Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns

Country Music - Ken Burns from Fanny country girl on Vimeo.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Country Music is a documentary miniseries produced by Ken Burns and written by Dayton Duncan that premiered on PBS on September 15, 2019. The eight-part series chronicles the history and prominence of country music in American culture.[5][6]Burns announced the miniseries in January 2014, with a projected airdate in 2018. Burns cited his ongoing work on other documentary projects as having affected progress on the series. Writer Dayton Duncan explained that the goal of the series was to demonstrate that country music "isn't and never was just one type of music. It was always this amalgam of American music and it sprang from a lot of very different roots and then, as it grew, it sprouted many different branches, but they're all connected." Burns filmed a total of 175 hours of interviews with 101 artists and other personalities for the series; some were recorded as early as 2012, and some of the interviewees (such as Little Jimmy Dickens, Roy Clark, Ralph Stanley, and Merle Haggard) died over the course of production. (Read more...)

Dock Boggs: Legendary Singer & Banjo Player

Folkways Records FA 2351

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1964
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Appalachian Music, Country Blues
[Tracklist]
A1 Down South Blues (2:11)
A2 Country Blues (3:55)
A3 Pretty Polly (2:56)
A4 Coal Creek March (1:57)
A5 My Old Horse Died (1:48)
A6 Wild Bill Jones (2:14)
A7 Rowan Country Crew (6:15)
A8 New Prisoner's Song (2:57)
B1 Oh Death (3:22)
B2 Prodigal Son (3:57)
B3 Mother's Advice (3:43)
B4 Drunkard's Lone Child (4:10)
B5 Bright Sunny South (3:41)
B6 Mistreated Mama Blues (1:55)
B7 Harvey Logan (3:33)
[Credits]
Dock Boggs (banjo/vocals)
Recorder and Editor: Mike Seeger, Liner Notes: Ralph Rinzler, Designer: A. Doyle Moore, Photographer: Dan Seeger
[Notes]
Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs (1898–1971) was an old-time singer, songwriter and banjo player. His unique style of singing and banjo playing combined elements of Appalachian folk music and African-American blues. A self-taught musician, Dock recorded about eights sides of music between 1927 and 1929. The Great Depression and domestic issues sidelined his musical career until he was "rediscovered" by Mike Seeger (The New Lost City Ramblers) and encouraged to perform at the American Folk Festival in Asheville, NC in 1963. This release contains several songs from that Festival including "Oh Death" and "Country Blues," a song he had originally recorded in the 1920s.

Lucinda Williams: West

Lost Highway B0006938-02

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2007
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country Rock
[Tracklist]
01 Are You Alright? (5:18)
02 Mama You Sweet (4:44)
03 Learning How To Live (5:11)
04 Fancy Funeral (4:14)
05 Unsuffer Me (5:40)
06 Everything Has Changed (3:38)
07 Come On (4:53)
08 Where Is My Love? (5:22)
09 Rescue (5:34)
10 What If (5:41)
11 Wrap My Head Around That (9:06)
12 Words (3:32)
13 West (5:44)
[Credits]
Lucinda Williams (guitar/vocals) Bill Frisell, Doug Pettibone (guitar) Jenny Scheinman (violin) Rob Brophy (viola) Tim Loo (cello) Tony Garnier (bass) Jim Keltner (drums/percussion) Rob Burger (piano/organ/accordion)
Producer: Tom Overby and Hal Willner, Photographer: Margaret Malandruccolo, Annie Leibovitz and Alan Messer, Designer: Karen Naff
[Notes]
The title of West reflects the change in Lucinda Williams' life as she moved to Los Angeles. It also reflects what had been left behind. Williams is nothing if not a purely confessional songwriter. She continually walks in the shadowlands to bring out what is both most personal yet universal in her work, to communicate to listeners directly and without compromise. If Essence and World Without Tears took chances and stated different sides of the songwriter and her world, West jumps off the ledge into the sky of freedom, where anything can be said without worry of consequence and where anything can be said in any way she wishes. It's entirely appropriate that West was released on the day before Valentine's Day 2007, for it's a record about the heart, about its volumes of brokenness, about its acceptance of its state, and how, with the scars still visible to the bearer, it opens wider and becomes the font of love itself. But the journey is a dark one. First there's the music and the production. Williams chose Hal Willner to produce West. Williams, who'd been writing a lot, demoed some songs before she brought in Willner. He stripped down the demos but kept the scratch vocals. From there, the pair created the rest of the album together, never re-recording Williams' initial vocals. The vocals were accompanied by her guitar playing; Willner wanted her inherent phrasing and rhythmic flow. Willner also brought his own crew to play with Williams. This collaboration -- as unlikely as it might seem on the surface -- results in something utterly different and yet unmistakably Lucinda Williams. West is a warm, inviting, yet very dark record about grief, the loss of love, anger at a lover who cannot deliver, and embracing the possibility of change. In other words, it's not without its redemptive moments. Williams has put all of her qualities on display at once with an unbridled and unbowed sense of adventure here on her eighth album. She, her bandmates, and Willner have come up with exactly what pop music needs: a real work of art based in contemporary forms and feelings. West is an album that will no doubt attract more than a few new fans, and will give old ones, if they are open enough, a recording to relish. -- AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek

