We’ve always loved the Delmore Brothers. Despite the country hick image imposed on them by radio and record producers, the Delmores were sophisticated songwriters and musicians who infused country music with swing, blues and jazz elements.

Neil learned this from Stu Jamieson’s Boys on the old Electra album The String Band Project. They got the tune from Rufus Crisp who recorded it in Kentucky in 1946 for the Library of Congress.

We learned this classic bluegrass duet from the Lilly Brothers during our forays to Boston’s notorious Hillbilly Ranch. It was recorded in a jazzier version by the Prairie Ramblers.

Neil first heard this wonderful Bruce Phillips ballad on a recording by Flatt and Scruggs.

We learned this from an old Uncle Dave Macon record. "Johnny Grey" comes from a much older song called "Peter Gray." The fiddler is always noted as "unknown" in discographies, but to Neil’s ear it sounds like Sid Harkreader. The title "Dog in the Rye Straw" was gussied up for genteel sensibilities; the original was "Dog Shit a Rye Straw."

We learned this from the singing of Red Allen. It was a mainstay of the Charles River Valley Boys’ sets at the Club 47. It’s actually an old song that was collected in the Ozarks and has been recorded by Jimmy Wakely, Roy Acuff, the Delmore Brothers, Fiddling Arthur Smith, and even Rosemary Clooney!

There’s an ongoing argument about which of them wrote what in this song, but regardless— how’s that for a songwriting team?

Learned from Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers. The earliest recorded version is Arthur Collins’ 1906 cylinder recording. Poole recycled a lot of popular tunes from the early part of the 20th century. In fact, Poole’s musical heroes were classical banjo players like Fred Van Epps and Vess Ossman; you can hear echoes of their styles in his playing. This tune was written by famous Tin Pan Alley songwriters Andrew Sterling and Harry von Tilzer.

Recorded in the 1920s by Dad Blackard’s Moonshiners and the Blue Ridge Highballers. Neil learned this out of standard G tuning; Tom, being contrary, plays it out of F (fCFCD). He capos up 2 frets so we can twin it.

When Neil first heard this on a recording by the Nashville Bluegrass Band, it stopped him in his tracks, and his gut reaction was "Whoever wrote this really understood how ordinary people felt about Jimmie Rodgers."

From a 1937 recording by the Carter Family, who did it in a call-and-response style. We learned this from the New Lost City Ramblers and from the great Hazel Dickens.

From the lugubrious duo G.B. Grayson and Henry Whitter, who recorded it in the late ‘20’s. Grayson, who was blind, made his living busking and preaching throughout the mountains. He was given to moralizing during instrumental interludes, as in this song: "Take warning, girls, never marry a drunkard!"

The Delmore Brothers’ first bona fide hit, in 1933. They later used the name for their famous quartet with Merle Travis and Grandpa Jones, The Browns Ferry Four.

Neil first heard this on a 78 by Taylor’s Kentucky Boys, a white string band that featured a black fiddler, Jim Booker.

One of the wonderful bands we saw at the Club 47 was the Double Standard String Band, a zany, ragtag conglomeration from Providence, RI. Legend has it that banjo player Les Daniels, who led the band, would do a heartfelt monologue about how they had been trying to record an album, but they’d only been able to save enough money to print the album jackets. So they sold the jackets! They went to the Salvation Army store, bought used Mantovani and Patti Page records (for a dime apiece!) and put those in the jackets "so you, our fans, will know what it will look like and feel like when it’s done." Les wrote many tunes with Martin Mull, including this sentimental tribute to Martin’s hometown.

Recorded in the late ‘20s by Jim Jackson. Tom learned this from Geoff Muldaur, one of the mainstays of the Cambridge folk scene back when drafts were 35 cents at the Oxford Grille, and we were learning to play.

Recorded by the Bently Boys in Johnson City, TN, in 1929. Eager to capitalize on the success of Fiddlin’ John Carson’s 1923 recording of Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane," record companies rushed to record rural bands like this group of unknown musicians. The hard life of a sharecropper was a recurring theme in old-time music.

Terry Fell had a big hit with this song in 1954, launching an entire genre of truck drivin’ country music. It’s been recorded over the years by Jimmy Martin, Red Steagall, and Dave Dudley.

We heard this first from the singing of Bob Siggins at the Club 47. Bob learned it from a 1959 King recording by Grandpa Jones.

A classic Jimmy Martin song from the late ‘50s. Originally recorded by honky-tonk singer Freddie Hart.

We fell in love with gospel music at the Newport Folk Festivals of the mid ‘60s: the Swan Silvertones, the Dixie Hummingbirds, Bessie Jones, Joseph Spence, Roscoe Holcomb, the Chambers Brothers—just astonishing stuff. The bluegrass bands like Jim and Jesse and the Stanley Brothers added their own gospel songs to the mix at these amazing festivals. This is Tom’s favorite gospel song. It was written by Charles Moody, a shape note singer and a member of the Georgia Yellow Hammers string band.

This old tune was included in George P. Knauff’s1839 tunebook "Virginia Reels." We recorded this cut with Jay Ungar in 1974. Tom found the tape in his barn as we were finishing this album, so we decided to include it for old time’s sake.