Old Timey Songs for Children

They Say...

Review by Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

The original lineup of this group, with Tom Paley delivering some his most heartfelt and also funnest vocals, came up with this 10" vinyl collection of so-called children's songs. The small album cover done in the typical Folkways card-stock and glue method will certainly appeal to collectors of nifty album packages, and fans of old-timey music won't have any problem sitting through these songs. The instrumental talents of these players have been well-established, and although this was early in the development of the band, there is some traditional playing that is technically pristine in a cozy, comfortable manner. What might not be automatic is any appeal of this music for children, except of course toddlers, who are so young that they practically like any record their mom and dad puts on, including the solo saxophone of Anthony Braxton. Of course these were children's songs when they were first handed down, and there was a time when a set of parents could comfortably predict that a wee lass or lassie would love to rock out to the sounds of "Cotton Eyed Joe" or giggle at the irony of "Soldier, Soldier, Will You Marry Me?" Forty years after this set was released, however, the mass media had succeeded in making pop music attractive to younger and younger age groups, not completely wiping out the need for so-called children's music, but making it a much tougher sell. When rap music is part of the daily diet of young children, their taste for the lyrics of, say, "Old Bell Cow" might be severely compromised. Now, old-timey music does contain lyrics and tell stories that makes rap music pale by comparison, but these aren't the types of tunes the New Lost City Ramblers picked out for their kiddie set in the late '50s. The song "Knoxville Girl," for example, contains worse sex and violence than an hour's worth of programming on a rap station, so try that if one is trying to sell kids on old-timey and meeting with resistance. Or just skip directly to the last track here, "Johnny Get Your Gun," which at least has some shooting and an explosion in it.