High Atmosphere
Encyclopedia
High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina is a 1975 compilation album released by Rounder Records
. The album is composed of Appalachian folk music recordings gathered by musicologist John Cohen in North Carolina
and Virginia
.
The album was originally released in 1975. In 1995, Rounder re-released the album with an additional twenty minutes of bonus tracks.
Indiana University Press' The Journal of Folklore Research
has asserted that a Lloyd Chandler song on the album, "A Conversation With Death" was an early form of "O Death"—a song which Ralph Stanley
won a Grammy award
for, featured on the O Brother, Where Art Thou
soundtrack.
Burgin Mathews of Allmusic says the album is "one of the finest compilations of old-time field recordings available" and "should be of equal interest to academics, musicians, and the merely curious".
The alternative country
group Uncle Tupelo
's 1992 album March 16–20, 1992 includes three covers of songs from High Atmosphere. Jeff Tweedy
is the vocalist on all of these cover versions.
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
. The album is composed of Appalachian folk music recordings gathered by musicologist John Cohen in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
The album was originally released in 1975. In 1995, Rounder re-released the album with an additional twenty minutes of bonus tracks.
Indiana University Press' The Journal of Folklore Research
Journal of Folklore Research
The Journal of Folklore Research: An International Journal of Folklore and Ethnomusicology is a peer-reviewed academic journal of folklore, folklife, and ethnomusicology.- History :...
has asserted that a Lloyd Chandler song on the album, "A Conversation With Death" was an early form of "O Death"—a song which Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley , also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.-Biography:...
won a Grammy award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for, featured on the O Brother, Where Art Thou
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the soundtrack of music from the 2000 American film of the same name, written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Goodman....
soundtrack.
Burgin Mathews of Allmusic says the album is "one of the finest compilations of old-time field recordings available" and "should be of equal interest to academics, musicians, and the merely curious".
The alternative country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
group Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville...
's 1992 album March 16–20, 1992 includes three covers of songs from High Atmosphere. Jeff Tweedy
Jeff Tweedy
Jeffrey Scot "Jeff" Tweedy is an American songwriter, musician and leader of the band Wilco. Tweedy joined rockabilly band The Plebes with high school friend Jay Farrar in the early 1980s, but Tweedy's musical interests caused one of Farrar's brothers to quit...
is the vocalist on all of these cover versions.
Track listing (1995 release)
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| "Remember and Do Pray for Me" | Lloyd Chandler Lloyd Chandler Lloyd Chandler was an American Appalachian Folk musician and Free Will Baptist preacher from Madison County, North Carolina.... |
| "The Silk Merchant's Daughter" | Dellie Norton |
| "Rambling Hobo" | Gaither Carlton Gaither Carlton Gaither Wiley Carlton was an American Old-time fiddle player and banjo player. He is best known for his appearances accompanying his son-in-law Doc Watson during the folk music revival of the 1960s. While not recorded before the folk revival, Carlton had been playing with some of the region's... |
| "Apple, Blossom" | Gaither Carlton Gaither Carlton Gaither Wiley Carlton was an American Old-time fiddle player and banjo player. He is best known for his appearances accompanying his son-in-law Doc Watson during the folk music revival of the 1960s. While not recorded before the folk revival, Carlton had been playing with some of the region's... |
| "Pretty Crowling Chicken" | Frank Proffitt Frank Proffitt Frank Proffitt was an Appalachian old time banjoist and performer at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival. He was a key figure in inspiring musicians of the 1960s and 1970s to play the banjo. He recorded the ballad "Tom Dooley", learned from his aunt Nancy Prather... |
| "Forkey Deer" | Sidna Myers |
| "Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down" | Frank Proffitt |
| "Cumberland Gap" | George Landers |
| "Rolling Mills Are Burning Down" | George Landers |
| "Half Shaved" | Wade Ward Wade Ward -External links:... |
| "Shady Grove" | Wade Ward Wade Ward -External links:... |
| "Old Joe Clark" | Wade Ward Wade Ward -External links:... |
| "Nitches Over the Hill" | Wade Ward Wade Ward -External links:... |
| "Twin Sisters" | Myers Sidna |
| "Fortune" | Fred Cockerham Fred Cockerham Fred Cockerham was a fiddle and banjo player of American folk music.Cockerham was one of the seven children of Elias and Betty Jane Cockerham in North Carolina. He was one of the most accomplished of all the "Round Peak," North Carolina musicians but is most commonly known as the banjo accompanist... |
| "Little Satchel" | Fred Cockerham Fred Cockerham Fred Cockerham was a fiddle and banjo player of American folk music.Cockerham was one of the seven children of Elias and Betty Jane Cockerham in North Carolina. He was one of the most accomplished of all the "Round Peak," North Carolina musicians but is most commonly known as the banjo accompanist... |
| "Barker's Creek" | George Landers |
| "Young Emily" | Dellie Norton |
| "Early, Early in the Spring" | Dellie Norton |
| "Warfare" | Estil C. Ball Estil C. Ball Estil Cortez Ball was an American singer-songwriter, fingerstyle guitarist, and country gospel and folk musician from Rugby in Grayson County, Virginia.-Career:... |
| "Pretty Polly" | Estil C. Ball Estil C. Ball Estil Cortez Ball was an American singer-songwriter, fingerstyle guitarist, and country gospel and folk musician from Rugby in Grayson County, Virginia.-Career:... |
| "The Fox" | Estil C. Ball Estil C. Ball Estil Cortez Ball was an American singer-songwriter, fingerstyle guitarist, and country gospel and folk musician from Rugby in Grayson County, Virginia.-Career:... |
| "A Conversation with Death" | Lloyd Chandler Lloyd Chandler Lloyd Chandler was an American Appalachian Folk musician and Free Will Baptist preacher from Madison County, North Carolina.... |
| "I Wish My Baby Was Born" | Dillard Chandler Dillard Chandler Dillard Chandler was an American Appalachian Folk singer from Madison County, North Carolina. He is chiefly known for his a cappella performances on compilation albums recorded by folklorist and musicologist John Cohen.... |
| "The Carolina Lady" | Dillard Chandler Dillard Chandler Dillard Chandler was an American Appalachian Folk singer from Madison County, North Carolina. He is chiefly known for his a cappella performances on compilation albums recorded by folklorist and musicologist John Cohen.... |
| "The Scotland Man" | George Landers |
| "Alabama Girls" | Sidna Myers |
| "No Place Like Home" | George Landers |
| "June Apple" | Fred Cockerham |
| "Frankie Baker" | Fred Cockerham |
| "Jennie Jenkins" | Estil C. Ball, Orna Ball |
| "Little Sadie" | Gaither Carlton Gaither Carlton Gaither Wiley Carlton was an American Old-time fiddle player and banjo player. He is best known for his appearances accompanying his son-in-law Doc Watson during the folk music revival of the 1960s. While not recorded before the folk revival, Carlton had been playing with some of the region's... |
| "Cumberland Gap | Frank Proffitt Frank Proffitt Frank Proffitt was an Appalachian old time banjoist and performer at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival. He was a key figure in inspiring musicians of the 1960s and 1970s to play the banjo. He recorded the ballad "Tom Dooley", learned from his aunt Nancy Prather... |