Suzanne is the only album by the Allen-Lilly Band, the group guitarist and singer Harley Allen formed in 1982 with banjo player Mike Lilly. Allen, the youngest son of Harley “Red” Allen, had grown up in the Dayton, Ohio, bluegrass scene with his brothers Greg, Neal and Ronnie. The album was recorded in early 1984 at Jewel Studios in Cincinnati, with Red Allen as producer, and released in 1985 on Folkways (FTS 31049).
Allen sang lead and tenor and played guitar and mandolin; Lilly played banjo and sang lead and baritone. Scott Adams played mandolin, Larry Nager electric bass and David Moore Jr. fiddle, with Junior Bennett taking the fiddle on “I’m Always on a Mountain.”
The title song is Allen’s own. The rest of the thirteen tracks come from several directions: Bob Dylan’s “Ain’t Me Babe,” Bill Monroe’s “Used to Be,” Curley Seckler’s “No Mother or Dad,” Jim Eanes’s “Baby Blue Eyes,” Kirk McGee’s “Blue Night,” the traditional “Moonshiner” and “Chain Gang,” and the fiddle tune “Bill Cheatham,” the album’s one instrumental.
Tracklist
- 1 Suzanne Source Recording 2:40
- 2 I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby alt version 1:55
- 3 Moonshiner alt version 3:03
- 4 Arkansas 2:59
- 5 No Mother or Dad alt version 2:41
- 6 Baby Blue Eyes alt version 3:59
- 7 Bill Cheatham alt version 2:10
- 8 Blue Night alt version 2:23
- 9 Seven Year Blues 3:32
- 10 Used to Be alt version 1:45
- 11 Chain Gang 3:18
- 12 Ain’t Me Babe Source Recording 2:22
- 13 I'm Always on a Mountain 2:26
