Walkin’ in the Parlor cover

Walkin’ in the Parlor

Iron Mountain String Band

Album · 1975 · Folkways Records FA 2477

Walkin’ in the Parlor is the Iron Mountain String Band’s second album, released by Folkways in 1975 (FA 2477); their first, FA 2473, had come out in 1973. The band was formed in New York in the early 1960s and by 1975 was based in Southern California. Brooke Moyer, who joined in 1974 to replace Peggy Haine, plays guitar, Eric Davidson plays banjo and Caleb Finch fiddle. The recording was made at Conway Recorders in Los Angeles.

All sixteen pieces are renditions based on field recordings made in southwestern Virginia and adjacent parts of North Carolina, and the Grayson County Bog Trotters were a major influence on the band. The program includes “Sugar Hill,” “East Virginia,” “Little Willie,” “Old Arkansas,” “Walkin’ in the Parlor,” “Little Birdie,” “Willow Garden,” “John Hardy,” “New River Train,” “Pretty Polly,” “Banks of the Ohio” and “Ida Red.” Like string bands before the 1930s, the band uses only banjo, fiddle and guitar, and it plays “Walkin’ in the Parlor,” “John Lover Is Gone” and “Ida Red” in the old-time way, with only fiddle and fretless banjo.

Tracklist

  1. 1 Sugar Hill 3:39
  2. 2 East Virginia Blues alt version 2:35
  3. 3 Little Willie alt version 2:56
  4. 4 Old Arkansas 2:49
  5. 5 Walkin' in the Parlor 1:51
  6. 6 Little Birdie alt version 1:59
  7. 7 Down in the Willow Garden alt version 4:46
  8. 8 John Hardy alt version 3:29
  9. 9 New River Train alt version 3:26
  10. 10 The Hanging of Georgie (Geordie) 1:56
  11. 11 John Lover Is Gone 1:30
  12. 12 Sandy River 1:18
  13. 13 Pretty Polly alt version 3:33
  14. 14 Banks of the Ohio alt version 4:12
  15. 15 Ida Red alt version 2:29
  16. 16 Goin' Round This World 3:37

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