The Wanderin' Five, The Appalachians - Hootenanny at the Limelight (2021) [Hi-Res]

This LP with the full title “The Wanderin' Five, The Appalacians And Their Friends - Hootenanny At The Limelight In The Village” was recorded in 1963 and came out as Somerset SP-19900. On the reverse sleeve it say “The Limelight in Greenwich Village, N.Y., is fast becoming one of the Nation’s leading gathering spots for Folk groups and their followers. This Hootenanny, recorded at the Limeluight, features two fast rising groups and their friends who dropped in to “hoot” the night - we recorded this program of well-known favorites.” The contents are: Old Greenback Dollar; Midnight Special; Black Eyed Susie; Turtle Dove; Lonesome Valley; I'll Not Marry At All; The Rovin’ Gambler; The Riddle Song; Mary, Don't You Weep; Who's Gonna Be Your Man?; Cindy.

In the Folk music revival of the late 1950s/early 1960s there were a number of “fast-rising” groups who became semi-regular visitors to the national singles charts, each with at least one major hit - The Kingston Trio, The Brothers Four, The New Christy Minstrels, The Rooftop Singers, The Serendipity Singers and The Chad Mitchell Trio - but The Wanderin’ Five and The Appalachians were not among them. In fact, between the two, there was just one nationally-recognised song, that being the April 1963 cover of the 1957 Larry Williams hit, Bony Moronie, which topped out at # 62 Billboard Pop Hot 100 for The Appalachians b/w It Takes A Man as ABC-Paramount 10419.

In addition, almost nothing is known about either group. Indeed, I cant find any information on single releases by The Wanderin’ Five or the make-up of the group (they did have at least one other album - the 1962 “ Come On In!!! We're Pickin' And Singin' Folk Songs.” The Appalachians may have been just a duet involving Stan Robinson and Priscilla Mitchell and only the latter has any recorded history of any consequence. Born in Marietta, Georgia on September 18, 1941, and wife of the late Country great Jerry Reed (Hubbard), she entered the recording business in 1958 as a R&R vocalist with the fledgling Atlanta-based National Recording Corporation (NRC), just launched by Bill Lowery and Boots Woodall. Although her time there would be primarily as a backing vocalist, she did have one 1958 non-charting single released that is also highly sought-after by Girl Group Sound collectors - Every Girl b/w Out Of My Dreams on NRC 5002.

Much later she would score 3 times as a Country duet with Roy Drusky, but while their first entry - Yes, Mr. Peters (# 1 for 2 weeks in June-July 1965 as Mercury 72416 b/w More Than We Deserved - can be found in a number of multiple-artist compilations as well as CDs devoted to Drusky, the other two lower-charting duets and her two solo charting sides for Mercury in 1967/68 remain impossible to track down on CD.

As for The Appalachians, they also had the singles Cleopatra, Queen Of The Nile b/w All My Trials Lord as ABC-Paramount 10331 in late 1962, and in 1963, Big Betty b/w Hilly-Billy-Ding-Dong-Choo-Choo as ABC-Paramount 10464 and a cover of Lloyd Price's Lawdy Miss Clawdy b/w Over Yonder as ABC-Paramount 10498.

Tracklist:
1 01. - I'll Not Marry at All (03:17)
1 02. - Rovin' Gambler (01:59)
1 03. - The Riddle Song (02:27)
1 04. - Mary Don't You Weep (02:46)
1 05. - Who's Gonna Be Your Man (02:37)
1 06. - Cindy (02:14)
1 07. - Old Greenback Dollar (03:38)
1 08. - Midnight Special (02:41)
1 09. - Black Eyed Susie (02:12)
1 10. - Turtle Dove (02:34)
1 11. - Lonesome Valley (03:36)