Old-Time String Band

Released on CD 30 years after their original recording in 1967, these 14 sides represent old-time mountain music at its most authentic. The Camp Creek Boys all hailed from North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountain valley, and their playing on such standards as "Old Joe Clark," "Soldier's Joy," and "Cotton Eyed Joe" harked back to an era on the verge of dying out when these performances were captured on tape. The names Kyle Creed, Fred Cockerham, and Paul Sutpin have long since acquired an aura of the legendary about them in traditional music circles, based on these recordings and others the County label has made available in the name of preserving the mountain tradition. Justifiably so. Creed's banjo frailling and Cockerham's fiddling could jump start any number of revivals. This CD reissue includes two bonus cuts ("Breaking Up Christmas" and "Pretty Little Girl") that appeared as a 45 rpm single in 1967, too. If some of the band's song choices seem obvious or overdone in an era of nationwide festivals and younger revival bands like The Freight Hoppers, the spirited playing here makes this disc a highly recommended addition to all old-time collections.