Goodnight Irene: The Weavers, 1949-1953 (2000)

About this title: There are great records, and then there are records like this one, which is an adventure as well as incomparable listening. And don't be repelled by the 100-plus dollar price tag -- this five-disc set manages to be a hootenanny, a history lesson, a light-hearted voyage through pasts musical, political, and cultural, and a pop-culture travelogue all in one, and an investment that will pay off five or ten times that amount in smiles and a few tears. The usual assumption is that the Weavers started their recording career with Gordon Jenkins at Decca Records, adapting their folk sound into an ... read more

Tracks:

1. Wasn't That a Time [Hays]
2. Dig My Grave [Traditional]
3. Freight Train Blues [Traditional]
4. Love Song Blues [Hays]
5. The Hammer Song [Hays/Seeger]
6. No Irish Need Apply [Poole]
7. The Hammer Song [Hays/Seeger]
8. Banks of Marble [Rice]
9. When the Saints Go Marching In [Traditional]
10. Rock Island Line [Leadbelly]
11. Lonesome Traveler [Hays]
12. I Don't Want to Get Adjusted [Hays/Hellerman]
13. Wasn't That a Time [Hays]
14. The Johnson Boys [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
15. Goodnight Irene [Leadbelly/Lomax]
16. Lousy Dime [Hays]
17. Every Night When the Sun Goes Down [Hellerman]
18. Talking Blues [Seeger/Hellerman]
19. East Virginia Blues [Traditional]
20. Love Song Blues [Hays]
21. Tzena, Tzena, Tzena [Grossman/Miron/Pari]
22. El Quinto Regimento [Traditional]
23. Wimoweh [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
24. Around the World [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
25. Poor Howard's Dead and Gone [Leadbelly/Lomax/Lom]
26. Dig My Grave [Traditional]
27. Love Song Blues [Hays]
28. Washington Square Blues [Hays]
29. Freight Train Blues [Traditional]
30. The Johnson Boys [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
31. Lousy Dime [Hays]
32. The Fireship [Traditional]
33. Around the World [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
34. Tzena, Tzena, Tzena [Grossman/Miron/Pari]
35. Tzena, Tzena, Tzena [Grossman/Miron/Pari]
36. Goodnight Irene [Leadbelly/Lomax]
37. Lonesome Traveler [Hays]
38. So Long (It's Been Good to Know Yuh) [Guthrie]
39. Wreck of the John B [Hays/Sandburg]
40. Midnight Special [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
41. The Roving Kind [Cavanaugh/Stanton]
42. Follow the Drinking Gourd [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
43. Trouble in Mind [Jones]
44. Along the Colorado Trail [Hays/Sandburg]
45. Suliram (I'll Be There) [Campbell]
46. Hush Little Baby [Campbell]
47. I Know Where I'm Going [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
48. Across the Wide Missouri [Drake/Shirl]
49. On Top of Old Smokey [Traditional]
50. The Frozen Logger [Stevens]
51. Follow the Drinking Gourd [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
52. Darling Corey [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
53. Greensleeves [Instrumental]
54. Easy Rider Blues [Campbell]
55. Along the Colorado Trail [Hays/Sandburg]
56. Greensleeves [Instrumental]
57. When the Saints Go Marching In [Traditional]
58. Run Home to Ma-Ma [Campbell]
59. Quilting Bee [Shapiro/Robinson]
60. Kisses Sweeter Than Wine [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]
61. Jig Along Home [Guthrie]
62. (Come on and) Join into the Game
63. Wimoweh [Gilbert/Hays/Heller]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.