Blue Country Heart

1	Blue Railroad Train 3:41
2	Just Because 4:12
3	Blues Stay Away From Me 3:24
4	Red River Blues 3:21
5	Bread Line Blues 4:35
6	Waiting for a Train 3:23
7	Those Gambler's Blues 3:04
8	Tom Cat Blues 3:03
9	Big River Blues 2:57
10	Prohibition Blues 4:10
11	I'm Free From the Chain Gang Now 3:24
12	You and My Old Guitar 2:42
13	What Are They Doing in Heaven Today? 3:19

Barnes & Noble

Master guitarist Jorma Kaukonen is a great American musicologist and a passionate roots musician and preservationist. Blue Country Heart, Kaukonen's debut recording for Columbia Records, is an impressive survey of rural blues and bluegrass songs from the 1920s and '30s, written by such tunesmiths as Slim Smith, the Delmore Brothers, Jimmie Rodgers, and Jimmy "The Singing Governor" Davis. The legendary lead guitarist of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna tapped an all-star cast of country music veterans including mandolinist Sam Bush, dobro player Jerry Douglas, and banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck for this delightful, all-acoustic collection, recorded in Nashville during one very productive week this past spring. Kaukonen and friends have a ball digging into the Jimmie Rodgers classics "Waitin' for a Train," "These Gambler's Blues," and "Me and My Old Guitar," and sound positively galvanized on such perfectly-tailored Americana as "Blue Railroad Train," "Just Because," "Tom Cat Blues," and "Blues Stay Away from Me." Particularly moving is Kaukonen's elegiac vocal on Washington Phillips' wistful "What Are They Doing in Heaven Today." Four decades into a productive and varied career, this Rock and Roll Hall of Famer continues to refine his astonishing technique and enthusiastically share new musical insights with his legion of fans. Blue Country Heart is another milestone from a remarkably fertile and original musician. David Cohen

All Music Guide

Acoustic fingerpicker Jorma Kaukonen fiddled around with his country roots a bit in Jefferson Airplane and dipped a little deeper while fronting Hot Tuna, but his 2002 release, Blue Country Heart, is his most summertime-afternoon, front-porch-pickin' album. The album is comprised of traditional country songs from the '30s and '40s popularized by legendary performers like Jimmy Rodgers, Jimmy Davis, Gene Autry, and the Delmore Brothers. The blue country band features contemporary acoustic virtuosos Sam Bush on mandolin, Jerry Douglas on dobro, bassist Byron House, and Grammy-winner Béla Fleck on banjo, backing Kaukonen's nimble fingers and gruff vocals. The whole album carries an easygoing vibe throughout; whether Kaukonen is waiting for a train, recounting his promiscuous tomcat, or escaping from a chain gang, his voice maintains a relaxed feel, and the "no overdubs" recording style gives it a real "living room jam" kind of sound. The recordings aren't flawless, but pretty close, and any brown notes and voice crackles only help to add to the down-home atmosphere, making for a warmly enjoyable listening experience. Zac Johnson