: Aereo-Plain

Warner Bros. Records WS-1916

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: Sep 1971
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass, Country, Folk
[Tracklist]
A1 Turn Your Radio On (1:17)
A2 Steamboat Whistle Blues (3:23)
A3 Back In The Goodle Days (3:38
A4 Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie (2:40)
A5 Boogie (1:12)
A6 First Girl I Loved (4:32)
A7 Presbyterian Guitar (2:01)
B1 With A Vamp In The Middle (3:25)
B2 Symphony Hall Rag (2:45)
B3 Because Of You (0:59)
B4 Steam Powered Aereo Plane (3:40)
B5 Holding (1:46)
B6 Tear Down The Grand Ole Opry (3:26)
B7 Leather Britches (1:58)
B8 Station Break (0:15)
B9 Turn Your Radio On (2:15)
[Credits]
John Hartford (banjo/guitar/fiddle/vocals) Vassar Clements (fiddle/cello/viola/vocals) Norman Blake (guitar/mandolin/vocals) Tut Taylor (dobro/vocals) Randy Scruggs (bass/vocals)
Producer: David Bromberg, Photographer: Peter Amf, Liner notes: Sam Bush, Engineers: Warren Dewey, Claude Hill & Toby Mountain
[Notes]
The music on Aereo-Plain is a blend of traditional bluegrass musicianship, and the hippie spirit of the '70s. The album sold so poorly that Warner Bros. decided to devote no promotion at all to Hartford's next release Morning Bugle. Nevertheless, Aereo-Plain has been called the forerunner of the genre now known as "Newgrass". Hartford subsequently asked to be released from his contract and later signed with Flying Fish Records. The other members of the Aereo-Plain Band were bluegrass veterans Norman Blake, Vassar Clements, Tut Taylor, and Randy Scruggs. The sessions were controlled but relaxed, as Taylor commented, "John let us play what we wanted to play. 'Cause that's one of the beautiful parts about it—he just let us get in there and pick." Producer David Bromberg recounted, "We'd sit around and smoke pot and play "Sally Goodin" for an hour and a half. That approach kind of became, after awhile, newgrass." Hartford instructed Bromberg to "let the tapes roll, we don't want to hear playbacks until you've put the master together." --Wikipedia

Songs of the Civil War

Columbia CK-48607

Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released:1991
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Rock, Blues, Pop, Folk
[Tracklist]
01 Ashokan Farewell: Jay Ungar and Molly Mason (4:11)
02 No More Auction Block For Me: Sweet Honey in the Rock (5:30)
03 Lincoln and Liberty: Ronnie Gilbert (2:12)
04 Dixie's Land: United States Military Academy Band (1:17)
05 The Southern Soldier Boy: Kathy Mattea (2:36)
06 Aura Lee: John Hartford (1:28)
07 Rebel Soldier: Waylon Jennings (3:30)
08 Follow the Drinking Gourd: Richie Havens (3:25)
09 Battle Hymn of the Republic: Judy Collins (2:17
10 When Johnny Comes Marching Home: United States Military Academy Band (2:13)
11 Was My Brother in the Battle?: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (3:43)
12 The Yellow Rose of Texas: Hoyt Axton (2:15)
13 Run, Mourner, Run: Sweet Honey in the Rock (2:44)
14 Give Us a Flag: Richie Havens (2:39)
15 The Secesh (Shiloh): John Hartford (2:55)
16 Somebody's Darling: Kathy Mattea (4:12)
17 An Old Unreconstructed: Waylon Jennings (1:52)
18 Vacant Chair: Kathy Mattea (4:12)
19 Better Times Are Coming: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (1:46)
20 Lorena: John Hartford (4:44)
21 Marching Through Georgia: Jay Ungar and Molly Mason (3:01)
22 Hard Times Come Again No More: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (2:27)
23 Oh I'm a Good Old Rebel: Hoyt Axton (1:54)
24 When Johnny Comes Marching Home: Ronnie Gilbert (1:51)
25 Taps: Staff Sgt. Steve Luck (0:59)
[Credits]
Producer: Ken Burns, Don DeVito & Chris Anderson, Liner notes: Arthur Levy & Peter Miller, Art Direction: Nicky Lindeman, Designer: Pat Jerina, Engineer: Mark Ferguson, SFC Dave Hydock, Larry Loewinger, Johnny Rosen, Alan Silverman & Mike Zook
[Notes]
Songs of the Civil War is a compilation album, released in 1991 by Columbia, that presents an assortment of contemporary performers recording period pieces and traditional songs that date back to the American Civil War.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Mercury MRNF-02077-2

