Blue Country Heart -- CD
Jorma Kaukonen
2002 Columbia Records
Amazon.com
Singer and guitarist extraordinaire Jorma Kaukonen was a devoted aficionado of early-20th-century rural music long before he cofounded Jefferson Airplane in 1965 and Hot Tuna some years later. On his new solo album, Kaukonen has found an imaginative setting to remind listeners how a fusion of styles and influences from both black and white musicians defined American country music in its formative decades. Included here are gems, both familiar and obscure, by the likes of Jimmie Rodgers, the Delmore Brothers, Jimmie Davis, Cliff Carlisle, and other country musicians who were clearly inspired by their blues cousins. Backed by the Nashville All-Stars, a supersonic string band comprising bluegrass masters Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (Dobro), Béla Fleck (banjo), and Byron House (stand-up bass), all playing on vintage 1920s and '30s acoustic instruments, Kaukonen revives and vividly reinterprets these blues-drenched country classics for a new generation of listeners. --Bob Allen
"Blue Railroad Train" (Lionel Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore) – 3:44
"Just Because" (Hubert A. Nelson, James D. Touchstone) – 4:16
"Blues Stay Away from Me" (L. Delmore, R. Delmore, Henry Glover, Wayne Raney) – 3:28
"Red River Blues" (Jimmie Davis) – 3:25
"Bread Line Blues" (Bernard Slim Smith) – 4:38
"Waiting for a Train" (Jimmie Rodgers) – 3:26
"Those Gambler's Blues" (Rodgers) – 3:07
"Tom Cat Blues" (Jelly Roll Morton) – 3:05
"Big River Blues" (L. Delmore) – 3:01
"Prohibition Blues" (Clayton McMichen) – 4:13
"I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now" (Lou Herscher, Saul Klein) – 3:28
"You and My Old Guitar" (Rodgers, Elsie McWilliams) – 2:45
"What are They Doing in Heaven Today?" (Traditional) – 3:20
Jorma Kaukonen - guitar, vocals
Sam Bush – mandolin, fiddle, background vocals
Jerry Douglas – dobro, weissenborn
Byron House – bass, background vocals
Béla Fleck – banjo on "Just Because" and "Bread Line Blues"