There's nothing like the changing of the seasons, last week we experienced a chilly overnight low of 41 F (chilly for South Florida, anyway) and to me that signaled the end of beer-drinking season and advent of sour mash-drinking season so I thought I'd acknowledge this blissful transition with a few songs about corn liquor.
I first heard Dooley way back in the early '60s on the Andy Griffith TV show performed by the Darlings (the Dillards in real life) and just recently found it again on a YouTube video filmed at a Tony Trischka recording session. The album Tony was making, titled Earl Jam, is really exceptional, it was inspired by some home recordings John Hartford made of he (Hartford) and Earl Scruggs jamming and Tony gathered some of the leading lights of today's Bluegrass scene to play on it. Here Molly Tuttle and Bluegrass icon Sam Bush do the singing.Dooley

I guess I first heard Moonshiner performed in Irish pubs around D.C. and by unaccompanied traditional singers but I really love the jaunty Bluegrass version done by 'grassers like Peter Rowan. Here we have Molly Tuttle, again, doing it in a live setting. Molly is one of the great flatpickers around today, unfortunately her solo on this recording is barely audible, to these old ears anyway, but fortunately Cody Kilby chimes in with a lovely bit of guitar playing.-Moonshiner1

Here's a more uptempo version where Molly's flatpicking really comes across.-
Moonshiner2

Someone put words to one of my favorite fiddle tunes, Whiskey Before Breakfast (or Whiskey 'fore Breakfast), and I first heard it sung by Mike Cross on his Alive and Kicking LP with Zan McLeod on mandolin. I've included another live version by Cross, solo on fiddle this time. He introduces it as an Appalachian tune whereas I'd always heard that it was from Canada. It's followed by the lovely Sailor's Bonnet.
Whiskey Before Breakfast from Alive and Kicking


Whiskey Before Breakfast2 - solo fiddle