Hot Blast: Contemporary Songs Written and Sung by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl

Folkways Records FW 8710

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklist]
A1 Blast Against Blackguards (4:09)
A2 The Tenant Farmer (3:35)
A3 The Pay-Up Song (5:01)
A4 Emily (5:38)
A5 Cut Price Hero (3:15)
A6 You And I (3:05)
A7 Legal Illegal (4:13)
B1 The Invader (5:27)
B2 The Father's Song (2:23)
B3 White Wind (18:37)
[Credits]
Peggy Seeger (concertina/guitar/vocals) Ewan MacColl (vocals) Bruce Turner (clarinet) Calum MacColl (guitar/psaltery/dulcimer/bongos/tin whistle/kalimba/backing vocals) Neil MacColl (guitar/mandolin/backing vocals) Jim Carroll, Kirsty MacColl, Pat MacKenzie (backing vocals)
Photographer: Walker Evans, Designer: Ronald Clyne, Engineer: Stephen Hardy
[Notes]
Political themes run powerfully through this 1978 recording, written and performed by husband and wife Ewan MacColl (1915–1989) and Peggy Seeger (b. 1935). Songs cover apartheid, domestic abuse, and worker's rights. MacColl and Seeger point out that writing and singing political songs is an age-old tradition, and they hope that the songs on this album will be useful weapons in the arsenal of those who are "against the brutal exploitation of the working-class, against the senseless waste of human and natural resources and against the pernicious disease of racism." Liner notes include song lyrics for each of the tracks.

The Phipps Family: Faith, Love and Tragedy

Folkways Records FA 2375

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1965
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Country, Hillbilly
[Tracklist]
A1 Just Another Broken Heart (2:35)
A2 Away Over In The Promised Land (2:17)
A3 The Great Titanic (3:46)
A4 Forsaken Lover (2:28)
A5 The Red Jacket Mine Explosion (4:02)
A6 I Never Will Marry (2:31)
A7 Gonna Row My Boat (1:56)
B1 The Old Pine Tree (3:05)
B2 The Merry Golden Tree (3:05)
B3 The Unclouded Day (3:26)
B4 Charles Guiteau (2:29)
B5 My Home Among The Hills (2:25)
B6 Pearl Bryan (3:39
[Credits]
A.L.Phipps (guitar/vocals) Kathleen Phipps (autoharp/vocals) Helen Phipps (autoharp/vocals) Leemon Phipps (guitar/vocals)
Recorder and Producer: Ralph Rinzler, Sleeve Notes:Bill Vernon, Designer: Ronald Clyne, Photographer: Jim Marshall
[Notes]
Influenced by the legendary Carter Family, the Phipps Family was known for its personal yet deeply traditional style. This album includes ballads, traditional hymns, and two originals: Kathleen's "Forsaken Lover" and A. L.'s "The Red Jacket Mine Explosion."

