American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 2 [2003]

by Pete Seeger

Overview

In 1957, Folkways Records released Pete Seeger's American Favorite Ballads, his renditions of some of the better-known songs in the traditional folk repertoire. Of course, the selection was far from exhaustive, so in 1958 Folkways followed with this second volume. Seeger draws from many different sources, beginning with Stephen Foster's "Oh, Susanna!," which is old enough to be considered a folk song. Tunes like "Sally Ann," "Shenandoah," and "Careless Love" have country & western origins. Naturally, Seeger looks to his two major mentors, Woody Guthrie for "Hard Traveling," and particularly Lead Belly. Taking up the 12-string guitar, Lead Belly's instrument, Seeger presents his own versions of "Midnight Special," "Black Girl," and "Alabama Bound," played as Lead Belly would. ("Midnight Special" even gets an extra verse referring to him.) While some of the performances are loud and boisterous, Seeger gives "Shenandoah" a nearly a cappella treatment, only occasionally using a banjo chord, and he sings "Black Is the Color" unaccompanied. Thus, the album has considerable variety in terms of the type of material and the approach Seeger takes. Of course, there's still plenty more where these came from. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	06/24/2003
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074015124
Rank:	175402

Tracks

1. Barbara Allen
2. Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn
3. Midnight Special
4. House of the Rising Sun
5. Careless Love
6. Oh, What a Beautiful City
7. Poor Boy
8. Sally Ann
9. The Riddle Song
10. Go Tell Aunt Rhody
11. The Water Is Wide
12. The Fox
13. The Keeper and the Doe
14. Pretty Polly
15. Jesse James
16. Stagolee
17. Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair
18. Camptown Races
19. Blow the Man Down
20. Froggie Went A-Courtin'
21. I Had a Rooster (Barnyard Song)
22. Putting on the Style
23. The Farmer's Curst Wife
24. Hard Travelin'
25. Alabama Bound
26. Wimoweh
27. Dink's Song

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Pete Seeger   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar (12 String),Banjo,Guitar

Technical Credits

Guy Logsdon   Liner Notes,Annotation
Woody Guthrie   Composer
Alan Lomax   Composer
Dan Sheehy   Production Supervisor
Fred Hellerman   Composer
Jeff Place   Annotation,Liner Notes
John Hurt   Composer
John Jacob Niles   Arranger
Lee Hays   Composer
Public Domain   Composer
Martha E. Koenig   Composer
Solomon Linda   Composer
Bess Lomax   Arranger
Margot Nassau   Licensing
Mary Monseur   Production Coordination
Carla Borden   Editing
David Gahr   Cover Photo
Peter Seitel   Editing
Norman van der Sluys   Assistant Engineer
Stephanie Smith   Archivist
Jean-Jacques Rousseau   Arranger
Pete Seeger   Composer,Liner Notes
Pete Reiniger   Mastering
Marion Hicks   Arranger
Huddie Ledbetter   Arranger,Composer
Ronnie Gilbert   Composer
Ronnie Simpkins   Audio Supervisor
Ralph Rinzler   Archivist,Liner Notes
Mississippi John Hurt   Composer
Moses Asch   Engineer
Spencer Williams   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Lead Belly   Composer
Stephen Foster   Composer
W.C. Handy   Composer
John A. Lomax   Arranger,Composer