This guidebook makes for wonderful company when traveling The Crooked Road. Written by Joe Wilson, former Executive Director and Chairman of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, it paints a wonderful portrait of one of the most musical places on earth, and of the musicians, past and present, who have made it that way. Included with the book are two CD recordings of historic and current music from The Crooked Road including Old Time, Bluegrass, Piedmont Blues, Anglo-American Ballads, and Appalachian Gospel music.
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A Guide to the Crooked Road
A Guide to the Crooked Road
Bright Morning Star(Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys)Ralph Stanley's later career focused on a hard-edged traditional mountain music with rich emotional overtones. Here he is joined by Roy Lee Centers, Jack Cooke, Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley.
Turn Back, Turn Back(The Mullins Family)This group, centered in Clintwood, performs a family-based singing style with roots in the Church of the Brethren and the Freewill Baptists that go back to colonial times. Scott Mullins, grandson of the founders, is still performing.
White Dove(Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys)Recorded five years after the song's author and longtime Stanley Brothers performer Carter Stanley passed away, this was a live performance in Tokyo. Roy Lee Centers is lead singer.
Leaving Grayson(Stevie Barr)Stevie Barr has played banjo since he was five. He teaches, plays and works at his father's music store in Galax, Barr's Fiddle Shop.
The Devil's Dream(Hobart Smith)Usually known as 'John Brown's Dream,' this tune is played by Hobart Smith, who performed on fiddle, banjo, piano and guitar, part of a gifted family from Smyth County.
Dry Hill(Dry Hill Draggers)This original tune was recorded by this energetic Old Time dance band at the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival at Ferrum College.
New East Virginia Blues(No Speed Limit)Musicians Josh Pickett on guitar, Ryan Blevins on mandolin, Jacob Eller on bass, Amber Collins on vocals and Stevie Barr on banjo.
Cousin Sally Brown(Sweet Brothers)Herbert Sweet (fiddle and vocal) and Earl Sweet (banjo) were favorite dance musicians in the Damascus area. Ernest V. Stoneman of Galax accompanies on guitar; he would go on to form a nationally famous family band.
Rocky Mountain Shout(Rabbit Muse)Muse worked for a time as the opening act for Reno & Smiley's bluegrass band. This tune combines 'Cincinnati Shout' with the minstrel-era romp called 'Traveling Man.'
Sugar Hill(Crockett Ward & His Boys)Davy Crockett Ward on fiddle plays a string-band standard with sons Sampson on banjo, Fields on guitar and vocal, and Curran on autoharp
Fishers' Hornpipe(Wyatt Rice)Wyatt Rice on guitar joins Rickie Simpkins on fiddle, Sammy Shelor on banjo, Ray Legere on mandolin and Ron Rice on bass in this very old Scottish tune.
Granny Will Your Dog Bite?(Floyd County Ramblers)Banks McNeil is on fiddle, Walter Boone on harmonica, Sam McNeil on banjo, and John Willie Boone on guitar.
Breaking Up Christmas(Eddie Bond, Kirk Sutphin, Wayne Henderson & Herb Key)Classic Old Time tune played by Eddie Bond (fiddle and vocal), Kirk Sutphin (banjo), Wayne Henderson (guitar) and Herb Key (bass).
Deep Settled Peace(Kay Justice and Ginny Hawker)Kay Justice of Abingdon and her friend Ginny Hawker sing a song composed by Kate Peters Sturgill of Norton, a cousin of A.P. Carter.
Old Jake Gillie(Korn Kutters)Another band with a special Floyd County sound: Ivan Weedle on fiddle, George Slusher on harmonica, and Willard Clower on banjo.
Charlie, He's A Good Man(Kelly Harrell)Kelly Harrell, a mill hand from Fries, sings a play-party song with a string band.
