''High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina'' is a 1975 compilation album released by

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

. The album is composed of

Appalachian folk music Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles (particularly Scotland), ...

recordings gathered by

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

John Cohen in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in 1965. The album was originally released in 1975. In 1995, Rounder re-released the album with an additional twenty minutes of bonus tracks, and omission of the track 'Old Jimmy Sutton' played by Estil C. Ball & Wade Reedy from the original vinyl.http://www.discogs.com/Various-High-Atmosphere/release/3769167 and the actual LP for confirmation Indiana University Press' ''The

Journal of Folklore Research The ''Journal of Folklore Research: An International Journal of Folklore and Ethnomusicology'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on folklore, folklife, and ethnomusicology. It was established in 1942 and is published ...

'' has asserted that a Lloyd Chandler song on the album, "A Conversation With Death" was an early form of "''

O Death "O Death", also known as "O, Death", "Oh Death", "Conversations with Death", or "A Conversation with Death", is a traditional Appalachian folk song, listed as number 4933 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song is generally attributed to the music ...

''"—a song which

Ralph Stanley Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016) was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. He began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of The ...

won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for, featured on the ''

O Brother, Where Art Thou ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' is a 2000 satirical comedy-drama musical film written, produced, co-edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Charles Durning, Michael Badal ...

'' soundtrack. Burgin Mathews of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

says the album is "one of the finest compilations of old-time field recordings available" and "should be of equal interest to academics, musicians, and the merely curious". The

alternative country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

group

Uncle Tupelo Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend ...

's 1992 album ''

March 16–20, 1992 ''March 16–20, 1992'' is the third studio album by alternative country band Uncle Tupelo, released on August 3, 1992. The title refers to the five-day span during which the album was recorded. An almost entirely acoustic recording, the album fe ...

'' includes three covers of songs from ''High Atmosphere''.

Jeff Tweedy Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, singer songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, began his music care ...

is the vocalist on all of these cover versions.

Track listing (1995 release)

Notes and references

External links

Album page on Rounder Records
{{Authority control Old-time music Works about Appalachia Folk albums by American artists 1975 compilation albums Folk compilation albums