The Highwaymen’s second album was released in late 1961, in the wake of their number one hit “Michael.” They rose to the occasion with an LP that had more than its share of hits, including “The Gypsy Rover,” and some superb album cuts, among them “Black Eyed Susie,” “Three Jolly Rogues,” and “Pollerita,” which offered a delightful mix of delicacy and playfulness. “Wildwood Flower” also displays some extraordinarily nimble playing. The real jewel here, however, and a track whose presence should justify the importance of the group in the scheme of the early-’60s folk revival, is “Cotton Fields,” a Leadbelly song that was previously little-known, even by the late singer/songwriter’s estate or his publisher; the Highwaymen’s smooth-tempo rendition, elegantly harmonized in its folky way, with its acoustic guitars and percussion upfront in the mix, was the B-side of a single issued in early 1962 and was flipped over by DJs around the country; it reached number 13 nationally and introduced the song to tens of millions of listeners (among them the Beach Boys, who recorded it six years later). – Bruce Eder