Actually,. Art's two albums are still in process, as is Jerry Rasmussen's second Folk-Legacy release - "The Secret life of Jerry Rasmussen." It'll be another week or so, Art. We had to take time out to don our "folksinger" hats and do a couple of gigs. Sorry for the delay! Couldn't buy wood for the woodstove without picking up some extra money, and the winter has been a hard one. I think the only "made-to-order" CD ready now that wasn't in Joe's first batch is the great fiddle recording of the Sligo brothers, Seamus and Manus McGuire.
Here's a hurried list:
CD-13 - HANK FERGUSON - "Behind These Walls." Hank was first recorded by Bruce Jackson when Hank was serving a sentence in the Indiana State Prison. The noise in the prison's band room made the original tapes unusable, so Lee Haggerty went down a year or so later, aafter Hank's release, to record him at his home in east Tennessee. General country type music, but enriched by three remarkably good songs about prison life. For instance: "I'm not living, I'm just trying to last longer than my time." CD-14 - RAY HICKS of Beech Mountain, NC, Tells Four Traditional "Jack Tales." The mountain folksayer I recorded back in 1962, who became a star in the growing story-telling revival and was named a national treasure. Unself-conscious mountain dialect and wonderfully spontaneous style. CD-15 - LAWRENCE OLDER - Adirondack Songs and Ballads sung by a man who grew up working in the lumber woods and who gathered songs from both his family and regional traditions. CD-22 and CD-23 - The Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC. Volume 1 presents the older traditional ballads and sacred songs; Volume 2 offers the later songs and hymns. These are sung by the mountain people of northwestern North Carolina, not by professional "singers of folksongs." I collected this material back in the early 1960s. CD-27 - GRANT ROGERS - Songmaker of the Catskills. Grant worked in construction during the depression (when he was working at all), then was a stone cutter in a granite quarry, but he was also a regional fiddler and songster, accompanying himself on the guitar. He made up songs, revised traditional songs to suit himself, and wrote tunes for poems he found in the old pulp adventure magazines. A real entertainer, hewn from the native Catskill rocks. CD-31 - ROSALIE SORRELS - "If I Could Be the Rain." To my prejudiced mind, the best recording Rosalie ever made. That night in the mid 1960s when we sang all night in her Salt Lake City living room, Utah Phillips explained "I write 'em, and Rosalie sings 'em!" Here are songs by Rosalie, herself, by Utah, and a couple that combine the genius of them both -- Utah's words, Rosalie's tunes. There's even a poem by Verlaine, set to music by Rosalie. Mitch Greenhill provides some outstanding lead guitar, too. CD-34 - NORMAN KENNEDY - Songs and ballads of Scotland. We met Norman when we were collecting in Scotland in 1958, but this recording was made after Mike Seeger brought Norman to the US sing at Newport. We whisked him up to our home (then) in Vermont and recorded a slew of songs and ballads, 16 of which are included here. All unaccompanied, in the rich traditional style of his native Aberdeenshire. CD-35 - MICHAEL COONEY - "The Cheese Stands Alone." This was Michael's first recording, and it's as vital today as it was when it was first released. Don't miss his preformance of Malvina Reynolds' "The Bankers and the Diplomats are Going in the Army," unfortunately as necessary today as it was then. CD-46 - ED TRICKETT - "The Telling Takes Me Home." This is my personal favorite of all of Ed's recordings. Great songs, gently and thoughtfully presented, with Harry Tuft of Denver adding neat harmonies on many of them. CD-47 - JIM RINGER - "Waitin' for the Hard Times to Go." I am assuming than many of you are familiar with Jim's music. His family was blown out of Arkansas in the Dust Bowl, landed in Fresno where Jim grew up making country music until he discovered the folk world. Mary McCaslin, Jon Wilcox, Jay Ungar, and others help out on this one. Utah Phillips songs, along with others by Jean Ritchie, John Prine, etc., the title song by Jim, plus traditional songs from his family's Ozark heritage. CD-50 - HELEN SCHNEYER - "Ballads, Broadsides & Hymns." One of the most powerful singers in our folk community, Helen is joined here by her daughter, Riki, Jonathan Eberhart, Cathy Fink, and others, in a program of classic ballads like "Sheath and Knife," broadsides like "The Mines of Avondale," and hymns like "I Will Guide Thee." You may have heard Helen on The Prairie Home Companion. CD-57 - KENDALL MORSE - "Lights Along the Shore." Our own defiant Mudcat Democrat and the former captain of a Fisheries inspection vessel, singing the songs that brought him together with his old friend Gordon Bok, who actually recorded this one up there on the rocky coast of maine. For awhile, Kendall thought he and Gordon were the only ones in the country still singing folksongs! He's found a few others, since. CD-58 - JOE HICKERSON - "Drive Dull Care Away, Vol. 1." The (now