Occasionally, I’ve been asked to provide a list of albums for people that would like to familiarize themselves with Old Time Music. What follows is an incomplete and non-exhaustive list of some of my favorite recordings. It certainly isn’t everything, but it should make for a nice introduction…
Solo Musicians & Duos
Mike Seeger
- Old Time Country Music (Smithsonian Folkways) (1962)
- Mike Seeger (Vanguard) (1964)
- Tipple, Loom & Rail (Smithsonian Folkways) (1965)
- Music From True Vine (Mercury) (1972)
- The Second Annual Farewell Reunion (Mercury) (1973)
- Solo: Oldtime Country Music (Rounder) (1991)
- Third Annual Farewell Reunion (Rounder) (1994)
- Way Down in North Carolina (w/ Paul Brown) (Rounder) (1996)
- Southern Banjo Sounds (Smithsonian Folkways) (1998)
- True Vine (Smithsonian Folkways) (2003)
- Early Southern Guitar Sounds (Smithsonian Folkways) (2007)
Peggy & Mike Seeger
- Peggy ‘n’ Mike (Argo) (1966)
- American Folk Songs for Children (Rounder) (1977)
- Fly Down Little Bird (Appalseed) (2011)
Mike Seeger & Alice Gerrard
- Mike and Alice Seeger in Concert (King) (1971)
- Bowling Green (5-String Productions) (2008)
Peggy Seeger
- Folksongs of Courting and Complaint (Smithsonian Folkways) (1955)
- Animal Folksongs for Children (Smithsonian Folkways) (1957)
- Folksongs and Ballads (1957)
- A Song for You and Me (Prestige) (1962)
- The Best of Peggy Seeger (Prestige) (1963)
- Classic Peggy Seeger (Fellside) (1996)
- Heading For Home (Appalseed) (2003)
- Love Call Me Home (Appalseed) (2005)
- Three Score and Ten (Appalseed) (2007)
- Bring Me Home (Appalseed) (2008)
- Peggy Seeger Live (Appalseed) (2012)
Tom Paley & Peggy Seeger
- Who’s Going to Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot? (Topic) (1964)
Pete Seeger
- American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1-5 (Smithsonian Folkways) (1957-1962)
- The Complete Bowdoin College Concert 1960 (Smithsonian Folkways) (2011)
Hedy West
- Hedy West Vol. 1-2 (Vanguard) (1963-1964)
- Old Times & Hard Times: Ballads and Songs from the Appalachians (Topic) (1965)
- Pretty Saro and other Appalachian Ballads (Topic) (1966)
- Love, Hell and Biscuits (Bear Family) (1976)
- From Granmaw And Me (Fledg’ling Records) (2018)
- Untitled (Fledg’ling Records) (2019)
Hedy West & Bill Clifton
- Getting Folk out of the Country (Bear Family) (1974)
Cathy Fink
- Banjo Haiku (Community Music) (1992)
- Banjo Talkin’ (Rounder) (2007)
Kathy & Carol
- Kathy & Carol (Elektra) (1965)
- Keepsake (Hazelwood) (2010)
Maybelle Carter
- Mother Maybelle Carter (Columbia) (1973)
- Wildwood Pickin’ (Vanguard) (1997)
Maybelle & Sara Carter
- An Historic Reunion (Columbia) (1966)
Helen Carter
- This Is for You, Mama (Old Homestead) (1979)
Rayna Gellert
- Ways of the World (2000)
- Starch and Iron (2005)(w/ Susie Goehring)
Dan Gellert & Brad Leftwich
- A Moment In Time (Marimac Recordings) (1993)
Sally Rogers
- The Unclaimed Pint / In The Circle Of The Sun (Flying Fish) (1992)
- We’ll Pass Them On (Red House Records) (1995)
Howie Mitchell
- Howie Mitchell (Folk-Legacy) (1962)
Aubrey Atwater & Elwood Donnelly
- Where the Wild Birds Do Whistle (1997)
- Daily Growing: Aubrey Atwater Live in the Classroom (1999) (Aubrey Solo)
- The Blackest Crow (2004)
- The Weaver’s Bonny (2009)
- The World is Old Tonight (2016)
- The Boat You Row (2022)
The Horsenecks
- The Horsenecks (2015)
- Fiddlehead (2018)
- Started Out in Town (2020)
Fiddlin’ John Carson
Compilations available on Document Records:
- Fiddlin’ John Carson Vol 1 1923 – 1924
- Fiddlin’ John Carson Vol 2 1924 – 1925
- Fiddlin’ John Carson Vol 3 1925 – 1926
- Fiddlin’ John Carson Vol 4 1926 – 1927
- Fiddlin’ John Carson Vol 5 1927 – 1929
- Fiddlin’ John Carson Vol 6 1929 – 1930
- Fiddlin’ John Carson Vol 7 1930 – 1934
Groups / String Bands
The Carter Family
Compilations available on Rounder:
- Anchored in Love: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1927–1928)
- My Clinch Mountain Home: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1928–1929)
- When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1929–1930)
- Worried Man Blues: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1930)
- Sunshine in the Shadows: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1931–1932)
- Give Me the Roses While I Live: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1932–1933)
- Gold Watch and Chain: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1933–1934)
