Ramblin' Jack Elliott & Derroll Adams - America (1997)

Recorded by Derroll Adams and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, this legendary collection--in 1998 the only extant body of Derroll Adams' music on CD--has held up miraculously well over more than 31 years. It might not be the ideal showcase for Adams as an artist, as he has the deeper voice, and to some extent is overshadowed by Elliott's twangier singing (and yodeling), but his banjo drives a good deal of the music here, and their voices mesh nicely. There's not a bad or weak track among the 18 here, but among the most extraordinary is a rolicking rendition of Jimmy Rodgers' "Muleskinner's Blues" (which also includes one of the longest sustained yodels in modern recording, by Elliott). Other songs include Jessie Fuller's "San Francisco Bay Blues," Roy Acuff's "Precious Jewel," A. P. Carter's "Worried Man Blues," "Rich And Rambling Boy," and "East Virginia Blues," Woody Guthrie and Lee Hayes' "I'm Going Down The Road," Guthrie's "More Pretty Girls Than One" and "900 Miles," and Leadbelly's "Ain't It A Shame"--the latter, along with the traditional "Cigarettes and Whiskey," give Adams a lead vocal, showing off a rough-hewn instrument with a dark, rich tone. There are no notes on this budget-priced release, but it has been carefully treated with the CEDAR noise-reduction system, and all sounds astonishingly clean and crisp.