retired) head of the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress, joined by a goodly number of his singing friends, in a two volume collection of splendid songs. CD-59 - JOE HICKERSON - "Drive Dull Care Away, Vol. 2." The second CD of the set - but they're available separately for those who who share our chronic cash shortage. CD-64 - ED TRICKETT - "Gently Down the Stream of Time." Ed's collection of songs reflecting the cycle of life - childhood, youthful rebellion, the coming of age, maturity, and finally old age. Sung with help from Bob Coltman, Ruth Meyer Guffee, and others. CD-71 - IAN ROBB and Hang the Piper. A wonderful collection of songs and instrumentals by Ian, ably assisted by Grit Laskin, Seamus McGuire, and others. You may have read some of Ian's columns in SING OUT! He's a superb ballad singer, raised in England of Scottish parentage, now living in Ottawa, Canada. CD-76 - POWDER RIVER - Ron Kane and Skip Gorman, both members of Utah's Deseret String Band at one time, in a program of western songs and tunes. Brilliant fiddling in the real western style, and darned good songs, too. CD-77 - JERRY RASMUSSEN - "Get Down Home." Jerry's first recording (his second will be coming on CD soon) of a bunch of his fine original songs and a couple of traditional ones to boot. Most of you have gotten to know him through the Mudcat. CD-78 - "Humours of Lissadell." Superb Sligo fiddling by two brothers (both pediatricians!) who fiddle solo and in duets that are like a single fiddle in two parts. Jigs, reels, and slow airs that can break your heart. CD-79 - CAPTAIN KENDALL MORSE - "Seagulls and Summer People." Authentic Maine humor by a man who doesn't have to fake the accent - he's the real article. Recorded here in our own living room (when Kendall first saw it, he remarked "My God! This room is as big as some states!" -- it used to be the hay loft of a large dairy barn -- Art can describe it for you -- but it's hell to heat!) with an invited audience that adds contagious laughter all the way through the series of outrageous stories. Warning! Some of 'em are a wee bit salty, but only prudes could object. CD-85 - HELEN SCHNEYER - "On the Hallelujah Line." A great collection of lesser known hymns sung in Helen's powerful style, with backing by Riki, Jonathan, and many others. CD-86 - SHARON MOUNTAIN HARMONY - "A Golden Ring of Gospel." Lucy Simpson, Rock Creek (Wally Macnow, Tom McHenry & Bill Destler), Peter and Mary Alice Amadon, and my wife Caroline singing gospel songs from both Anglo and African American musical traditions. Not commercial country gospel dtuff, just good friends sharing some of the hymns they love. CD-87 - PAUL VAN ARSDALE - "Dulcimer Heritage." Paul is the finest hammered dulcimer player I've ever heard, bar none. He lives in western New York State, worked as a machinist all of his working life, learned his instrument and his repertoire from his grandfather (who was invited to play for Henry Ford, back when Ford was trying to save America's popular music from African influences - Hah!). Paul is amazing. He just sits there, calm as if he were in front of his own fireplace, hands a-flying, and out come some of the neatest riffs you could imagine. Old tunes from colonial times, and more recent ones like Clarinet Polka." John McCutcheon provides some guitar backing, as does Paul's son, but the hammered dulcimer is the star here, played by a true master. CD-92 - ED TRICKETT - "People Like You." Another fine album from Ed, backed by Cathy Barton, Dave Para, and Bob Coltman. CD-93 - CLIFF HASLAM - "The Clockwinder." Cliff hails from Manchester, England, sings many rousing and a few tender songs from his native shores in a voice that used to fill the halls at the Eisteddfod in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Cliff now lives in Connecticut, works as an expeert machinist, and has been a musical fixture at the Griswold Inn for years. This was recorded by Gordon Bok, who backs Cliff here, along with folks like Nick Apollonio and Bob Stewart. CD-100 - SANDY and CAROLINE PATON - "New Harmony." No, the harmonies aren't particularly new, that's the name of the Craig Johnson song that opens the program. What can I say about this one? Well, it includes some good songs and comes with a booklet of all the words, making them easier for you all to learn. Fair enough? Cathy Barton, Dave Para, Ed Trickett, Gordon Bok, and our two sons (David and Robin) fill in the vocal gaps and add some neat instrumental backing, too. CD-107 - CATHY BARTON & DAVE PARA - "On a Day Like Today." If you don't know the music of this Missouri couple, you really are missing something special. Good songs, good singing, backed by Cathy's superb banjo and hammered dulcimer and Dave's rock solid guitar. We love these guys!
And that's the list for now. More of a pitch than one ought to put up on the Mudcat, but I was asked to do it, and so... well, here it is. For those who are offended by it, I apologize, but remember -- if you order any of these through the Mudcat, we offer a wee bit of the take to Max. Just mention the 'Cat when you call.