Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson - At Folk City (Folkways, 1963)

This pairing unites two traditional musicians of legendary talent and captures them live in 1963 performing songs like "Amazing Grace", "Storms Are On the Ocean", and "Wabash Cannonball".

Jean Ritchie was born into a large and musical family in Viper, Kentucky in 1922. The Ritchie family was very much a part of the Appalachian folk tradition, and had committed over 300 songs (including hymns, traditional love songs, ballads, children's game songs, etc.) to its collective memory, a tradition that Ritchie has drawn on (as well as preserved and maintained) for the entire length of her performing career. She grew up in a home where singing was intertwined with nearly every task, and the beautiful, ephemeral nature of these mountain songs and fragments was not lost on her. After graduating from high school, Ritchie attended Cumberland Junior College in Williamsburg, Ky., moving on to the University of Kentucky, where she graduated in 1946. She accepted a position at the Henry Street Settlement in New York City and soon found her family's songs useful in reaching out to the children in her care. Her singing, although she never had a strong pop sort of voice, was perfect for the old ballads, especially when she accompanied herself on lap dulcimer, and the ancient modal melodies of her family felt fresh and airy in her hands. Ritchie soon found herself in demand in the New York coffeehouses, and her official career in music began. After hearing some casually recorded songs by Ritchie, Jac Holzman, who was just starting up Elektra Records, signed her to the label, eventually releasing three albums, "Jean Ritchie Sings" (1952), "Songs of Her Kentucky Mountain Family" (1957) and "A Time for Singing" (1962) at the height of the folk revival. Although she never reached the household name status of Peter, Paul & Mary, Joan Baez, Judy Collins or the Kingston Trio, Ritchie maintained her Appalachian authenticity, and her subsequent albums worked to preserve the rich folk tradition of the Southern Appalachians.

Tracklist                                                       

A1	Storms Are On The Ocean
A2	So Dig My Grave
A3	Spike-Driver Blues
A4	Soldiers Joy
A5	Don't Mind The Weather
A6	Hiram Hubbard
A7	Sugar On The Floor
B1	Where Are You Goin'
B2	Pretty Polly
B3	Willie Moore
B4	What'll I Do With The Baby-O?
B5	Cripple Creek
B6	Wabash Cannonball
B7	The House Carpenter
B8	Amazing Grace

Jean Ritchie & Doc Watson - At Folk City (1963)
(320 kbps, cover art inlcuded)