Folk Songs from the Blue Grass by Earl Taylor and His Stoney Mountain Boys stands as one of the earliest bluegrass albums released on a major label, appearing on United Artists in 1959 at a moment when the genre was still largely unknown outside the South. Taylor, a West Virginia native and powerful tenor singer, brought an uncompromising hard-edged sound to urban audiences, particularly the Baltimore and Washington DC communities where he had built a following. The album introduced northern listeners to raw, unadorned bluegrass at a time when commercial country music was already drifting toward polished Nashville production. Its historical significance lies partly in its timing — arriving just as folk revivalists were beginning to discover traditional string-band music — and in Taylor's refusal to soften his approach for mainstream consumption.
Tracklist
- 1 Cripple Creek alt version 2:00
- 2 Ruby Are You Mad alt version 3:01
- 3 The White Dove alt version 3
- 4 Ho, honey, ho 2:30
- 5 Foggy Mountain Special alt version 3:14
- 6 In the Pines alt version 3:10
- 7 John Henry alt version 2:30
- 8 Mama blues 2:10
- 9 Little Maggie alt version 2:44
- 10 Flint Hill Special alt version 2:45
- 11 The Children Are Crying alt version 2:37
- 12 Lee Highway blues 2:00
- 13 The Prisoner’s Song alt version 3:30
- 14 Race between a locomotive and a Model T 2:00
- 15 Pretty Polly alt version 3:33
- 16 Rabbit on a log 2:15
- 17 Molly and Ten Brooks 2:50