Hermes Nye: Anglo-American Ballads

Folkways Records FA 2037

Format: Vinyl, 10", Album
Country: US
Released: 1952
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklist]
A1 Tomorrow Is St. Valentine's Day (1:20)
A2 A North Country Maid (1:38)
A3 King Arthur Had Three Sons (2:01)
A4 Earl Richard (2:39)
A5 Greenland Fishery (1:50)
A6 Earl Of Murray (1:22)
B1 John Peel (2:18)
B2 The Mermaid (2:44)
B3 The Red Herring (2:05)
B4 The Bailiff's Daughter Of Islington (3:49)
[Credits]
Hermes Nye (guitar/vocals)
Artwork: David Stone Martin
[Notes]
Sung on record and described in liner notes with Hermes Nye's characteristic down-home humor, Anglo-American ballads on this album come from a variety of sources, from an Elizabethan torch song in Shakespeare's Hamlet to a version of "John Peel" taken from a Girl Scout songbook!

Keith Whitley: Don't Close Your Eyes

RCA 6494-2-R

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country
[Tracklist]
01 Flying Colors (3:35)
02 It's All Coming Back To Me Now (2:45)
03 Lucky Dog (2:00)
04 Don't Close Your Eyes (4:09)
06 Some Old Side Road (3:25)
07 Would These Arms Be In Your Way (3:10)
08 I'm No Stranger To The Rain (3:33)
09 I Never Go Around Mirrors (4:24)
10 When You Say Nothing At All (3:40)
11 A Day In The Life Of A Fool (3:37)
12 Honky Tonk Heart (3:04)
[Credits]
Keith Whitley (guitar/vocals) Allen Frizzell, Curtis Young, Dennis Wilson , Emmylou Harris, Garth Fundis and Vern Gosdin (chorus) Mac McAnally, Red Lane, Billy Sanford and Brent Rowan (guitar) Dave Pomeroy and Larry Paxton (bass) Eddie Bayers and Jerry Kroon (drums) Rob Hajacos (fiddle) Mitch Humphries (keyboards) Matt Rollings (piano) Mike Lawler (synthesizer) Sonny Garrish (steel guitar) Paul Franklin (pedalboard)
[Notes]
Don't You Close Your Eyes was more successful than Keith Whitley's two previous albums and it's easy to see why. Though the record still suffered from a handful of mediocre songs and a slightly soft production, the overall album was leaner and more direct than Whitley's earlier solo work, showcasing his talent for heartfelt honky tonk singing and his skill for crafting excellent barroom ballads. "Don't Close Your Eyes," "When You Say Nothing At All," and "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" were the hits, but there's a wealth of excellent material here, including a haunting version of Lefty Frizzell's "I Never Go Around Mirrors." The sheer strength of the best numbers make the handful of weaker songs perfectly excusable. After all, country in the late '80s rarely got better than Don't You Close Your Eyes at its best. -- AllMusic Review by Thom Owens

Lucinda Williams: Ramblin'

Smithsonian Folkways CD SF 40042

Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country: USA & Canada
Released: 2005
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Country Blues
[Tracklist]
01 Ramblin' On My Mind (2:30)
02 Me And My Chauffeur (3:12)
03 Motherless Children (3:31)
04 Malted Milk Blues (2:29)
05 Disgusted (2:28)
06 Jug Band Music (2:22)
07 Stop Breakin' Down (3:20)
08 Drop Down Daddy (3:23)
09 Little Darling Pal Of Mine (2:59)
10 Make Me Down A Pallet On Your Floor (3:50)
11 Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (3:05)
12 Great Speckled Bird (2:55)
13 You're Gonna Need That Pure Religion (3:07)
14 Satisfied Mind (4:06)
[Credits]
Lucinda Williams (12-string guitar/vocals) John Grimaudo (guitar)
Producer: Tom Royals, Liner Notes: John Morthland, Designer: Carol Hardy, Engineer: Gerald "Wolf" Stephenson, Malcolm Addey and Matt Walters
[Notes]
Recorded at Malaco Studios, Jackson, MS, Sept. 1978. The first recordings from an artist with a gift for interpreting original blues from Robert Johnson to Memphis Minnie to The Carter Family. Williams’s unmistakable sound is powerfully direct and filled with melancholy and passion. 43 minutes. "The quintessential recording of Lucinda Williams.... An unbelievably soulful...vocalist." — Montana State University Exponent "The quintessential recording of Lucinda Williams.... An unbelievably soulful...vocalist."-- Montana State University Exponent

