Roscoe Holcomb - March 26th, 1971

1. Swannanoa Mountain

2. Down South Blues

3. Single Girl

4. Rose Connelly

5. Black-Eyed Susie

6. Black Bottom Blues

7. Hook and String

8. Graveyard Blues

9. Across the Rocky Mountains

10. On Top of Old Smokey

So here is some rare shit. Not even OOP, this reel was NIP (never in print). This is a recording made in 1971 by Lee Knight at Holcomb's home in Daisy, Perry County, Kentucky that sits as a reel-to-reel in Berea College's archives. Thanks to the Digital Library of Appalachia for making this available. While the files are of decent quality (what can you expect from an informal field recording?) the music is amazing and feature's Holcomb's haunting vocals along with incredible self- accompaniment, mostly on banjo. There is some talk between tunes (whered you learn that?...etc) that I always love with these recordings.

If you've never listened to Roscoe Holcomb, start here but be sure and check out his extensive recordings on Folkways to get a clearer image of the man that embodied the high, lonesome sound. In describing the man's music, Ralph Stanley may have said it best : "you could feel the smell of woodsmoke in that voice."