Format: CD, Album, Soundtrack
Country: US
Released: 2000
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass, Folk
[Tracklist]
01 Po Lazarus: James Carter & The Prisoners (4:30)
02 Big Rock Candy Mountain: Harry McClintock (2:17)
03 You Are My Sunshine: Norman Blake (4:26)
04 Down To The River To Pray: Alison Krauss (2:53)
05 I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow: The Soggy Bottom Boys Featuring Dan Tyminski (3:13)
06 Hard Time Killing Floor Blues: Chris Thomas King (2:01)
07 I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow: Norman Blake (4:30)
08 Keep On The Sunny Side: The Whites (4:30)
09 I'll Fly Away: Gillian Welch And Alison Krauss (3:57)
10 Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby: Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss And Gillian Welch (1:58)
11 In The Highways: Sarah, Hannah And Leah Peasall (1:36)
12 I Am Weary (Let Me Rest): The Cox Family (3:16)
13 I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow: John Hartford (2:34)
14 O Death: Ralph Stanley (3:21)
15 In The Jailhouse Now: The Soggy Bottom Boys Featuring Tim Blake Nelson (3:36)
16 : The Soggy Bottom Boys Featuring Dan Tyminski I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (4:18)
17 Indian War Whoop: John Hartford (1:30)
18 Lonesome Valley: Fairfield Four (4:08)
19 Angel Band: The Stanley Brothers (2:18)
[Credits]
Executive Producer: Denise Stiff, Producer: T-Bone Burnett & Gillian Welch
[Notes]
Music to the Coen Brothers' film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Recorded at Sound Emporium, Nashville, TN; Ocean Way, Nashville, TN; and Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, CA.

Marin County Bluegrass Festival 1974

Marin County Bluegrass Festival April 27-28, 1974
Golden State College, San Rafael, CA

Disc 1 [75:25]
Cornbread (4/27)
1-01: Old Joe Clark
1-02: I Don’t Believe You Met My Baby
1-03: Fire On The Mountain
Homestead Act (4/27)
1-04: I’ve Been Everywhere
1-05: Take Five
1-06: Columbus Stockade Blues
1-07: Chime Bells
1-08: Diggy Liggy Lo
1-09: The Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Emmylou Harris (4/27)
1-10: Jambalaya
Tut Taylor and Norman Blake (4/27)
1-11: Instrumental
1-12: Southern Railroad Blues
Mac Wiseman (4/27)
1-13: Footprints Through The Snow
1-14: Keep on the Sunny Side
1-15: Wabash Cannonball
1-16: Mule’s Done Gone Away
Jim & Jesse McReynolds (4/27)
1-17: Are You Missing Me
Doc & Merle Watson (4/27)
1-18: Poor Boy Blues
1-19: Wabash Cannonball (same as above..)
1-20: Salt Creek
1-21: Tennessee Stud
Great American String Band (4/27) Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Richard Greene, Taj Mahal, David Nichtern
1-22: My Plastic Banana Isn’t Stupid
1-23: Dawg’s Rag (with Richard Green)
1-24: I’ll Be The Gambler If You’ll Deal The Cards

Disc 2 [73:23]
Great American String Band (4/27)
2-01: Sweet Georgia Brown
The Hired Hands (4/28)
2-02: Bear Tracks
White & The Down Homers (4/28)
2-03: She Left Me Standing There
Jim & Jesse McReynolds and The Virginia Boys (4/28)
2-04: Pick Away
2-05: Cotton Mill Man
2-06: The River Of Jordan
Great American String Band (4/27) Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Richard Greene, Taj Mahal, David Nichtern
2-07: Maybelline
2-08: Johnny B. Goode
Jim & Jesse McReynolds and The Virginia Boys
2-09: Dueling Banjos
Tut Taylor and Norman Blake
2-10: Instrumental #1
2-11: Instrumental #2
Taylor, Blake, & Mac Wiseman
2-12: The Wreck Of The Old 97
2-13: Catfish John
2-14: Love Letters In The Sand
2-15: Shackles And Chains
2-16: Prisoner Song
2-17: Jimmy Brown
2-18: The Old Folks At Home
2-19: Man Walking On The Water
2-20: Keep On The Sunny Side Of Life
Frank Wakefield
2-21: Jesus Loves His Mandolin Player #1
Wakefield, Garcia ..et al
2-22: Heartbreak Hotel
2-23: Orange Blossom Special
Doc & Merle Watson (4/28)
2-24: Doc Bog’s Country Blues
2-25: Movin’ On
2-26: Wabash Cannonball
2-27: Tennessee Stud

Disc 3 [79:50]
Ramblin’Jack Elliott (4/28)
3-01: Talking Fishing Blues
3-02: Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright
3-03: Down The Line
3-04: Pretty Boy Floyd
Dillard & Frank Wakefield (4/28)
3-05: Dixie Breakdown
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (4/28) with Garcia, Vassar Clements, Doc Watson, David Nelson, John Hartford, & Jerry Mills
3-06: Tulane And Johnny
3-07: Cosmic Cowboy
3-08: Jambalaya
3-09: Sally Goodin
3-10: Battle Of New Orleans
3-11: Teardrops In My Eyes
3-12: Bonie Maronie
3-13: Randy Lynn Rag
3-14: Flint Hill Special
3-15: Mr. Bojangles
3-16: Honky Tonkin’
3-17: Diggy Liggy Lo
3-18: Will The Circle Be Unbroken*
3-19: Way Downtown Fooling Around*
3-20: Down Yonder*
* w/Doc & Merle Watson

[disc 4: 19:31]
Old And In The Way (4/28) Garcia, Grisman
4-01: High Lonesome Sound
4-02: Pig In A Pen
4-03: Panama Red
4-04: Wild Horses
4-05: The Hobo Song

  Marin County Bluegrass Festival 1974/04/27-28 (w/ Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Jerry Garcia and others)