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 MP3Bill Cornett - Pretty Polly MP3
Granville Bowlin - Wild Bill Jones MP3
James Crase - Fox Chase MP3
