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Across the Blue Ridge #95- Producer, Musician and Documenter Bobby Patterson

by Paul Brown

Bobby Patterson (left), Kyle Creed (center) and Fred Cockerham at Wolf Trap Farm Park, Vienna, VA. c. 1974. Patterson was an outstanding musician from the tradition-rich Galax, Virginia area, and was also dedicated to recording music of the region and making it available through his Heritage record label. Kerry Blech, used with permission

Bobby Patterson, the Galax, Virginia-based musician and founder of the old time and bluegrass label Heritage Records, passed away in September of 2017 at age 75. He dedicated Heritage to recording and making available genuine mountain music. This week we hear about Bobby and listen to a selection of the music he recorded and produced over the years. The real mountain sound comes through loud and clear in the unique recordings Heritage issued over the years. We're only able to scratch the surface of the Heritage recording archive in a one-hour program, but we invite you to join us for powerful samples of the Blue Ridge music legacy – including Bobby Patterson's own admirable artistry as a singer, banjoist, guitarist and mandolin picker.

Playlist

  1. Sally Goodin'
    Olen & Frances Gardner
    Olen & Frances Gardner
     
  2. Ole Molly Hare
    Albert Hash & The Whitetop Mountain Band
    Winebarger's Mill
     
  3. Winebarger's Mill
    Albert Hash & The Whitetop Mountain Band
    Winebarger's Mill
     
  4. Step Back Cindy
    Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed, Bobby Patterson
    Brandywine Mountain Music Convention 1974
     
  5. Lonesome Day
    Tommy Jarrell, Paul Brown, Bobby Patterson, Verlen Clifton
    Brandywine Mountain Music Convention 1983
     
  6. Fiddlesticks
    Mike Seeger & Dewey Balfa
    Brandywine Mountain Music Convention 1983
     
  7. Break 1 - Lost Indian
    Abe Horton & Harold Hausenfluck
    Sweet Sunny South
     
  8. The Girl I Left In Sunny Tennessee
    The Highlanders
    Field recording, Mt. Airy Hometown Opry
     
  9. Bill Cheatham
    The Highlanders with Buddy Pendleton
    Field recording, Mt. Airy Hometown Opry
     
  10. Interview:  Willard Gayheart
    ATBR recording
     
  11. Sweet By & By
    The Bell Spur String Band
    The Bell Spur String Band
     
  12. Western Country
    Camp Creek Boys
    Square Dance Time Blue Ridge Style
     
  13. Break 2 - Wild Hog In The Woods
    Pine River Boys & Maybelle
    The Pine River Boys & Maybelle
     
  14. Cacklin' Hen
    Rafe Brady
    Cherokee Rose
     
  15. Surry County Jail
    Rafe Brady
    Cherokee Rose
     
  16. Logan County Blues
    Fred Cockerham
    Music From Round Peak
     
  17. Movin' Out
    Zeke Saunders & The Blades of Grass
    There'll Be No Broken Hearts For Me
     
  18. Sally Ann
    Tommy Jarrell, Bobby Patterson, Kyle Creed, Audine Lineberry
    June Apple

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