The Red Clay Ramblers

• Stolen Love [Flying Fish, 1975] B-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Stolen Love [Flying Fish, 1975]
Like so many unpretentious and unheard-of string/bluegrass/jug amalgams, this one offers a pleasant but rather slight variation on a familiar musical question, to wit: "Do I really want to hear another version of `Golden Vanity' just because this time the mate is a she?" They also do Bessie Smith, which is a mistake, and a shape-note hymn, which isn't. Noteworthy for uncovering an antifeminist mountain song from the '20s and for reviving the joyful, rather zany emancipation celebration, "Kingdom Coming," which Peter Stampfel singles out as the first truly American melody. B-