Dock Boggs: His Folkways Years 1963-1968

I almost gave this 3 stars, but for what it is, this albums is singular. It is one-dimensional in that it is a banjo and an old man singing song after song (and a lot of them). I finally gave it 4 stars because it hardly gets better than this for what it is. It distills (in an almost moonshiner way) folk ballads and a sound from the Appalachians. The lyrics are thought-provoking, as if you are getting a window into people's souls in a variety of miserable situations. That this can come through with such simple music is an achievement.

Dock Boggs possessed and carried the same impact of a delta bluesman. Ol' Dock once said "every song should be played like Mississippi John Hurt", and in Dock Boggs you'll never hear a "smoother" banjo picker, with an intense, sincere voice. Dock's "surreal" music paints a dark pictorial in the listeners mind, listen and learn to "Pretty Polly", "Oh,Death", "Down South Blues", "Country Blues", "Coal Creek March", "Turkey In The Straw"... Dock Boggs obviously knew a good song when he heard one. This two disc set of his folkway sessions 1963-1968, is packed with fifty songs from the always reliable Smithsonian Folkways & enclosed is a thick booklet. The audio is excellent, listen close to the banjo work of Dock Boggs, you're sure to hear a different perspective on some of Dock's re recorded 1920 songs on this compilation.

Dock Boggs Folkways years will give you all the listening pleasure you desire. This is the one to get! This has the superior version of all his songs. These will make your skin crawl, his tortured singing combined with pure brilliance on Banjo. The best of Dock! "Little Black Train" is the pinnacle if you ask me. There are loads of his best songs right here! I only gave this recording a 4 because Dock Boggs is not for everyone.

The songs on this CD as performed by Dock, delicately show his spiritual roots. Dock listened to the black spirituals of his time and closely copied them in his vocals and lyrics. Changing many standard church & secular songs to suit his style. This is a must have album set for any folk music lover or lone banjo picker. I pay a "blues" banjo and I copy Dock as close as possible.

Quite possibly my favorite banjo player/singer. Comes with a little history booklet of Dock and the events that led to this recording. He was the real deal.

This compilation includes a large amount of songs for a good price. It included all the songs I was familiar with and many more.

So beautiful! I love the tinkle of his banjo in contrast to his soulful, raspy lonesome voice.

one of the true craftsmen in our music

WONDERFULDock lived through some hard times as a miner and the life is all here in his songs, which jut out above his droning modal banjo playing.I'm a sucker for this codger soul music. This is art born of the artist's life and not some marketing plan. To the modern ear this paired down stuff can sound quite shocking, but take a while and your ears will adjust.This music is alien to the modern western world. The shifting odd tunings can at times sound more middle eastern or asian than american.What really shocked me about this white banjo-playing miner was how much black blues I could detect in his music. When you get right down to it, the music of the south is the music of the south - regardless of race.These recordings were made late in Dock's life and benefit from modern equipment. The older stuff has its own charm but as it is also mired in crackle and hiss, I would recommend this as the first purchase for anyone interested in Dock Boggs.