Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Old Age Pension Blues - "Banjo" Bill Cornett
2. Hook and Line - "Banjo" Bill Cornett
3. John Henry - "Banjo" Bill Cornett
4. Pretty Polly - "Banjo" Bill Cornett
5. Old Reuben - "Banjo" Bill Cornett
6. Spring of '65 - J.D. Cornett
7. Sally in the Garden - J.D. Cornett
8. Barbara Allen - J.D. Cornett
9. When We Shall Meet - Old Baptist Church
10. Amazing Grace - Old Baptist Church
11. Across the Rocky Mountain - Roscoe Holcomb
12. Graveyard Blues - Roscoe Holcomb
13. Cripple Creek - Roscoe Holcomb
14. True Love - Roscoe Holcomb
15. Sally in the Garden - Marion Sumner
16. Lost Indian - Marion Sumner
17. Hollow Poplar - Marion Sumner
18. Death of the Blue Eagle - George Davis
19. Little Birdie - Willie Chapman
20. Lost Indian - Willie Chapman
21. Jaw Bone - Willie Chapman
22. Bunker's Hill - Willie Chapman
23. Cacklin' Hen - Willie Chapman
24. Julie Ann - Willie Chapman
25. Born in Old Kentucky - "Banjo" Bill Cornett
26. Buck Creek Girls - "Banjo" Bill Cornett
27. Sweet Willie - "Banjo" Bill Cornett
28. Cluck Old Hen - "Banjo" Bill Cornett
29. Coney Island - Roscoe Holcomb
30. Baby Let Your Hair Roll Down - Roscoe Holcomb
31. Wayfaring Stranger - Roscoe Holcomb

Disc 2:

1. Stingy Woman - Roscoe Holcomb
2. East Virginia Blues - Roscoe Holcomb
3. Single Girl - Roscoe Holcomb
4. Black Eyed Susie - Roscoe Holcomb
5. Hills of Mexico - Roscoe Holcomb
6. Foreign Lander - Martha Hall
7. Kitty Alone - Martha Hall, Roscoe Holcomb
8. Young and Tender Ladies - Martha Hall, Roscoe Holcomb
9. Charlie's Neat - Granville Bowlin
10. Cotton-Eyed Joe - Granville Bowlin
11. Little Sunshine - Granville Bowlin
12. Wild Bill Jones - Granville Bowlin
13. Great Speckled Bird - Holiness Church
14. Clap and Shout - Holiness Church
15. Cry from the Cross - Holiness Church
16. Clap and Shout and Shriek - Holiness Church
17. Wagoner's Lad - Mr. & Mrs. Sams
18. Absentee - Mr. & Mrs. Sams
19. Coo Coo - Mr. & Mrs. Sams
20. Marthis Campbell - James Crase
21. Sally Goodin' - James Crase
22. Fiddler a Dram - James Crase
23. Fox Chase - James Crase
24. Old Joe Clark - James Crase
25. Fire on the Mountain - James Crase
26. Ways of the World - James Crase
27. Inch Along - James Crase
28. Skip to My Lou - James Crase
29. St. Louis Blues - Lee Sexton
30. Pretty Polly - Lee Sexton
31. Fly Around - Lee Sexton
32. Fox Chase - Lee Sexton
33. Ruby - Grigsby & Young
34. No Letter in the Mail - Grigsby & Young
35. Fair Miss in the Garden - Grigsby & Young
36. John Henry - Grigsby & Young
37. Rocky Island - Grigsby & Young

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53947 in Music
• Released on: 1996-03-19
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .29 pounds

Album Description
Originally issued as a single LP in 1960, Mountain Music of Kentucky was praised as "the greatest Kentucky record ever issed and one of the greatest records in the entire literature of American folk song" (San Francisco Chronicle 1960). This much expanded compilation features some of the outstanding traditional musicians of the twentieth century with two full hours of performances (60 minutes previously unreleased), new notes, and many photographs by John Cohen. One of the greatest records in the entire literature of American folk song. -San Francisco Chronicle

Customer Reviews

The hills were alive!
Having just reviewed another of John Cohen's excellent collections (High Atmosphere) yesterday, this seemed like a natural choice for today. This was recorded in 1959.

Obviously the biggest "star" here is Roscoe Holcomb. He is the one person on this 2-disc set who is the most well-known to the largest number of people, but this is by no means a one-man collection. In fact, I don't even consider Roscoe to be the best musician present here. For the life of me I still cannot figure out why Bill Cornett's name isn't thrown around as "one of the greats". His voice and banjo playing, particularly on Pretty Polly, Old Reuben, Born In Kentucky, Sweet Willie, etc... just knock me out. Born In Kentucky being a variant of the more well-known tune, Dark Holler.

J.D. Cornett has a fine solo-vocal version of Spring of '65, and you do indeed get some fine stuff from Roscoe here in case he is your main focus. From bits of Jack-A-Roe to one of his "I made it myself" tunes where he then lifts an entire lyric from a Blind Lemon Jefferson tune, though neither he nor the liner-notes make mention of this. Plus, I will take Roscoe's Wayfaring Stranger over Bill Monroe's any day of the week. All in all, it's good stuff!

Moving on, I personally am not too much for the sets of church tunes, aside from Clap & Shout on disc two. However, there are alot of jewels in the sand of disc two. The highlights of disc two, for me, come in the form of Granville Bowlin's segment, Mrs. Sams solo-vocal Wagoners Lad, James Crase's various fiddle tunes, and Lee Sexton's solo banjo St. Louis Blues and his Pretty Polly that is rather closely related to Bill Cornett's but not as powerful. I just love Mrs. Sams' voice. Everyone has their own aesthetic of what is good and what isn't, and for me, Mrs. Sams is just exactly what a wise old female mountain singer should sound like.

There is such a richness and rugged individuality to all these performances that it just breaks your heart to know that for the most part, these traditions are gone. At least we were lucky enough to have someone like John Cohen roaming the hills and making these priceless recordings for all of us.

Ground Zero for Folk and the Nashville Sound
This is the "real" folk music of America. It is simple, honest and speaks to the heart. It isn't remaster, amplified or mixed but made by people singing and playing at home, at church and at play. The songs are about life, love, work, war, good times and bad times.

You can hear the sound that trained the Carters, Jimmie Rogers and every "American folk song and singer" from Guthrie, Ives and the Weavers on. These songs are done by people singing from the enjoyment of life not for money!

Listen for "Amazing Grace" from the Old Baptist Church and "Ruby" by Grigsby & Young or sit with the Sams. Close your eyes and it could be any date from the 1880s on.

If you like folk, blue grass, the old SUN Records sound or are just "interested" this is ground zero where it all started.

Absolutely essential
This is a marvelous collection. Along with "High Atmosphere", I consider it essential to orient you to the way the music really sounded. Most people come to Old Time music from some place else...bluegrass, country, or one of the great modern oddities like Old Crow Medicine Show or The Bad Livers. Perhaps you got the bug from "Oh Brother Where Art Thou". Well, you're on the right path with this very big 2 CD collection that not only has achingly beautiful a'capella balads, red hot fiddling, and some really phenomenal banjo work, but also haunting church shape note singing. Get "High Atmosphere" as well, and once you've absorbed them, branch out from there.