On CD
Muleskinner Blues
Smithsonian/Folkways
Asch Recordings, Volume 2
Track Listing:
- Muleskinner Blues
- Wreck of the Old 97
- Sally Goodin'
- Little Black Train
- Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?
- Baltimore to Washington
- Rubber Dolly
- 21 Years
- Sowing on the Mountain
- Bed on the Floor
- Take a Whiff on Me
- Stepstone
- Put My Little Shoes Away
- Hen Cackle
- Poor Boy
- Stackolee
- Johnny Hart
- Worried Man Blues
- Danville Girl
- Rye Straw
- Crawdad Song
- Ida Red
- Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy
- Train 45
Review
Jim Clark
Cisco is the clear backup on these, helping his more famous friend get these tracks recorded, but does it with verve and gusto. This release includes an absolutely brilliant guitar solo on Baltimore to Washington. I cannot believe that he performed this, as it seems far better than any other performance I've heard of his, incluing a later one on the same song. But I communicated with Dr. Guy Logsdon who assures me this is his playing. One can only wonder what happened--while Cisco was certainly a competent guitarist, and periodically a very good one, nothing I've heard compares to this.
Notes
Another in the Smithsonian series of releases of the Asch recordings, complete with stupendously comprehensive notes and analysis by Dr. Guy Logsdon. Traditional songs, rather than originals, laid down in a hurry by guys who were not sure how much longer they had to live.
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