Joseph Able Trivett, Butler, Tennessee

Recorded at the age of 80 in 1962, Joseph Able Trivett was a farmer and laborer from the mountain town of Butler, Tennessee. On this recording, made by Sandy Paton as the second release from Folk-Legacy Records, Trivett sings unaccompanied ballads. The selections here are both familiar and rare, including Child ballads and tales of the 1849 Gold Rush, and even songs originally penned by Trivett himself. Having learned many of these songs during his youth in the last years of the 19th century, Trivett sings them straightforwardly and with confidence, reflecting a lifetime of singing within his community. In this field recording conducted in Trivett’s home, one can hear his ticking clocks and clucking chickens, offering an engrossing and transportive experience of rural Appalachia as it was in the early 1960s.