High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina

High Atmosphere | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 21, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rounder Select
• ASIN: B0000002CS
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,899 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whether just starting, or a long-time fan. Excellence!, March 14, 2003

By 

Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina (Audio CD)

A few years ago I had lofty dreams of writing a ton of jazz reviews in helps of hoping people during the renewed interest in jazz that was temporarily caused by Ken Burns' documentary. Then a couple years ago I had more lofty dreams of writing a ton of pre-bluegrass mountain music reviews in the wake of the interest caused by O' Brother Where Art Thou. In both cases I never really got around to it and the moment passed, but here I am now writing some reviews for the music of the upland South. Better late than never.

Quite simply, I love this collection of tunes recorded in the field by John Cohen in Virginia and North Carolina in 1965. This is one of the best single discs of mountain tunes you can buy. Great performances, recording quality, and variety. Whether we're talking about the craggly, worn-out sound of George Landers voice or the heavenly bliss of Wade Ward's solo banjo version of Shady Grove, this is a masterful collection. Wade's Shady Grove is one of those things that I wish could go on for 10 uninterrupted minutes. Ditto for Gaither Carlton's Little Sadie.

With E.C. Ball's version of Pretty Polly we are given one of the least menacing versions of this tune ever recorded, but he's doing something on the guitar that gives the effect of having sympathetic strings. It makes for an odd effect. If I knew Hindustani guitar master, Debashish Bhattacharya, I'd certainly play this track for him just to see his reaction.

With 33 tracks, most of them great, I could be here all day giving a track-by-track rundown, but no one wants to read that and it'd take a long time for me to write it. However, no review of this disc could be complete without dumping a ton of praise on Lloyd Chandler's heart-stopping, bone-chilling version of Conversation With Death. This is what the music of the hills is all about. This is one of the definitive "solo vocal" mountain recordings ever, in my opinion. Four minutes of freeze-you-in-your-tracks soulful, tortured perfection.

On this disc you get everyone from Sidna Myers to Dellie Norton to Dillard Chandler to Wade Ward, plus everyone mentioned above. The bottom line is that you should own this disc. If you found this disc then you're obviously interested in this sort of thing, and if you are, you will not be disappointed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, September 28, 2007

By 

Ryan McNabb (Ooltewah, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina (Audio CD)

This is, quite simply, one of the finest recordings ever put out of authentic Appalachian rural music. It's my personal number one favorite of all, but that's just my opinion. Irregardless, it's one of the top five on probably anyone's list. It's difficult to know what to call this music - it's not bluegrass, it's not folk, is it old time? Well, this is old time before anyone used the phrase. This is the germ, the center, the core. In my opinion, all other old time recordings flow out from here. Get this, then get "Mountain Music of Kentucky", and go from there. This album flipped all the lights on for me and permanently changed the way I look at music: not as something done for idle entertainment, but as a gush of blood that comes out of the soul.

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best compilation of Appalachian music out there, December 15, 2011

By 

Carson_ F - See all my reviews

This review is from: High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina (Audio CD)

Having grown up in the Appalachian mountains of southwest Virginia, I can honestly say that this is the best compilation of the music from , north western North Carolina, and southwest Virginia. It has a good mix of purely vocal songs, to just instrumental arrangements. If you've never listened to this style of music, this is an excellent first album to purchase. If you find you like it, it will surely wet your appetite. If you're already an avid listener, and don't have this album, it will be one of the best additions to your collection. Some other good albums you might think about buying are the Folkway years albums from Doc Boggs, he's another good example of music from southwest Virginia. Then there's, An Untamed Sense of Control, by Roscoe Holcomb, and the compilation Mountain Music of Kentucky. The last two is music from Kentucky, so it's slightly different. But if you like this kind of music, you'll like them.