Roscoe Holcomb: An Untamed Sense of Control

Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40144

Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2003
Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Appalachian Music, Country Blues
[Credits]
01 Swanno Mountain (3:18)
02 Across The Rocky Mountain (5:23)
03 Graveyard Blues (3:01)
04 Single Girl (3:02)
05 Little Maggie (3:02)
06 Born And Raised In Covington (2:16)
07 Barbara Allen Blues (1:30)
08 Coal Creek (1:31)
09 Rock Island Prison (1:35)
10 I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (3:00)
11 Combs Hotel Burned Down (2:32)
12 The Hills Of Mexico (2:33)
13 Knife Guitar (1:17)
14 Mississippi Heavy Water Blues (2:16)
15 Coney Isle (1:51)
16 Train That Carried My Girl From Town (2:02)
17 Milk Cow Blues (2:08)
18 Black Eye Susie (1:15)
19 Darling Cory (3:40)
20 I Ain't Got No Sugar Baby Now (2:50)
21 Sitting On Top Of This World (2:42)
22 Frankie And Johnnie (5:11)
23 Foggy Mountain Top (1:52)
24 Fair Miss In The Garden (3:53)
25 Willow Garden (3:27)
26 True Love (6:24)
[Credits]
Roscoe Holcomb (banjo/guitar/harmonica/fiddle/vocals)
Recorder, Producer, Liner Notes and Photographer: John Cohen
[Notes]
Compiled from three Folkways albums: "Music of Roscoe Holcomb" (FA 2363, 1961) recorded at Sanders Recording Studio, 46th St. and Times Square, New York City; "The High Lonesome Sound" (FA 2368, 1964) recorded at Steinway Hall, New York City; and "Close To Home" (FA 2374, 1972) recorded on Roscoe's front porch, Daisy, Kentucky. Additional recordings taken from a concert performance in Cambridge, Mass. in 1973.

Happy New Year 2020

May this year be the one in which all your wishes and desires come true.

Mary Lou Williams

Folkways Records FS 32843

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1964
Genre: Jazz
Style: Bop, Soul-Jazz, Gospel, Modal
[Tracklist]
A1 Black Christ Of The Andes (6:23)
A2 It Ain't Necessarily So (4:35)
A3 The Devil (3:55)
A4 Miss D. D. (2:25)
A5 Anima Christi (2:43)
B1 A Grand Nite For Swinging (2:54)
B2 My Blue Heaven (3:02)
B3 Dirge Blues (3:21)
B4 A Fungus Amungus (2:48)
B5 Praise The Lord (5:47)
[Credits]
Mary Lou Williams (piano)
Artwork: David Stone Martin, Liner Notes: Gerrard Pochonet, Engineer: Tommy Nola
[Notes]
Composer, arranger, and pianist Mary Lou Williams' musical career reflected the history of American jazz from the late 1920s through the 1970s. Described by Duke Ellington as being "beyond category," Williams was conversant in jazz styles ranging from stride through swing and be-bop to the avant-garde, yet her music was always rooted in spirituals and the blues. This self-produced recording, originally recorded in 1962 and 1963, contains a mix of standards and originals including four original compositions reflecting her devout interest in religious music.

Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo

Revised and Enhanced Edition by Earl Scruggs

# Publisher: Hal Leonard; Pap/Com edition (August 1, 2005)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0634060422
# ISBN-13: 978-0634060427

The best-selling banjo method in the world! Earl Scruggs's legendary method has helped thousands of banjo players get their start. The "Revised and Enhanced Edition" features more songs, updated lessons, and many other improvements. It includes everything you need to know to start playing banjo, including: a history of the 5-string banjo, getting acquainted with the banjo, Scruggs tuners, how to read music, chords, how to read tablature, right-hand rolls and left-hand techniques, banjo tunings, exercises in picking, over 40 songs, how to build a banjo, autobiographical notes, and much more! The book/audio version includes recordings of Earl Scruggs playing and explaining over 60 examples! Audio is accessed online using the unique code inside the book and can be streamed or downloaded. The audio files include PLAYBACK+, a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, change keys, and pan left or right.

