50 Years: Where Do You Come From? Where Do You Go?

New Lost City Ramblers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 25, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Smithsonian/Folkways
• ASIN: B002F3BPPO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,793 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Kingpins of the American folksong revival, the New Lost City Ramblers were both "rear guard" and avant-garde. They looked backward in time to the geniuses of American folk music tradition, mastering and emulating their sounds, sensibilities, and syntax. No urban folk music performer could claim more of a connection to and admiration for fountainheads of folk artistry such as Dock Boggs, Roscoe Holcomb, Elizabeth Cotten, Frank Proffitt, Eck Robertson, and many others. They constantly credited them in their performances and paid them the highest form of compliment in their emulation. At the same time, their music was far from a pale imitation of others. They were masters of the idiom they revered, leaving their own stamp on their music.

Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley launched the group in 1958, recording nine albums in their first four years. When in 1962 Yale-trained mathematician Paley moved on, Tracy Schwarz joined to complete the trio, appearing on their next seven albums and over two decades of active performing. The Ramblers appeared at pinnacle performance venues that featured American counter-culture's swelling folk music wave, including Carnegie Hall, the University of Chicago Folk Festival, and the Newport Folk Festival. They were pivotal as much to the folk revival as to the "folk arrival"--creating spaces in urban concert halls for the rural, source musicians they came to know through their many fieldwork pilgrimages to Appalachia and beyond. This trilogy spans the core of New Lost City Rambler accomplishment and is framed by the deeply knowledgeable and elegant writings of folk music savants Jon Pankake and Ray Allen. As a whole, it captures a clear glimpse of the breadth and depth of the Rambler legacy and its enduring importance to the American story.

Product Description

Collectively known as the New Lost City Ramblers, Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley were pioneers in the revival of southern mountain music during the folk music revival of the late 1950s and 1960s. They brought the sounds of genuine old-time string band music and early bluegrass to eager city and college audiences who had grown disillusioned with the commercial pap of the folk boom. 79 tracks, 3 CDs, each with its own booklet of extensive notes, more than three hours of music!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun summary, February 5, 2010

By 

Jonathan Brown (Fair Oaks,, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 50 Years: Where Do You Come From? Where Do You Go? (Audio CD)

The NLCR were a premier group of old time musicians. This is a retrospective album in two parts. The first is a great collection from many of the NLCR albums. The second part has a wonderful collection of influences. So for example, if you like the instrumental Colored Aristocracy, you can here NLCRs play it and then the Rich Family. When I was first starting to play the five string and autoharp, the NLCR were great influences. I met them at one UCLA folk festival and in between sessions they were generous with tips and jamming. So I have always had a good feeling about them. This is well worth the price.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great compilation, January 24, 2011

By 

Renie (Bennett, NC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 50 Years: Where Do You Come From? Where Do You Go? (Audio CD)

A great set, includes not only the Ramblers, but other old-time artists that they appeared with, or were influenced by. I particularly enjoyed "Cousin Emmy's" 'Bowling Green' rendition.