Hylo Brown Sings Folk Songs of Rural America, released on Starday in 1967, presents a Kentucky-born singer and guitarist who occupied an interesting position between bluegrass, traditional country, and the folk revival. Brown, born Frank Brown, had performed with Flatt and Scruggs in the mid-1950s and recorded some of the most powerful tenor performances in 1950s bluegrass before health problems interrupted his career. By the time of this album he was working within the folk and country repertoire with the benefit of a long musical apprenticeship in the genre's formative years. His tenor voice was among the most naturally gifted in bluegrass history, capable of extraordinary power and clarity at the top of its range. The album's focus on rural folk material is consistent with the folk revival market Starday was partly addressing in this period, and Brown brings genuine authority to material drawn from the tradition he had lived within since childhood.
Tracklist
- 1 Girl in the blue velvet band 3:00
- 2 Little John Henry 2:54
- 3 All the Good Times Are Past and Gone alt version 2:36
- 4 Sally let your bangs down 1:26
- 5 Leaf of love 1:42
- 6 Down in the Willow Garden alt version 4:46
- 7 I’m Coming Back But I Don’t Know When alt version 2:43
- 8 This Train alt version 1:42
- 9 Prisoner of Roane County 2:35
- 10 Are you tired of me my darling 2:00
- 11 The Storms are on the Ocean alt version 2:51
- 12 I’ll Remember You Love In My Prayers alt version 2:23
- 13 Preacher and the bear 2:10
- 14 Black Jack Davey 1:19
- 15 Go along mule 1:16
- 16 Put me in your pocket 2:30
- 17 At the rainbow's end 2:18
- 18 Conversations with a mule 3:00
- 19 Tie up those broken cords 1:47
- 20 Froggie went a courtin' 1:35