Old-Time Fiddle: For the Complete Ignoramus

Wayne Erbsen (Author)

Spiral-bound: 80 pages
# Publisher: Native Ground Books & Music (September 2005)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1883206480
# ISBN-13: 978-1883206482

Wayne Erbsen's 35 years of teaching experience shows on every page. He takes the reader through every step of adjusting, tuning, holding, and playing the fiddle. 37 tunes are written out in Wayne's own unique and easy-to-use tab system and standard notation. Fiddle instruction has never been any simpler, clearer, or more humorous. This book will teach absolutely anyone to play the fiddle. Instructional CD included. You WILL learn to play: Amazing Grace, Blackest Crow, Buffalo Gals, Charley He s a Good Old Man, Cluck Old Hen, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Cripple Creek, Cumberland Mountain Deer Chase, Darling Corey, Don t Let Your Deal Go Down, East Virginia, Groundhog, House of the Rising Sun, Ida Red, In the Pines, It Ain t Gonna Grain no Mo , Joy to the World, Little Birdie, Liza Poor Gal, Lynchburg Town, Muley s Daughter, Old Joe Clark, Old Molly Hare, Polly Put the Kettle On, Rain and Snow, Red River Valley, Run Johnny Run, Rye Whiskey, Sail Away Ladies, Say Darling Say, Shortening Bread, Sugar Hill, Wagoner s Lad, Wildwood Flower, Willie Moore.

Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp A Butterfly

Top Dawg Entertainment B0022958-02

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2015
Genre: Hip Hop
Style: Conscious, Jazzy Hip-Hop
[Tracklist]
01 Wesley's Theory (4:47)
02 For Free? (Interlude) (2:10)
03 King Kunta (3:54)
04 Institutionalized (4:31)
05 These Walls (5:00)
06 U (4:28)
07 Alright (3:39)
08 For Sale? (Interlude) (4:51)
09 Momma (4:43)
10 Hood Politics (4:52)
11 How Much A Dollar Cost (4:21)
12 Complexion (A Zulu Love) (4:23)
13 The Blacker The Berry (5:28)
14 You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said) (4:01)
15 I (5:36)
16 Mortal Man (12:07)
[Credits]
Kendrick Lamar (vocals)
[Notes]
Becoming an adult ultimately means accepting one's imperfections, unimportance, and mortality, but that doesn't mean we stop striving for the ideal, a search that's so at the center of our very being that our greatest works of art celebrate it, and often amplify it. Anguish and despair rightfully earn more Grammys, Emmys, Tonys, and Pulitzer Prizes than sweetness and light ever do, but West Coast rapper Kendrick Lamar is already on elevated masterwork number two, so expect his version of the sobering truth to sound like a party at points. He's aware, as Bilal sings here, that "Shit don't change 'til you get up and wash your ass," and don't it feel good? The sentiment is universal, but the viewpoint on his second LP is inner-city and African-American, as radio regulars like the Isley Brothers (sampled to perfection during the key track "I"), George Clinton (who helps make "Wesley's Theory" a cross between "Atomic Dog" and Dante's Inferno), and Dr. Dre (who literally phones his appearance in) put the listener in Lamar's era of Compton, just as well as Lou Reed took us to New York and Brecht took us to Weimar Republic Berlin. These G-funky moments are incredibly seductive, which helps usher the listener through the album's 80-minute runtime, plus its constant mutating (Pharrell productions, spoken word, soul power anthems, and sound collages all fly by, with few tracks ending as they began), much of it influenced, and sometimes assisted by, producer Flying Lotus and his frequent collaborator Thundercat. "u" sounds like an MP3 collection deteriorating, while the broken beat of the brilliant "Momma" will challenge the listener's balance, and yet, Lamar is such a prodigiously talented and seductive artist, his wit, wisdom, and wordplay knock all these stray molecules into place. Survivor's guilt, realizing one's destiny, and a Snoop Dogg performance of Doggystyle caliber are woven among it all; plus, highlights offer that Parliament-Funkadelic-styled subversion, as "The Blacker the Berry" ("The sweeter the juice") offers revolutionary slogans and dips for the hip. Free your mind, and your ass will follow, and at the end of this beautiful black berry, there's a miraculous "talk" between Kendrick and the legendary 2Pac, as the brutalist trailblazer mentors this profound populist. To Pimp a Butterfly is as dark, intense, complicated, and violent as Picasso's Guernica, and should hold the same importance for its genre and the same beauty for its intended audience. -- AllMusic Review by David Jeffries