Better Farther On(Chestnut Grove Quartet)Bill Nunley, Jim Nunley, Gale Webb and Ray Roe originally performed together as a string band, but after three of the four served in World War II, they became an a capella gospel quartet, appearing on Abingdon radio and in churches in Moccasin and Brumley
Big Ball In Boston(Kenny & Amanda Smith Band)Kenny Smith plays guitar, Amanda Smith sings, and they are accompanied by Ron Inscore, Greg Martin and Steve Huber.
Half Shaved(Wade Ward)Wade Ward (banjo) was born in 1892, played at local auctions and with the original Bogtrotters band.
Something Got Holt Of Me(Curly King)Curly King was featured daily on WCYB radio in the '40s and '50s. He is joined on the recording by Don Cambell on lap steel and vocal.
Suzanna Gal(Dad Blackard's Moonshiners)Recorded by Ralph Peer for the Victor Talking Machine Company in Bristol. Musicians are Joe Blackard (banjo and voice), Clarice Blackard Shelor (piano and harmony), and Pyrhus and Jesse Shelor (fiddle).
Short Life Of Trouble(G. B. Grayson & Henry Whitter)Grayson, a nearly blind fiddler, singer and song keeper from just south of Damascus, plays with Henry Whitter on guitar in a recording made in New York City in 1928.
Johnson Boys(Grant Brothers)Jack Grant (banjo), Claude Grant (guitar) and Jack Pierce (fiddle) play a song about the Civil War.
Darling Child(Sammy Shelor & Kirk Sutphin)Sammy Sutphin, grandson of Joe Blackard and nephew of Clarice Blackard Shelor, plays banjo as Kirk Sutphin plays fiddle and fretless banjo.
Doc Harris' Hornpipe(Jimmy Arnold)A native of Fries, Jimmy Arnold was an artist with extraordinary gifts and great charm who lived a tragically short life.
Taking The Crooked Road Home(Linda Lay and Sammy Shelor)Linda Lay (lead vocal and bass), Sammy Shelor (banjo and harmony vocal), David Lay (guitar and harmony vocal), Ron Stewart (fiddle) and David McLaughlin (mandolin) perform a song written by Dixie and Tom T. Hall of Scott County.
Liberty(Richard Bowman Family)Fiddler Richard Bowman performs with his daughter Marsha on clawhammer banjo, wife Barbara on bass, and several friends and neighbors.
Old Molly Hare(Haywood Blevins)Haywood Blevins was a piano tuner and player who lived near the New River at the Virginia-North Carolina border.
Mid The Green Fields of Virginia(The Carter Family)A. P. Carter, his wife Sara and his sister-in-law Maybelle grew up in Scott County and took the music they'd collected and remembered to Bristol where Ralph Peer recorded it in the Bristol Sessions.
A Few More Years(James King and Longview)King performs with Dudley Connell on guitar, Marshal Wilborn on bass, Joe Mullins on banjo, Don Rigsby on mandolin, and Glen Duncan on fiddle.
Larry's Song(Big Country Bluegrass)Farewell song for the band's late banjoist, Larry Pennington. Vocal lead by Jimmy Trivette, with Teresa Sells, Tim Lewis, Tommy Sells, Billy Hawks and Alan Mastin.
Mother's Bible(The Good Shepherd Quartet)James Hartsock, David Fannon, Jim Clark and Richard Mooney of Pennington Gap form one of the most active gospel quartets in Southwest Virginia.
Baptist Shout(Frank Jenkins)Jenkins plays banjo in a style later to be called 'bluegrass,' recorded at least a generation before bluegrass music was popularized.
Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind(Frank Blevins and His Tar Heel Rattlers)Born in Smyth County, Frank Blevins participated in the famous 1930s Whitetop Mountain Folk Festivals. He plays fiddle on this tune from black traditions, with Fred Miller on tenor banjo and his brother Edd Blevins on guitar.
