He was a one of a kind performer

Burl Ives was a unique and remarkable entertainer, a folk and pop singer and guitarist, composer, radio performer and stage and film actor, who helped to popularise traditional folk music across all generations but also had pop hits in his later career. Born in Illinois in 1909, he gave up training to be a teacher to become an itinerant troubadour-style entertainer, working on radio where he could and once jailed for vagrancy in Utah. After Army service in WWII, and appearing in Irving Berlin's 'This Is The Army', he became a radio regular, and started recording, revving many US and British folk songs. His early recordings of songs like 'Blue Tail Fly', 'Big Rock Candy Mountain' and 'I Know An Old Lady' became children's radio favourites for decades. This 87-track 3-CD collection comprises selected A & B sides from releases on the Columbia & Decca labels from these years, plus selected titles from the Decca albums 'A Collection of Ballads & Folk Songs', 'Ballads & Folk Songs Vol 2', 'Folk Songs - Dramatic And Humorous', 'Women (Folk Songs About The Fair Sex)', 'Wild Side Of Life', 'Men: Songs For And About Men', 'Down To The Sea In Ships', 'Songs Of Ireland', 'Capt. Burl Ives Ark', 'Old Time Varieties', 'Australian Folk Songs' and 'Cheers'. It includes his hits 'Riders In The Sky, 'Marianne', 'A Little Bitty Tear', 'Funny Way Of Laughing', 'Call Me Mr. In-Between' and 'Mary Ann Regrets'. He was a one of a kind performer, and this selection from his prolific recorded canon is a celebration of his distinctive contribution to popular culture.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

• Wee Cooper O' Fife
• Cowboy's Lament
• I Know Where I'm Going
• Tam Pierce
• Peter Gray
• On Top Of Old Smoky
• Cotton Eyed Joe
• Darlin' Cory
• Foggy, Foggy Dew
• Blue Tail Fly
• Big Rock Candy Mountain
• Old Dan Tucker
• The Eddystone Light
• The Fox
• Aunt Rhody
• Down In The Valley
• I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes
• Turtle Dove
• Po' Boy
• Lavender Blue
• On The Grand Canyon Line
• Wayfaring Stranger
• Riders In The Sky
• Roving Gambler
• John Hardy
• Worried Man Blues
• Mr Froggie Went A-Courtin
• Mule Train
• John Henry
• Doughnut Song
• Pretty Polly

Disc 2:

• Green Broom
• Pig Pig
• The Wild Side Of Life
• This Time Tomorrow
• Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves
• Goober Peas
• Git Along Little Dogies
• Hush Little Baby
• I Know An Old Lady
• Nellie McNess
• Molly Malone
• Liza Jane
• Barbara Allen
• Close The Door Richard
• The Crawdad Song
• Casey Jones
• The Ballad Of Davy Crockett
• Wabash Cannonball
• Jack Was Every Inch A Sailor
• Ox Driver's Song
• Waltzing Matilda (The Jolly Swagman's Song)
• The Wild Rover
• Frankie And Johnny
• Prisoner's Song (Midnight Special)
• Santy Anna
• Blow Ye Winds!
• The Drunken Sailor
• Rolling Home

Disc 3:

• Maid Of The Sweet Brown Knowe
• Kilgary Mountain
• Nell Flaherty's Drake
• Paddy And The Whale
• The Squirrel
• Horace The Horse
• The Bestiary
• The Monkey And The Elephant
• In The Evening By The Moonlight
• The Man On The Flying Trapeze
• Grandfather's Clock
• The Man That Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo
• The Wild Colonial Boy
• A Nautical Yarn
• Botany Bay
• Oh By Jingo (Oh By Gee, You're The Only Girl For Me)
• Tit Willow
• I Never See Maggie Alone
• There Is A Tavern In The Town
• There's A Hole In My Bucket
• Marianne
• The Long Black Veil
• A Little Bitty Tear
• Shanghied
• Mockin' Bird Hill
• Funny Way Of Laughin'
• Mother Wouldn’t Do That
• Call Me Mr. In-Between
• Mary Ann Regrets

Additional Details

Label: Acrobat

Genre: Folk

Language: English

Run Time: 141 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 04/03/26

UPC: 824046918224