Ola Belle Reed: Rising Sun melodies

The BIB carried on 14 May 2009 news from the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the USA, about a media event centred on the late Ola Belle Reed (photo left), influential mountain singer/songwriter, and one of the pioneer female musicians in bluegrass.

The Institution's non-profit record label, Smithsonian Folkways, now announces the release on 3 August of Rising Sun melodies, featuring eleven remastered tracks from her influential Folkways recordings, as well as eight previously unreleased live recordings made at the Festival of American Folklife in 1972 and 1976 (denoted on the track list below by **). As the Smithsonian says:

Decades after these recordings, and eight years after her passing, Ola Belle’s original songs and voice still ring true and continue to influence a new generation of musicians.

Rising Sun melodies track list
1. I’ve endured 2:51
2. Ola Belle’s blues 2:21
3. Ragtime of life 4:18
4. Bonaparte’s retreat 2:51
5. Foggy mountain top 2:38
6. Fortunes 4:12
7. High on the mountain 3:06
8. Sweet Evalina 2:47
9. Sing me a song 4:31
10. Tear down the fences 3:37
11. My epitaph 3:14
12. Look down that lonesome road 2:37**
13. Undone in sorrow 4:45**
14. I believe in the old time way 3:22**
15. Nine pound hammer 4:50**
16. I am the man, Thomas 3:41**
17. I’ve endured 2:33**
18. Ranger’s command 4:38**
19. I saw the light 5:23**