The self-titled Ola Belle Reed (Rounder 0021, 1973) was among the early releases from the young Rounder Records and helped introduce one of the Appalachian tradition's most elemental voices to a national audience. Reed, born in 1916 in Ashe County, North Carolina, spent decades running the New River Ranch in Rising Sun, Maryland, hosting country music shows and sustaining old-time music for surrounding communities. She is joined by family members Bud Reed, David Reed, and Alan Reed, with John Miller completing the ensemble. Her five-string banjo playing and unadorned, high-country singing define the record — repertoire rooted in the North Carolina mountains delivered without cosmetic modernization. The album stands as an essential document of living transmission within the Appalachian tradition.
Tracklist
- 1 Wayfaring Pilgrim 4:33
- 2 High on a Mountain Source Recording 2:38
- 3 The Soldier And The Lady 4:17
- 4 Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss Source Recording 2
- 5 Go Home Little Girl 3:58
- 6 Blues In My Mind 3:03
- 7 God Put A Rainbow In The Clouds 2:49
- 8 Flop-Eared Mule alt version 1:58
- 9 The Springtime Of Life 4:10
- 10 Billy In The Lowground 1:29
- 11 You Don't Tell Me That You Love Me Anymore 3:44
- 12 I’ve Always Been a Rambler alt version 3:18
- 13 Rosewood Casket 2:41
- 14 John Hardy alt version 3:29
- 15 My Epitaph 3:10
- 16 I Believe alt version 2:43
