Memories of John

The many former colleagues and fans of the late bluegrass fiddler, banjoist and songwriter John Hartford needed no persuading to take part in this celebration of the man and the music he made and loved. Leading the fun are the five men who served as Hartford’s String Band in his later years, during the period of his contributions to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Guests include country artist Tim O’Brien (his affectionate liner notes recount how Hartford, whose ‘Gentle On My Mind’ won two Grammys in 1968, had asked O’Brien to sing the tune at his funeral) and Alison Brown and Bela Fleck, who demonstrate the spirited three-finger John Hartford style of banjo. And aside from the nine Hartford originals in the set, there’s Hartford himself, singing, humming, and picking on a couple of previously unreleased items from a 60s demo tape. The spectrum of material represents Hartford and his compositional breadth handsomely. There’s old-timey music with Celtic roots clearly audible, bluesy rags, updated and uptempo bluegrass excursions, and hilarious novelty numbers. And there’s ‘Lorena’, a treasure from 1856 that was embraced by soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War. Hartford recorded this song, with its exquisite melody and transcendent romantic lyrics, no fewer than four times, and it topped the list of what fans wanted to hear on this tribute CD. The singing on this and the other tracks is appealingly plain, and the instrumental work is consistently fine with no push to be showy or cute.