- Longing for Old Virginia: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1934)
- Last Sessions: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1934–1941)
Compilations available on Arhoolie/Smithsonian Folkways:
- On Border Radio, Vol. 1
- On Border Radio, Vol. 2
- On Border Radio, Vol. 3
The Seeger Family
- American Folk Songs Sung by the Seegers (Smithsonian Folkways) (1957)
- American Folk Songs for Christmas (Rounder) (1989)
- Animal Folk Songs for Children (Rounder) (1992)
The Skillet Lickers
Compilations available on Document Records
- The Skillet Lickers : Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 1: 1926-1927
- The Skillet Lickers : Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 2: 1927-1928
- The Skillet Lickers : Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 3: 1928-1929
- The Skillet Lickers : Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 4: 1929-1930
- The Skillet Lickers : Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 5: 1930-1934
- The Skillet Lickers : Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 6: 1934
The New Lost City Ramblers
Available on Smithsonian Folkways (unless otherwise noted)
- The New Lost City Ramblers (1958)
- Songs from the Depression (1959)
- Old-Timey Songs For Children (1959)
- The New Lost City Ramblers Vol. II (1960) (Folkways)
- The New Lost City Ramblers Vol. III (1961) (Folkways)
- Tom Paley, John Cohen, Mike Seeger Sing Songs of The New Lost City Ramblers (1961)
- The New Lost City Ramblers (1961)
- The New Lost City Ramblers Vol. 4 (1962) (Folkways)
- The New Lost City Ramblers Vol. 5 (1963) (Folkways)
- The New New Lost City Ramblers with Tracy Schwarz: Gone to the Country (1963)
- String Band Instrumentals (1964)
- Rural Delivery No. 1 (1965)
- Remembrance of Things to Come (1966)
- Modern Times (1968) (Folkways)
- The New Lost City Ramblers with Cousin Emmy (1968)
- On the Great Divide (1975)
- 20th Anniversary Concert (Flying Fish) (1978)
- 20 Years-Concert Performances (Flying Fish) (1978)
- Tom Paley, John Cohen, and Mike Seeger Sing Songs of the New Lost City Ramblers (1978)
- Old Time Music (Vanguard) (1994)
- The Early Years, 1958-1962 (1991)
- Out Standing In Their Field-Vol. II, 1963-1973 (1993)
- There Ain’t No Way Out (1997)
- 40 Years of Concert Performances (Rounder) (2001)
- 50 Years: Where Do You Come From? Where Do You Go? (2009)
Strange Creek Singers
- Strange Creek Singers (Arhoolie) (1972)
Highwoods Stringband
- Fire on the Mountain (Rounder) (1973)
- Dance All Night (Rounder) (1975)
Camp Creek Boys
- Old Time String Band (County) (1997)
Uncle Earl
- Going to the Western Slope (2004)
- Raise A Ruckus (2004)
- She Waits for Night (Rounder) (2005)
- Waterloo, Tn. (Rounder) (2007)
Compilations / Anthologies
Ballad Anthologies by Peggy Seeger & Ewan MacColl
- The Long Harvest Vol. 1-12 (Argo) (1966-1975; 2019)*
- Blood & Roses Vol. 1-5 (Blackthorn) (1978-1983)
*Argo did not issue Vol. 11-12, Seeger issued them on Bandcamp in 2019
Various Musicians
- Clawhammer Banjo Vol. 1-3 (County) (1965-1978)
- Masters of the Old Time Country Autoharp (Smithsonian Folkways) (2007)
- High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia (Rounder) (1995)
- Close to Home: Old Time Music from Mike Seeger’s Collection, 1952-1967 (Smithsonian Folkways) (1997)
Field Recorder’s Collective Recordings
- FRC 101 – Fred Cockerham (Ray Alden collection)
- FRC 107 – Esker Hutchins: Recordings from the collection of Ray Alden
- FRC 203 – Ola Belle Reed: Recordings from the collection of Ray Alden and the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music
- FRC 205 – Kilby Snow: Recordings from the collection of the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music
- FRC 211 – Tommy Jarrell Volume 1: Recordings from the collection of Jerry Epstein
- FRC 212 – Tommy Jarrell Volume 2: Recordings from the collection of Jerry Epstein
- FRC 407 – Franklin George: Recordings from the collection of Fred Coon
- FRC 502 – Marcus Martin: Recordings from the collection of Peter Hoover
- FRC 504 – Sidna and Fulton Myers: Recordings from the collection of Peter Hoover
- FRC 507 – Wade Ward: Banjo & Fiddle (Recordings from the collection of Peter Hoover)
- FRC 705 – Parley Parsons: Old Galax Fiddling (Andy Cahan & Paul Brown collections)
- FRC 723 – Lowe Stokes: Georgia Fiddler (Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music Collection)