“Cora Is Gone” was written by Mac Odell, a country and gospel songwriter, and first recorded by Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1951. It joined the duo’s early run of heartbreak material.
The song is a straightforward lament: Cora has gone, and the singer is left with the empty house and the memory. Built on a simple, mournful melody, it leaves room for the high harmony and clean instrumental breaks that define the style.
“Cora Is Gone” found a new audience through the Bluegrass Album Band, the all-star group whose 1985 volume The Bluegrass Album, Vol. 4 revisited it alongside other classics of the Flatt and Scruggs era. It has remained a favorite of traditional singers.
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