Title - Mountain City Four [Unreleased]
Artist - Mountain City Four
In 1963, Jack Nissenson and Peter Weldon recruited Kate McGarrigle to form a trio. A few months later, Kate’s sister Anna joined, and the group became the Mountain City Four. Playing locally at Montreal folk clubs,
the band developed a loyal and substantial following and played into the 1970s.
Kate and Anna began writing songs which were passed from friend to friend, and eventually found their way into the repertoires of Maria Muldaur and Linda Ronstadt. While in L.A singing backups on Maria’s first record,
they were invited by Greg Prestopino to record a few of their other compositions.
Greg passed the demo on to Warner Brothers Records who quickly offered Kate and Anna their own recording contract and they were off and running. For several years, the Mountain City Four continued as the opening act for Kate and Anna’s live shows and contributed backup vocals and instrumentals to the sisters’ early studio recordings.
The McGarrigles origins shine brightly on Mountain City Four which contains sixteen previously unissued recordings from 1963–1964, 1969–70, and a final one in 2012 two years after Kate’s passing which featured members
of the Mountain City Four’s extended family. The tracks include classics like Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon Of Kentucky,” the traditional “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “This Train,” and
“All The Good Times,” written by Lead Belly and Alan Lomax.
Mountain City Four is produced by original member Peter Weldon and Jane McGarrigle. The packaging contains photos and liner notes from Weldon, both Jane and Anna McGarrigle, and Joe Boyd, outlining the history and sharing
memories of the Mountain City Four. Not only is Mountain City Four a window into the origin of one of the world’s foremost singer/songwriting sisters, but a look into the incredible folk music scene of the 1960s.
1. JESULEIN SÜSS/WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
2. MEAN OLD FRISCO
3. EREV SHEL SHOSHANIM
4. MOTHERLESS CHILDREN
5. DARK AS A DUNGEON
6. BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY
7. REUBEN RANZO
8. YOU’VE GOT TO WALK THAT LONESOME VALLEY
9. EN FILANT MA QUENOUILLE
10. THIS TRAIN
11. THE LOG DRIVER’S WALTZ
12. V’LÀ LE BONNE VENT
13. YOU’RE GONNA NEED SOMEBODY ON YOUR BOND
14. ALL THE GOOD TIMES
15. SAM HALL
16. SHENANDOAH
These historic, early recordings from Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s beginnings as members of the Mountain City Four open on the warmly melodic rumblings of JESULEIN SÜSS/WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN and the harmonica-driven MEAN OLD FRISCO and then lovingly bring us the simply beautiful Israeli favorite EREV SHEL SHOSHANIM, the impassioned MOTHERLESS CHILDREN, the guitar picking showcase within DARK AS A DUNGEON, and then we get the upbeat and joyous BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY, the gently raucous sing-along REUBEN RANZO and then comes the old blues of YOU’VE GOT TO WALK THAT LONESOME VALLEY.
Next up on this quite breathtakingly ambient new collection is the jubilant melodies within EN FILANT MA QUENOUILLE and the harmonious THIS TRAIN which are in turn backed by the old time Canadiana of THE LOG DRIVER’S WALTZ, the lushly ornate V’LÀ LE BONNE VENT, the uniquely rhythmic blues of YOU’RE GONNA NEED SOMEBODY ON YOUR BOND, the recording rounding out with the wonderfully heartwarming ALL THE GOOD TIMES, the mid-tempo storytelling of SAM HALL, coming to a simply achingly passionate rendition of SHENANDOAH.
Omnivore presents Mountain City Four Featurette
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