Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Burl Ives and others - The Ballad Operas - The Martins and The Coys (1944)

This "ballad opera" is perhaps the most unlikely of all Alan Lomax projects. Recorded in 1944 for the BBC and reissued as part of the "Lomax Collection's Concert and Radio Series", "The Martins and the Coys" was based on a 1936 "imitation hillbilly" novelty hit by bandleader Ted Weems about feuding families similar to the Hatfields and the McCoys. The two families are eventually united by their love for America and mountain life, and by their hatred of fascism.

Lomax blended together narration, instrumentals, and traditional and topical songs, performed by urban and rural folk artists such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger (both then unknown outside Manhattan folk circles), Burl Ives, and Grand Ole Opry great, Fiddlin' Arthur Smith. "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" (Ives) and "Nine Hundred Miles" (Guthrie) are stunning. For collectors only, but it's that rarest of period pieces, one with style and substance. Listening to the unabashed patriotism of these performers, it's incomprehensible that within a decade, many would be blacklisted as un-American.

Tracks
1. Martins and the Coys - Pete Seeger
2. Introduction - Alan Lomax
3. Cumberland Mountain Bear Chase - Will Geer, Burl Ives, Pete Seeger
4. Martins and the Coys - Geoff Bryant, Helen Claire, Jimmy Dobson, Will Geer, Burl Ives, Katherine Raht
5. Run, Boys, Run - Pete Seeger, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith
6. Back to the Cabin - Geoff Bryant, Jimmy Dobson, Will Geer
7. Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair - Burl Ives
8. Alec Coy at the Induction Center - "Chairman", "Sergeant", Woody Guthrie
9. You Better Get Ready - Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry
10. At the Deer Forks Railway Depot - Geoff Bryant, Jimmy Dobson, Will Geer, Woody Guthrie, Burl Ives, Katherine Raht
11. Nine Hundred Miles - Woody Guthrie
12. Train Departs - Burl Ives
13. On Top of Old Smoky - Pete Seeger, Hally Wood
14. Agricultural Agent Visits the Coys - Helen Claire, Katherine Raht, Carson Robison
15. Deliver the Goods - Bella Allen, Rosalie Allen, Lily May Ledford, Pete Seeger
16. Alec and Ben in the Army Camp - Geoff Bryant, Woody Guthrie, Burl Ives
17. When We All Go Marching In - Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry
18. Deer Forks Victory Garden - Helen Claire, Will Geer, Burl Ives, Margaret Johnson, Katherine Raht
19. Red Rocking Chair - Alan Lomax, Pete Seeger, Hally Wood
20. Uncle Boone Visits the Coys - Helen Claire, Will Geer, Katherine Raht
21. How Many Biscuits Can You Eat? - Bella Allen, Rosalie Allen, Will Geer, Lily May Ledford
22. Ben and Alec Call off the Feud - Geoff Bryant, Woody Guthrie
23. All of You Fascists Bound to Lose - Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry
24. Ben and Sary Meet Again - Geoff Bryant, Helen Claire
25. Turtle Dove - Burl Ives, Hally Wood
26. Ben Proposes to Sary - Geoff Bryant, Helen Claire
27. Smoky Mountain Gals - Bella Allen, Rosalie Allen, Lily May Ledford, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith
28. Dance All Night With a Bottle in Your Hand - Woody Guthrie, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith
29. Round and Round Hitler's Grave - Woody Guthrie, Burl Ives, Pete Seeger
30. Closing - Burl Ives
31. New Martins and the Coys - Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry
32. Martins and the Coys - Ted Weems
33. New Martins and the Coys - Burl Ives, Alan Lomax, Pete Seeger, Union Boys
34. East Virginia Blues - Lily May Ledford
35. Sugar Babe - Lily May Ledford, Pete Seeger
36. Gypsy Davy - Bella Allen, Rosalie Allen, Lily May Ledford
37. Girls in the Neighborhood - Bella Allen, Rosalie Allen, Lily May Ledford

The Ballad Operas - The Martins and The Coys (1944)

(320 kbps, cover art included)