Banjo Tunes and Songs

Pete Steele

In 1957, archivists Art Rosenbaum and Ed Kahn traveled to Hamilton, Kentucky, to look for Pete Steele, a singer and banjo player they had heard on Alan Lomax’s recordings from the 1930s. In the next few months, Kahn recorded Steele playing and talking about his music, and the resulting album, Banjo Tunes and Songs, showcases Steele’s unique two- and three-finger banjo picking style. Included on the album are Steele’s two best known songs, which he learned from his friend Andy Whitaker during his coal-mining days: “Coal Creek March” and “Last Pay Day at Coal Creek” are both written about strikes and disasters at the mine in Coal Creek, Tennessee.

The album also includes Pete’s wife, Lillie Steele, singing two a cappella songs.

Track Listing

101	Poor Ellen Smith	Pete Steele	1:45
102	Little Birdie	Pete Steele	2:24
103	Train A-Pullin' the Crooked Hill	Pete Steele	2:17
104	Galilee	Pete Steele and Lillie Steele	2:55
105	The Unclouded Days	Pete Steele and Lillie Steele	1:20
106	Shady Grove	Pete Steele	1:26
107	The Song of Hard Times	Lillie Steele	2:47
108	Goin' Round This World, Baby Mine	Pete Steele	1:15
109	East Virginia	Pete Steele	2:59
110	The Cuckoo	Lillie Steele	0:26
111	The War is A-Ragin' for Johnny	Pete Steele	2:11
112	Coal Creek March	Pete Steele	2:20
113	Last Payday at Coal Creek	Pete Steele	3:03
114	Ida Red	Pete Steele	1:18
115	Pretty Polly	Pete Steele	4:10
116	The Scoldin' Wife	Pete Steele	1:33
117	House Carpenter	Pete Steele and Lillie Steele	3:34