Women Folk: Iconic Women of American Folk

Sunswept Music 063033

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: August 7, 2007
Recorded: 1955 - 1961
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklis]
01 Sail Away Ladies: Odetta (2:23)
02 Railroad Bill: Etta Baker (2:39)
03 When I Was a Young Girl: Barbara Dane (3:42)
04 The Bashful Courtship: Jean Ritchie (2:05)
05 Go 'Way from My Window: Carolyn Hester (2:48)
06 Midnight Special: Odetta (2:37)
07 Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad: Etta Baker (1:24)
08 Nine Hundred Miles: Barbara Dane (2:21)
09 The Old Grey Goose Is Dead: Jean Ritchie (1:27)
10 The Water Is Wide: Carolyn Hester (3:42)
11 He's Got the Whole World in His Hands: Odetta (1:54)
12 John Henry: Etta Baker (2:40)
13 The Danville Girl: Barbara Dane (3:05)
14 The Blackest Crow: Jean Ritchie (1:30)
15 House of the Rising Sun: Carolyn Hester (2:21)
16 Take This Hammer: Odetta (3:27)
17 One Dime Blues: Etta Baker (3:00)
18 Ramblin': Barbara Dane (2:57)
19 Wondrous Love: Jean Ritchie (2:46)
20 Summertime: Carolyn Hester (2:20)
[Credits]
Odetta (guitar/vocals) Etta Baker (guitar/vocals) Barbara Dane (guitar/vocals) Jean Ritchie (dulcimer/vocals) Carolyn Hester (guitar/vocals) Tom Paley (banjo/guitar)
Producer: Rama Barwick, Liner Notes: Oscar Brand and Paul Clayton, Editor: Roger Kash, Designer: Michael Lauzardo, Engineers: Liam Clancy and George Pickow
[Notes]
From Odetta considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century to Jean Ritchie the mother of Appalachian folk music, responsible for exposing us to a treasure trove of material passed down from her ancestors that have since become staples of the world-wide folk scene. Carolyn Hester invited Bob Dylan to play harmonica on her first Columbia record which led to him signing with the label while Barbara Dane raised the bar for all singers when she burst onto the scene in the early 1950’s and a little lady from the Southern Appalachians named Etta Baker set the standard for folk guitarists everywhere

