Memories of John cover

Memories of John

The Hartford String Band

Album · 2010 · Compass 7 4539-2

Memories of John was recorded for Compass Records (7 4539-2) and released in 2010, nearly a decade after John Hartford died on 4 June 2001. The core of the album is the John Hartford Stringband — Chris Sharp on guitar, Bob Carlin on banjo, Matt Combs on fiddle, Mike Compton on mandolin and Mark Schatz on bass — the musicians who played on Hartford’s last five Rounder Records projects and toured with him in his final years. Sharp produced the album.

The fifteen tracks mix Hartford originals and fiddle tunes with songs from the wider repertoire, among them Johnny Bond’s “Love Grown Cold,” “The Girl I Left Behind Me” and “Lorena.” Tim O’Brien sings “M.I.S.I.P.” and “Lorena,” and Alan O’Bryant sings lead on “Delta Queen Waltz.” Alison Brown plays banjo on “M.I.S.I.P.,” Béla Fleck on “The Girl I Left Behind Me” and George Buckner on “Lorena,” and Eileen Carson Schatz adds foot percussion to “You Don’t Notice Me Ignoring You.”

Hartford himself is heard on two tracks, drawn from previously unreleased recordings: “You Don’t Notice Me Ignoring You,” taken from a demo made in the mid-1960s, and “Fade Out.” The album was nominated for the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Tracklist

  1. 1 Three Forks of Sandy 2:56
  2. 2 M.I.S.I.P. 3:07
  3. 3 Love Grown Cold Source Recording Johnny Bond · key A · 98 bpm 3:49
  4. 4 Madison Tennessee 4:04
  5. 5 Delta Queen Waltz 4:31
  6. 6 For John 1:13
  7. 7 Homer the Roamer Source Recording John Hartford · key D · 112 bpm 4:17
  8. 8 Bring Your Clothes Back Home 3:29
  9. 9 Half Past Four alt version 4:03
  10. 10 Lorena alt version 4:07
  11. 11 You Don't Notice Me Ignoring You 1:24
  12. 12 Girl I Left Behind Me alt version 2:43
  13. 13 She's Gone (and Bob's Gone with Her) 4:05
  14. 14 Royal Box Waltz 3:15
  15. 15 Fade Out 1:42

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