Old-Time Pickin’: A Clawhammer Banjo Collection is a compilation of Ralph Stanley’s clawhammer banjo playing, released by Rebel on October 7, 2008 (REB-CD-7520). Dave Freeman, who produced the compilation, chose eighteen tracks from Stanley’s Rebel recordings, made between 1971 and 2001. Nine of them had never been available before, most from a clawhammer album Stanley began for the label in 2001 and left unfinished when he signed with Sony after the success of O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The lineup changes with the session. The earliest track, “Old Time Pickin’,” was recorded on February 23, 1971 with Roy Lee Centers and Keith Whitley on guitars, Ricky Skaggs on mandolin, Curly Ray Cline on fiddle and Jack Cooke on bass. Five tracks from March 22, 1973, including “Rocky Island,” “Shout Little Lulie” and “Little Birdie,” feature Centers and Ricky Lee on guitars with Cline and Cooke. Tracks from 1978, 1981 and 1986 use Charlie Sizemore and Junior Blankenship on guitars, and those from 1996, 2000 and 2001 use Ralph Stanley II, James Alan Shelton, James Price on fiddle and Cooke, with John Rigsby on mandolin on all but the 2001 sessions. “Black-Eyed Suzie” was recorded on April 17, 2001.
Stanley learned to play the banjo in the clawhammer style from his mother, Lucy, who played “Shout Little Lulie” for him. The style became a regular part of his repertoire after his brother Carter’s death in 1966, and most of his 1970s albums included at least one clawhammer track.
Tracklist
- 1 Rocky Island alt version 1:51
- 2 Shout Little Lulie 1:58
- 3 Battle Ax 3:13
- 4 City Lights 2:12
- 5 Cripple Creek alt version 2:18
- 6 I've Got A Mule To Ride 1:55
- 7 Old McDonald/Cindy 4:03
- 8 Shady Grove alt version 2:59
- 9 John Henry alt version 3:12
- 10 Little Birdie alt version 1:59
- 11 Cuttin' The Cornbread 1:53
- 12 Bound to Ride alt version 1:45
- 13 Married Life Blues 2:24
- 14 Black-Eyed Suzie alt version 1:49
- 15 Kentucky Shine 1:45
- 16 True Blue Bill 1:54
- 17 Dixieland (My Old Home Town) 2:10
- 18 Old Time Pickin' 1:46