Protobilly: The Minstrel & Tin Pan Alley DNA of Country Music 1892-2017

JSP Records JSP5202

Format: 3xCD, Compilation, Limited Edition, Stereo, Mono
Country: UK
Released: October 25, 2019
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Old Time, Country, Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
Disc One
101 Casey Jones: Billy Murray
102 Casey Jones: Fiddlin' John Carson
103 Southern Casey Jones: Jesse James
104 Steamboat Bill: Arthur Collins
105 Casey and Bill: Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band
106 Steamboat Bill Boogie: Delmore Bros.
107 Red Wing: Frank C Stanley & Henry Burr
108 Red Wing: Doc Williams & the Border Riders
109 Just Break the News to Mother: George J Gaskin
110 Take the News to Mother: Louvin Bros.
111 In the Shadow of the Pines: Royal Fish & Vernon Archibald
112 In the Shadow of the Pine: Kelly Harrell
113 Are You From Dixie?: Billy Murray & Irving Kaufman
114 Are You From Dixie: Grandpa Jones
115 Home, Sweet Home: Eleanora de Cisneros
116 Home, Sweet Home: Don Reno
117 The Party That Wrote Home Sweet Home, Never Was a Married Man: Ed Morton
118 The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home, Never Was a Married Man: Mack Woolbridge & Charlie Parker
119 I'm Alabama Bound: Prince's Orchestra
120 Alabama Bound: Papa Charlie Jackson
121 Unter dem Doppleadler: Olbrig's Zither Trio
122 Under the Double Eagle: Bill Boyd's Cowboy Ramblers
123 Blue Bell: Harry Macdonough
124 Blue Bell: Merle Travis
125 Virginia Bluebell: Eddie Adcock
126 The Foolish Frog: May Irwin
127 The Foolish Frog: Frank Corso
Disc Two
201 Haul The Woodpile Down: Charles A Asbury
202 Hold That Wood-Pile Down: Uncle Dave Macon
203 Darling Nellie Gray: The American Quartet
204 Darling Nellie Gray: Roland Cauly & Lake Howard
205 Darling Nellie Gray: Louis Armstrong & the Mills Brothers
206 I Got Mine: Arthur Collins & Joseph Natus
207 I Got Mine: Frank Stokes
208 Go Easy Mabel: Edward Meeker
209 Go Easy Mabel: Delmore Bros
210 Smoke Goes Up the Chimney: Dan W Quinn
211 Smoke Goes Up the Chimney: Fiddlin' John Carson
212 When the Bees Are In the Hive: Peerless Quartet
213 When the Bees Are In the Hive: Bill Monroe
214 Don't You Leave Me Here: Charles Johnson's Original Paradise Ten
215 I'm Alabamy Bound: Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
216 Don't Go Down In the Mine, Dad: Stanley Kirkby
217 Dream Of a Miner's Child: Keith Whitley
218 I Loved You Better Than You: Byron G Harlan & Frank C Stanley
219 I Loved You Better Than You: The Carter Family
220 I Loved You Better Than You: Johnnie and Jack
221 By The Watermelon Vine: Edison Male Quartet
222 Lindy: Proximity String Quartet
223 Who Broke The Lock: Cousins and DeMoss
224 Who Stole De Lock: The Georgia Browns
225 Who Stole The Lock: Jack Bland & his Rhythmmakers
226 Lovesick Blues: Emmett Miller
227 Lovesick Blues: Hank Williams
228 I'm the Father of a Little Black Coon: Charles A Asbury
Disc Three
301 May Irwin's Bully Song: May Irwin
302 Bully Of the Town: Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers
303 Fille de la Fille: Vin Bruce
304 Turkey in the Straw: Billy Golden
305 Turkey Buzzard Blues: Peg Leg Howell & Eddie Anthony
306 Old Dan Tucker: Harry C Browne
307 Old Dan Tucker: Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers
308 The Arkansas Traveler: Len Spencer
309 The Arkansaw Traveler: Jilson Setters (J.W Day)
310 Arkansas Traveler: Clayton McMichen & his Georgia Wildcats
311 The Girl I Loved in Sunny Tennessee: S.H Dudley & Harry Macdonough
312 Sunny Tennessee: Floyd County Ramblers
313 Nigger Blues: George O'Connor
314 The Blues Ain't Nothing But: Georgia White
315 I'se Gwine Back to Dixie: Brilliant Quartet
316 I'se Gwine Back to Dixie: Uncle Dave Macon
317 Baby Mine: Elizabeth Spencer
318 Going Around This World: Leslie Keith
319 All Night Long: Anna Chandler
320 All Night Long: Roy Acuff & his Crazy Tennesseeans
321 Laughing Rag: Sam Moore & Horace Davis
322 Mexican Rag: Darby & Tarlton
323 I Don't Care If I Never Wake Up: Silas Leachman
324 My Money Never Gives Out: Arthur Collins
325 My Money Never Runs Out: Banjo Joe (Gus Cannon)
326 My Money Never Gives Out: Dom Flemons & Guy Davis
[Notes]
This 3 CD reissue anthology is the first to track 20th century American vernacular music of old time country, bluegrass, jazz and blues by tracing their beginnings in 19th century blackface minstrelsy and Tin Pan Alley. The set includes a 76 page booklet with song annotations, sheet music covers, photographs and period graphics, biographies and discographies Driven by songwriting and publishing songs are refashioned again and again showcasing stylistic as well as lyrical changes over the past 100 years The foundation of the American popular songbook traces its beginnings to the Vaudeville, Circus, Minstrel, Music Hall and Theatre stages of the mid-late 1800s The songs spread throughout the country and world creating a new musical tapestry that included both black and white performers of all backgrounds By aligning performances from the earliest cylinder recordings with later 78 rpm, LP and CD versions, PROTOBILLY brings to life 81 historic recordings more than half never before reissued all brilliantly remastered to vividly demonstrate the checkered and enormously powerful elasticity of American music.

