Suzanne, recorded in 1985 by Harley Allen and Mike Lilly, documents a pairing rooted in bluegrass traditionalism at a moment when the genre's commercial mainstream was drifting toward country crossover. Harley Allen, son of Red Allen and brother to Neal and Ronnie Allen, brought a deep family connection to hard-core bluegrass singing. The album's inclusion of Bob Dylan's 'Ain't Me Babe' alongside Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne' signals a sensibility open to the broader American songbook even within a traditional acoustic setting. The album represents the kind of earnestly crafted bluegrass recording that sustained the music's committed underground audience through the 1980s.
Tracklist
- 1 Suzanne 2:43
- 2 I Don't Believe You Met My Baby 1:55
- 3 Moonshiner 2:44
- 4 Arkansas 2:59
- 5 No Mother or Dad 2:41
- 6 Baby Blue Eyes 3:21
- 7 Suzanne 2:40
- 8 Bill Cheatham 1:15
- 9 Blue Night 2:04
- 10 Seven Year Blues 3:32
- 11 Used to Be 1:46
- 12 Chain Gang 3:18
- 13 Ain’t Me Babe 2:22
- 14 I'm Always on a Mountain 2:26