Dark-Night Songs

"She warbled and keened at an extreme pitch of emotion unattainable by the young, and the verses of the songs went on and on toward a receding conclusion. They were dark-night songs. Knocked-up girls got stabbed or shot or hit in the head, and then buried in the cold ground or thrown into the black deep river. Pretty Polly. Little Omie Wise. Go down, go down, you Knoxville Girl. Sometimes reproduction did not even factor into the narrative. The man snuffed the girl out because he could not own her, a killing offense if the girl's opinions ran counter to his urges. In the ballads, love and murder and possession fit tight against one another as an outgrown wedding band on a swollen finger..."

That's from Nightwoods, Charles Frazier's new novel, which I happen to be reading at the moment. Good to see that someone knows his classics well. Guy's a mean writer, too, so do snap it up. In the meantime, here's a little soundtrack.

Bill Cornett - Pretty Polly

G.B. Grayson - Ommie Wise

Louvin Brothers - Knoxville Girl

Pure Mountain Air

You can slowly feel the autumn coming on now in these parts and I almost immediately caught a cold like you wouldn´t believe. This afternoon´s garlic soup helped somewhat, but I could really do with some pure mountain air right now to clear the head.

As that´s not possible alas, let´s settle for some timeless tunes from the mythical mountains of Kentucky. These field recordings were made in ´59 by neo-folkie John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers, and feature a bunch of old folks sittin´ on the porch in some backwood holler, pickin´ and fiddlin´ the time away, often performing traditionals some long-forgotten forefathers took with them on the boat over from the British Isles way back when.

If you´re into Harry Smith´s Anthology Of American Folk Music, you won´t be disappointed with the pureness of these tracks. Pay special attention to the amazing Mr. & Mrs. Sams: they do the greatest version of the oft-played Wagoner´s Lad I´ve ever heard.

Mr. & Mrs. Sams - The Wagoner´s Lad MP3

Roscoe Holcomb - Hills Of Mexico MP3

Bill Cornett - Pretty Polly MP3

Granville Bowlin - Wild Bill Jones MP3

James Crase - Fox Chase MP3