Some American Folksongs Like They Used To

John Koerner at Sweet Jane, Ltd., 1974

John Koerner: guitar and vocal
John Beach: piano
Jerry Broughten: bass, percussion
Tony Glover: harp
Bill Murphy: guitar, piano, concertina, percussion
Steve Raitt: percussion
Dave Ray: slide guitar, vocal backup

Released: 10/74 by Sweet Jane, Ltd., SJL 1074

  1. The Farmer’s Curst Wife
  2. The Dodger
  3. Hallelujah! I’m A Bum
  4. Stewball
  5. The Young Man Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn
  6. Days of ’49
  7. 10,000 Years Ago
  8. Grunt ‘n Groan And The New Cave (Olson)
  9. Jack Of Diamonds
  10. Abdullah Bulbul Amir
  11. Go Down Moses
  12. Casey Jones
  13. Danville Girl
  14. Careless Love
  15. When First Unto This Country
  16. Grunt ‘n Groan And The New Wheel (Olson)

Some American Folk Songs back cover

Liner notes from the original LP

John Koerner: all cuts: guitar (Shure 545) and vocal (Shure SM 57)
A. John Beach: piano (two Sennheiser 105’s, left and right)
B. Jerry Broughten: bass (SM 57)
C. Jerry Broughten: percussion (105 and SM 57)
D. Tony Glover: harp (545)
E. Bill Murphy: guitar (545)
F. Bill Murphy: piano (two 105’s)
G. Bill Murphy: concertina and percussion (105)
H. Steve Raitt: percussion (Electro-Voice 676)
I. Dave Ray: slide guitar (545)
J. Dave Ray: vocal backup (SM 57)

SIDE ONE:
1. The Farmer’s Curst Wife 2.30 (B, E)
2. The Dodger 2.15 (A)
3. Hallelujah! I’m A Bum 2.39 (C, E)
4. Stewball3.36 (D, I)
5. The Young Man Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn 1.27
6. Days of ‘49 2.51 (B, G)
7. 10,000 Years Ago 3.25 (B, E, H)
8. Grunt ‘n Groan and the New Cave .40 (Written by Tom Olson,
vocal by Paul Davies)

SIDE TWO:
1. Jack of Diamonds 2.31 (D, I, J)
2. Abdullah Bulbul Amir 3.45 (A)
3. Go Down Moses 1.37 (B, E)
4. Casey Jones 2.24 (A)
5. Danville Girl 2.25 (D, I, J)
6. Careless Love 4.03 (C, F)
7. When First Unto This Country 1.45 (D)
8. Grunt ‘n Groan and the New Wheel 1.08 (Same as #8, side one)

  • Sessions on SJL 1074 (including mixdown) took about sixty hours starting 10-JUN-74 ending 24-SEP-74.
  • All takes were live; no overdubs. Recording equipment included mics listed above, Crown four-track, Crown two-track played through Phase Linear 400 and Klipsch Cornwall speakers.
  • Engineers were Dave and Sylvia Ray; mixed with the help of Tony Glover and Bill Murphy.
  • Mastered OCT-74 at Nashville Record Productions with Ron Solomon at the Sphere board feeding a Westrex 3D-2A cutter and a Neumann AM-32B lathe.
  • Pressed at Precision, Nashville, TN.
  • Cover by Franz Richter.