More Obscure Than It Oughta Be

Excuse me for being incensed, but, really?

This tune comes from one of the most influential bluegrass albums ever released. Yet neither eMusic, AllMusic, or Smithsonian Freaking Folkways seems to know that.

Leave it to those stalwart purveyors of obscure bluegrass (since 1965, and it was almost all obscure back then), County Sales, to remind us that the dedicated and knowledgeable Mike Seeger (who should be at least as well-known as his half-brother, Pete) recorded these artists way back in 1959, when bluegrass was even more obscure most everywhere outside Appalachia. For many, Mountain Music Bluegrass Style was their first exposure to bluegrass music.

Yeah, I think I'm done spluttering now.

This tune is more popularly known as "The Butcher Boy", but none of those versions hold a candle to this performance, not least because they leave out the most important parts of the story:

He gets her down upon his knee
And he tells her things that he won't tell me.

Yet, there's more to it than that: The way Baker's desolate vocal contrasts with the relentless, almost terrible, instrumental work, is devastating.

Bob Baker and The Pike County Boys with one of my favorite bluegrass records of all time, "Snow Dove".