Barnyard Dance(Martin, Bogan and Armstrong)Carl Martin and his blind brother Roland grew up in Big Stone Gap, among the 13 children of Fiddling Martin, a stonemason and black string band performer of great skill, and they first recorded in 1930. Here Carl Martin is on mandolin and vocal, Ted Bogan
The House Carpenter(Abe Horton)Singing an ancient British ballad accompanied by banjo, Horton lived in the Coal Creek community.
Home Sweet Home(E. C. and Orna Ball)E.C. and Orna Ball performed weekly on mountain radio stations and at fiddlers conventions for 35 years. E.C. Played guitar while his wife Orna played banjo, guitar, accordion and reed organ.
False Hearted Lover(Dock Boggs)Boggs told of learning music from a blue-eyed black man in Norton, and the African-American blues influence is obvious in this song. He recorded on the Lonesome Ace label.
Speak to Me Little Darling(Ted Lundy with Bob Paisley and the Southern Mountain Boys)Ted and cousin Jerry Lundy play fiddle, accompanied by Don Eldreth, Wes Rineer and Don Baer.
A Rake And A Rambling Boy(Albert Hash and the Whitetop Mountain Band)Thornton Spencer plays fiddle as his wife Emily sings and plays guitar. Flurry Dowe plays banjo and Tom Barr plays bass. The band was founded by fiddler, violinmaker and native genius Albert Hash.
Swing Down That Chariot(Cooke Duet)Hubert and Janette Cooke, the original husband-wife duet, have added their children, performing now as the Cooke Family. Hubert's brother Jack was the longtime bass player for Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys.
Sail Away Ladies(Bonnie Russell & Russell Family)Roscoe Russell married into the musically prolific Melton family, and children Bonnie (dulcimer) and Roy (guitar) played with him on this classic melody. Roscoe opens with fingerpicking on a baritone ukelele.
The Farmer's Curst Wife(Horton Barker)A blind man and a compelling singer of old ballads, Horton Barker sang this song at the 1938 Whitetop Mountain Folk Festival. This is an abbreviated version of the song.
Blue Ridge Mountain Sunset(Jim and Jesse McReynolds)Jim and Jesse McReynolds began their career shortly after World War II and attracted to their band some of the most innovative players in the bluegrass genre. Jim is deceased, but Jesse continues to perform. He wrote this song.
Love Of The Mountains(The Lost and Found)A top bluegrass band for over 30 years, the Lost and Found toured nationally. This song is written and sung by bandleader Allen Mills. Other band members at the time were Demsey Young, Gene Parker, and Roger Handy.
Wildwood Flower(Kilby Snow)Kilby Snow plays autoharp, accompanied by David Reed on guitar, in this Carter Family classic.
Boating Up The Sandy River(Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters)Recorded in New York City in 1927, Charlie Bowman and Tony Alderman play fiddle, Jack Reedy plays banjo, Elbert Bowman plays guitar, and John Hopkins plays banjo-uke.
Beans And Cornbread(Wayne Henderson)Famed maker of guitars, guitar picker and story teller, Wayne Henderson told this story while on tour in California.
Old Time Fire In The Mountain(Sam Connor & Dent Wimmer)Connor plays classic Old Time style; Wimmer plays a highly rhythmic style sometimes called 'knock down.'
Those Cruel Slavery Days(Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters)Dale Morris sings as Greg Hooven plays fiddle. Peco Watson, Dennnis Hall, Mike Brown and Dallas Hall also perform on this tune composed in 1876.
Arkansas Traveler(Wayne Henderson, Junior Daughtery, Red Rector, Don Stove, Edmond Beaudreau)Wayne Henderson (guitar), Junior Daughtery (fiddle), Red Rector (mandolin), Don Stover (banjo) and Edmond Beaudreau (bass) perform an 1820s tune for dancers in Chaing Mai, Thailand.
I Called My Baby Long Distance(Archie Edwards)Born in Union Hall in Franklin County, Edwards created a blues mecca at his barbershop in Washington, D. C. He wrote this song.
