AMG Review of Mountain Music of Kentucky

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

In 1959, John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers made field recordings in the mountains of Kentucky of Appalachian folk performers who were virtually unknown to the record-buying public. This is no-nonsense, sometimes raw stuff, with fiddlers, banjos, a cappella singers, and Baptist church choirs presenting folk standards, blues-influenced numbers, stomping bluegrass, even the odd country song. It's got as much of the unadulterated American white folk feel as the older recordings on Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music box (to use a celebrated example), though the material here is of better fidelity. Although some of these artists would make other recordings, only Roscoe Holcomb -- the most passionate and arresting of them -- would gain anything like substantial recognition. This is too basic and unschooled, not to mention too long, to hold the attention of the average folk or bluegrass fan, but scholars and roots aficionados will value its no-frills authenticity. Originally issued as a single LP in 1960, the two-CD reissue adds an hour of previously unreleased material, and lengthy historical liner notes by John Cohen.