Country Songs, Old and New was the debut album of The Country Gentlemen, issued by Folkways (FA 2409) in 1960. The band had formed in Washington, D.C., in 1957, and the lineup heard here — Charlie Waller on guitar and lead vocal, John Duffey on mandolin and high tenor, Eddie Adcock on banjo, and Jim Cox on bass — caught the group early, before Tom Gray took over the bass chair. From the outset the Country Gentlemen pushed at the edges of bluegrass, folding country standards, folk material, and pop songs into arrangements built around Duffey and Waller's intricate vocal harmonies. That openness won them a following among the college students and urban folk-revival listeners then discovering the music. The title reads almost as a statement of purpose: a young band making room for older country repertoire and newer sources alike, a balance the Gentlemen would keep chasing for decades.
Tracklist
- 1 Roving Gambler Source Recording 3:10
- 2 Fair and Tender Ladies alt version 2:54
- 3 Drifting Too Far alt version 3:31
- 4 Weeping Willow 2:05
- 5 Tomorrow's My Wedding Day 2:14
- 6 The Story of Charlie Lawson alt version 3:07
- 7 Turkey Knob 2:22
- 8 Paul and Silas alt version 2:31
- 9 Poor Ellen Smith alt version 2:16
- 10 The Long Black Veil alt version 3:39
- 11 Honky Tonk Rag 2:29
- 12 Jesse James Source Recording 2:39
- 13 Have Thine Own Way 2:55
- 14 A Good Woman's Love 3:28
- 15 The Double Eagle 2:58
- 16 Darling Alalee 2:05
- 17 Standing in the Need of Prayer alt version