Dark Ships in the Forest: Ballads of the Supernatural

Folk-Legacy Records CD-65

Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1997
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk
[Tracklis]
01 Oak, Ash And Thorn (2:36)
02 The Broomfield Wager [Child 43] (4:11)
03 The Wife Of The Usher's Well [Child 79] (2:43)
04 Tom Of Bedlam (3:57)
05 The Dreadful Ghost (4:18)
06 The Foggy Dew (5:09)
07 The Derby Ram (3:27)
08 The Maid On The Shore [cf. Child 43] (3:41)
09 Reynardine (3:01)
10 The False Lady [Child 68] (3:21)
11 Polly Vaughn (3:18)
12 The Two Magicians [Child 44] (5:19)
[Credits]
John Roberts (vocals) Tony Barrand (vocals) Fred Breunig (accordion/fiddle) Steve Woodruff (accordion/fiddle)
Liner Notes: John Roberts , Recorder, Designer & Photographer: Sandy Paton, Designer: Lani Herrmann
[Notes]
This disc is a reissue of an LP that originally came out who-knows-when (Folk Legacy's insert copy is typically reticent on that score), and consists of one well-known old ballad ("The Foggy Dew"), several songs from the Child collection, and a number of other, more obscure tunes, all chosen for their supernatural themes (though, as the artists acknowledge in the liner notes, "The Foggy Dew" is something of a stretch in that regard). Roberts and Barrand are accompanied by Fred Breunig and Steve Woodruff, both of whom play fiddle and button accordion. As one might imagine, the resulting sound is stark and, it must be said, haunting; the subject matter of the songs, all of which deal with such topics as magical flora, woodland enchanters, and the ghosts of dead children and lovers, only adds to the eerie tone of the proceedings. These two really are remarkable singers; tenor Barrand has a sound that cuts like a reed whizzing through the air, while baritone Roberts moans with a plaintive, almost nasal sound. Description doesn't work, obviously these two must be heard to be appreciated. --AllMusic Review by Rick Anderson

Merle Travis: Walkin' The Strings

Capitol Records T1391

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1960
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Country
[Tracklist]
A01 Walkin' The Strings (1:38)
A02 Little David Play On Your Harp (2:18)
A03 Saturday Night Shuffle (2:07)
A04 Thumbing The Bass (0:53)
A05 Cane Break Blues (1:15)
A06 Darby's Ram (2:29)
A07 Everly Rag (0:38)
A08 Rose Time (1:36)
A09 Old Aunt Dinah (1:10)
A10 Old Kentucky Home (1:12)
A11 Pigmeat Stomp (1:15)
B01 Blue Smoke (1:59)
B02 Dry Bread (2:43)
B03 Louisville Clog (1:09)
B04 On A Bicycle Built For Two (1:23)
B05 Green Bay Polka (0:53)
B06 Jordan Am A Hard Road To Travel (2:31)
B07 Travis Trot (0:29)
B08 Cannon Ball Stomp (1:22)
B09 Fuller Blues (0:47)
B10 Blue Bell (1:43
B11 Take My Hand, Precious Lord (1:55)
[Credits]
Merle Travis (guitar/vocals)
[Notes]
Walkin' the Strings was the first solo acoustic guitar album by Merle Travis, released in 1960 but recorded in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Travis was at the peak of his performing abilities. It is widely regarded as one of Travis's finest musical achievements.

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