Jim Garland

Jim Garland and Sarah Ogan Gunning: Without a doubt one of the most enjoyable recording sessions I have supervised was the several day period that I spent with Jim Garland and Sarah Ogan Gunning, who were both already well known in the ‘folk’ world because of the ‘protest songs’ they had written when they lived in New York in the late 1930's.  Brother and sister, they had been raised near Pineville, Kentucky and knew an enormous amount of traditional song.  Sarah, who then lived in Hart, Michigan, had been invited to the big Smithsonian Festival in Washington and Jim had flown in from Washougal, Washington just for companionship.  Rounder had already included several of Sarah's protest songs from the 1930s on their Coal Mining Women LP and on this occasion had paid Jim and Sarah's fare to come to Boston for a fuller recording.

Part of the booklet notes, written by Mark Wilson, to the Musical Traditions Records 4-CD set Meeting's a Pleasure (MTCD341-4)