Ollie Gilbert (1892–1980) was a folk musician from the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. She sometimes performed as "Auntie Ollie". Max Hunter recorded her singing more than 300 folk songs. She was from the Mountain View area. In 1964, she and

Jimmie Driftwood James Corbitt Morris (June 20, 1907 – July 12, 1998), known professionally as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood, was an American folk music songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs " The Battle of New Orleans" and "Tennessee Stud ...

were interviewed by

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. A recording of her performing "Willow Green" is on the album ''Songs of the Ozarks''. An archival recording of her performing ''Balladeer of Cole Younger'' was presented on Danny Dozier's Ozark Highlands Radio show where she was introduced as a "prodigious Ozark folk balladeer". One writeup described her voice as being like gravel. She recorded Auntie Ollie Gilbert Sings Old Folksongs to Her Friends on Rackensack RLP. She recorded a version of ''

Blue Suede Shoes "Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by American singer, songwriter and guitarist Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues, country and po ...

'' in 1965. Gilbert was an influence on

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

who visited and recorded her on a trip with Alan Lomax. Her husband Oscar Gilbert played the fiddle, was also a singer, and was a

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Ollie Folk musicians from Arkansas 1892 births 1980 deaths