- “Old Folks at Home / Swanee River” performed by Knox Massey. Massey is a YouTuber who records folk standards on various banjos in his backyard in North Carolina. This rendition of a song from the minstrel shows of the mid 19th century, and Massey fittingly accompanies them with a fretless, large-neck banjo, commonly referred to as a “minstrel banjo” due to its frequent use in those shows.
The song is beautifully sung by Massey, whose size, shape, and baritone voice remind one of Baloo from Disney’s Jungle Book movie. He preserves the traditional claw-and-hammer banjo style, giving the song a jaunty rhythm despite its somber, yearning lyrics.
I chose this song intentionally (though I also highly recommend “Trouble on My Mind“, “Hard Tack Come Again No More“, and many other of Massey’s songs) because of the problematic heritage of the song, given the tradition out of which it grew. “Old Folks” is a song that was sung by white performers dressed in racist attire playing African American characters, and it expresses nostalgia for the “old days” of plantation life. While a common theme in minstrel performances, it should be obvious to contemporary listeners that life on plantations was nothing to be nostalgic for. The song is a lie, and a dangerous one at that.
So what do we do with these songs? A huge portion of the American folk canon, from “Camptown Races” to “Oh, Suzanna“, shares this troubled origin. I think the dialogue should be an ongoing one: the songs are musically and historically rich, and while I could easily be persuaded otherwise, I’m thankful to Massey for keeping this beautiful tune alive. It seems to me that little is to be solved by sweeping these songs under the rug, and his rendition is as compelling and respectful as one could hope. - “All Apologies“, an introspective and tender cover of the Nirvana original by Sinéad O’Connor. Accompanied by a single acoustic guitar, O’Connor’s voice echoes with a dreamlike quality somewhere between idyll and nightmare. It’s the minimalist treatment the song deserves, and while nothing could surpass the MTV Unplugged version in its greatness, O’Connor’s cover offers us a gentler vibe and draws us deeper into the lyrics.
Bonus: for those who can’t get enough of Nirvana’s use of the Mixolydian flat seventh and gentle-yet-driving power chords, check out Christian Lee Hutson’s song “State Bird“. - “When Somebody Loves You Back” by Teddy Pendergrass, an uplifting and triumphant song that typifies so much of what was best in the 1970’s “Philly Sound” movement. Philly Sound was an important outgrowth of Motown, leveraging the same soulful lyrics and performances but incorporating lush string arrangements, more complex chord progressions, and often a smoother, more sophisticated approach. Pendergrass, both as a solo act and in his band Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, was a popular and influential figure in the movement, and many of his songs were played endlessly by my father, a loyal devotee of all things Philly Sound.
The track is a celebration of the simple joy of a mutual love. It eschews mawkish sentimentality in favor of an unadorned gratitude. The orchestration is complex but not distracting, and despite its refined composition, the song never loses its soul and groove.
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Footnotes from the Ragged Frontier 
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