Joy Joy!: The Young And Wonderful Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson, Riverside Folklore (Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 3, 1996)
• Original Release Date: December 3, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Riverside
• ASIN: B000000ZG8
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,992 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Joy Joy

2. Whoa Buck

3. This Train

4. Abilene

5. John Henry

6. Pastures of Plenty

7. Easy Rider

8. This Little Light

9. Money Is King

10. Ol' Bill

11. Titanic

12. The Virgin Mary Had One Son

13. A Wayfaring Stranger

14. Take This Hammer

15. Red Iron Ore

16. Brandy

17. Lula Gal

18. The Rejected Lover

19. Block Island Reel

20. Lost Jimmie Whalen

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE FORGOTTEN MAN OF THE FOLK REVIVAL IS MOST ASSUREDLY, October 25, 1999

By 

Cal Wilson (Fremont, California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joy Joy!: The Young And Wonderful Bob Gibson (Audio CD)

Bob Gibson. Before Dylan, before Paxton, before Hardin, there was Bob Gibson. He even preceded the Kingston Trio by several years, working the folk clubs of New York and Chcago in the mid-fifties. Much like Cisco Houston before him, perhaps Gibson never received the acclaim he well deserved because his voice was "too good" for folk music. The 27 renditions offered in this long-overdue emission were originally recorded from 1956 to 1959 and offer the listener an opportunity to hear the music played and sung the way its writers intended. Indeed Hudie Ledbetter, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and the other great folk song authors would not deny the purity of the songs offered here. From the title tune "Joy, Joy" and through such tracks as "Whoa Buck," "This Train," "Pastures Of Plenty," "Ol' Bill," "Take This Hammer," and all the rest Bob Gibson's lovely tenor, accompanied by his outstanding banjo and 12-string guitar work reveal an artist who should be hailed as one of the greatest folk singers of the last forty years. If you're into honest representations of traditional folk songs, this CD is a must!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every once in a while,, February 22, 2000

By 

Dr. Leslie Korshak (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joy Joy!: The Young And Wonderful Bob Gibson (Audio CD)

the great "they" out there, gets it right. This time, the good folks at Riverside, are the "they" and "right" is hardly, the word. This CD is perfect. It's one important, glorious, presentation of what will always remain young and wonderful and joyous. A celebration of a man who's music and passion was built upon by generations of future troubadors, while always remaining, singularly, unique. This one gem of a CD, in the treasure that is Bob Gibson's legacy, captures the soul as well as the genius of a man who cared only about finding, then singing, and most of all, sharing, America's tunes. His enormous, "Little Light" shines bright on "Wayfaring Stranger" - dazzles "Take this Hammer" and shatters the rock of "John Henry" and the "Red Iron Ore." Then it filters back softly when "Alberta" lets her hair hang down, becomming achingly, plaintive - pure to the point of pain, on the rarely heard jewel, that is "Brandy." And if there's ever been a better, sing-along-in- the-car-till-you're-horse-song, than "This Train" I haven't heard it. Thank you Ken Goldstein. Thank you, Riverside! As folklorists, you define the term. I'll just add, that Bobby used to get the biggest kick out of telling people that I knew his music better than he... And he was probably, right... Know it, love it, have it all - the published and the never heard, the 'diddles' the rehearsals, the duets, solos - the vocals and instrumentals of forty years alike. That being said, "Joy, joy! The young and wonderful Bob Gibson", is simply, unsurpassed. Perhaps, there's one more thing, and I have it on the highest, authority... Bobby would have absolutely,loved it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Folk Revival -- Redux!, May 6, 2009

By 

J. Herman "The Critic" (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joy Joy!: The Young And Wonderful Bob Gibson (Audio CD)

Erstwhile trendsetter Bob Gibson passed through four distinct stages during his forty-year career: bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed song collector and troubadour, revolutionary urban-hip folk revivalist, older-but-wiser singer-songwriter, and avuncular folk legend. This compilation CD chronicles the first of those stages, when Gibson released four albums on the old Riverside jazz label in the mid- to late-50's. Overall, the songs capture a happy, campfire mood. Gibson is more-or-less the traditionalist, but even here he is already rewriting and rearranging lyrics, playing with unusual rhythms, and moving into his path-breaking 12-string finger-picking. The song selection is well-informed, though it obviously reflects certain questionable priorities. Nearly half the tracks are from the final Riverside offering, "There's a Meetin' Here Tonight," while especially short shrift is given to both "Offbeat Folksongs" and "Carnegie Concert." Gibson aficionados may wonder why "To Morrow," one of his most often covered ditties didn't make the cut, though it's a much more significant crime against folk music history that his triumphant concert tours-de-force -- "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" and "Good News" -- are inexplicably omitted. Still, this is indeed the young and wonderful Bob Gibson, and it would be very, very hard to go wrong here.