Sittin’ on Top of the World is the first album under Jack Cooke’s own name, released by Pinecastle Records (PRC 1157) in late February 2007. Cooke had been the bass player in Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys since 1970, and had earlier played guitar with Bill Monroe, from 1956 to 1960; Jim Lauderdale, who had been urging him to make a record for some years, produced it.
Cooke chose songs he had sung for years. He recalled singing “Long Black Veil,” “Walking the Dog” and “Dark Hollow” on Monroe’s shows, and playing guitar on Monroe’s “Gotta Travel On.” Three tracks come from the Louvin Brothers, and Lauderdale wrote “That’s How the Cookie Crumbles” for him. The backing players include Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Robby McCoury on banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle, Mike Bub on bass, Ralph Stanley II on rhythm guitar, James Shelton on guitar and Steve Sparkman on banjo, and Del McCoury and Ralph Stanley sing harmony on some songs. Cooke’s brother Hubert and his wife Jeanette sing on two. David Grisman added his mandolin on the title song, recorded separately in California. Sessions were held in Nashville and in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Two tracks, “Let Me Rest at the End of My Journey” and “I’ve Always Been a Rambler,” are from an October 1963 session at Ark Recording Studios in Cincinnati, with Bobby Diamond on banjo, Bill Sage on fiddle and Roy Hoskins on bass.
Tracklist
- 1 Gotta Travel On alt version 3:03
- 2 I’m Walking the Dog alt version 1:54
- 3 That's How The Cookie Crumbles 3:14
- 4 Let’s All Go Down to the River alt version 2:13
- 5 North To Alaska 2:42
- 6 Dark Hollow alt version 2:12
- 7 The Long Black Veil alt version 3:02
- 8 My Little Georgia Rose alt version 2:56
- 9 On and On alt version 2:46
- 10 Sittin’ on Top of the World alt version 2:26
- 11 Seven Year Blues 2:38
- 12 There’s a Higher Power alt version 2:09
- 13 Sugar Coated Love 2:16
- 14 Let Me Rest At The End Of My Journey 2:06
- 15 I've Always Been A Ramble 2:29
