Banjo Tunes and Songs

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 |