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Back Home is the original LP reissue of Merle Travis
Merle Travis

Merle Robert Travis was an United States country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the exploitation of coal miners....
's first album, Folk Songs of the Hills
Folk Songs of the Hills

Folk Songs of the Hills is Merle Travis's classic collection of traditional songs from his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, including original compositions evoking working life on the railroads and in the coal mines....
 (1947), with four previously unreleased tracks and a new cover. This seminal album marked a new turn in Travis's career, bringing his Kentucky-style fingerpicking and down-home vocal stylings to the attention of a broad public of country and folk music enthusiasts at the onset of the American folk music revival
American folk music revival

The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States in the 1950s to mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, of course, since traditional folk music has thousands of years of history, and performers like Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, and Cisco Houston had enjoyed a limited general popularity in decades prior to the 1950s....
. Together with another Capitol release the following year, The Merle Travis Guitar
The Merle Travis Guitar

The Merle Travis Guitar was the first solo guitar album by Merle Travis, recorded in 1955 when Travis was at the peak of his performing abilities and released on January 1, 1956....
, it introduced the style of guitar playing that came to be known, in simplified form, as Travis picking.






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Back Home is the original LP reissue of Merle Travis
Merle Travis

Merle Robert Travis was an United States country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the exploitation of coal miners....
's first album, Folk Songs of the Hills
Folk Songs of the Hills

Folk Songs of the Hills is Merle Travis's classic collection of traditional songs from his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, including original compositions evoking working life on the railroads and in the coal mines....
 (1947), with four previously unreleased tracks and a new cover. This seminal album marked a new turn in Travis's career, bringing his Kentucky-style fingerpicking and down-home vocal stylings to the attention of a broad public of country and folk music enthusiasts at the onset of the American folk music revival
American folk music revival

The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States in the 1950s to mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, of course, since traditional folk music has thousands of years of history, and performers like Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, and Cisco Houston had enjoyed a limited general popularity in decades prior to the 1950s....
. Together with another Capitol release the following year, The Merle Travis Guitar
The Merle Travis Guitar

The Merle Travis Guitar was the first solo guitar album by Merle Travis, recorded in 1955 when Travis was at the peak of his performing abilities and released on January 1, 1956....
, it introduced the style of guitar playing that came to be known, in simplified form, as Travis picking. The album includes a selection of traditional country songs such as John Henry
John Henry

John Henry may refer to:...
, Muskrat and Lost John (from Bowling Green), the ancient ballad Barbara Allen
Barbara Allen

"The Ballad of Barbara Allen", also known as "Barbara Ellen," "Barbara Allan," "Barb'ry Allen," "Barbriallen," etc., is a folk song known in dozens of versions....
, Travis' signature gospel song I am a Pilgrim, and original compositions including his legendary crossover hits Dark as a Dungeon
Dark as a Dungeon

"Dark as a Dungeon" is a song written by singer-songwriter Merle Travis. It is a lament about the danger and drudgery of being a coal miner in an Appalachian shaft mine....
 and Sixteen Tons
Sixteen Tons

"Sixteen Tons" is a song about the misery of coal mining, first recorded in 1946 by United States country music singer Merle Travis and released on his box set album Folk Songs of the Hills the following year....
. All songs are introduced by a spoken narrative.

This was Travis' first LP to be played entirely on acoustic, instead of electric, guitar. The cover shows a grist mill powered by a water wheel, a main source of energy "back home" before the arrival of electricity.

Track listing

  1. "Nine Pound Hammer" (Travis)
  2. "John Henry" (Traditional)
  3. "Sixteen Tons" (Travis)
  4. "Dark as a Dungeon" (Travis)
  5. "That's All" (Travis)
  6. "Over by Number Nine" (Travis)
  7. "I Am a Pilgrim" (Traditional)
  8. "Muskrat" (Traditional)
  9. "John Bolin" (Traditional)
  10. "Possum up a Simmon Tree" (Traditional)
  11. "Barbara Allen" (Traditional)
  12. "Lost John" (Traditional)


Tracks 9-12 were not included in the original release Folk Songs of the Hills

Personnel

  • Merle Travis - vocals and acoustic guitar