Old Time North Carolina Mountain Music

Born in North Carolina in 1911, Bill Johnson started playing the banjo at the age of eight. With his son Billie Ray on guitar and grandson David on fiddle, he leads three generations of talented mountain musicians in this collection of murder ballads and folk songs.

All the instrumental songs are what Johnson calls “old tunes.” They have been handed down through the generations and can still be heard on front porches and at dances in the Western North Carolina Mountains. Vocal tunes, including “Knoxville Girl” and “Poor Ellen Smith,” are also featured.

Track Listing

101	Knoxville Girl	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	4:48
102	Rueben	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:57
103	The Wreck of the Old 97	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:40
104	Roll on Buddy (Nine Pound Hammer)	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:27
105	Poor Ellen Smith	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:20
106	Possum Blowed His Horn	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:54
107	Banks of the Ohio	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:44
201	Jimmy Sutton	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:03
202	Down in the Willow Garden (Rose Connolly)	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:33
203	Cumberland Gap	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:30
204	Going Down the Road Feeling Bad	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:29
205	Sugar Babe	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:05
206	Pretty Polly	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	2:48
207	Sourwood Mountain	David, Bill and Billie Ray Johnson	1:58