Folk Songs of the Hills
Folk Songs of the Hills | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1947 | |||
Recorded | 1946 | |||
Genre | Traditional, country, Americana, bluegrass | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | Lee Gillette | |||
Merle Travis chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Folk Songs of the Hills is a 1947 album by American singer
Folk Songs of the Hills is widely regarded as one of Travis' finest achievements. A seminal work in his career, it brought him fame as an interpreter of traditional
History
In 1944, Merle Travis moved to
As the American folk music revival gathered steam in the 1950s, the album was incorporated into an LP entitled Back Home (Capitol Records T-891, 1957), adding four more tracks from electrical transcriptions made earlier by Travis in the same style for radio broadcast. Its first appearance on CD was as a remastered reissue by Bear Family Records 1993, including all 12 songs in Back Home, where it was coupled with the thematically related 1963 Capitol LP Songs of the Coal Mines.[5] The latest reissue to date is Capitol's own remastered CD of 1996 (Capitol Vintage 35810), reprising all songs from Back Home as well as a further track dating from the 1940s, "This World Is Not My Home".[6]
Track listing
- "Nine Pound Hammer" (Traditional)
- "John Henry" (Traditional)
- "Sixteen Tons" (Travis)
- "Dark as a Dungeon" (Travis)
- "That's All" (Travis)
- "Over by Number Nine" (Travis)
- "I Am a Pilgrim" (Traditional)
- "Muskrat" (Traditional)
Personnel
- Merle Travis โ vocals and acoustic guitar
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ "National Recording Registry Reaches 500". Library of Congress. March 21, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ The original recording of "Muskrat" was replaced by a second take made in April, 1947
- ^ Rare Performances 1946โ1981, Vestapol 1994; More Rare Performances 1946โ1981, Vestapol, 2003
- ^ Album review by Bruce Eder, Allmusic
- ^ Album review by Richie Unterberger, Allmusic Review