Folk Songs Of Our Land - Flatt & Scruggs (1962)

Ideated from: the year in music, 1962

The origins of bluegrass fascinate me, but I have yet to learn as much as I’d like. The movement towards more dedicated musicianship mixed with the increasing interest of the marketplace in traditional American song, And Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were at the forefront of it.

Here we get a bunch of originals mixed with tunes from the Carter Family, Woody Guthrie, and Merle Travis. Excellent playing throughout, with immaculate vocals and harmonies.

This was apparently the year they recorded the theme song for Beverly Hillbillies, but mercifully the music industry’s vertical integration days were a ways off and it didn’t make the record.

Tracks I Liked

George Alley’s F.F.V. - The only things I really know about trains are from the hyper-technical details in country songs.

Sun’s Gonna Shine In My Back Door Some Day - sunny and hopeful

Life Of Trouble - gorgeous western balladry

Nine Pound Hammer - A great banjo workout for Scruggs. Also, making your gravestone out of coal seems like it would be a really bad idea.

McKinley’s Gone - A song about the 1901 McKinley assassination, not one you hear a lot about.