Sixteen Tons of Bluegrass is an album by Pete Stanley and

Wizz Jones Raymond Ronald Jones (born 25 April 1939), better-known as Wizz Jones, is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England and has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 19 ...

produced by

Chas McDevitt Charles James McDevitt (born 4 December 1934) is a Scottish musician, one of the leading lights of the skiffle genre which was highly influential and popular in the United Kingdom in the mid-to-late 1950s. Biography McDevitt was born in Eagles ...

, and originally released in the UK1966 on Columbia Records. Wizz & Pete were probably the first British musicians to successfully interpret America's favourite traditional music for UK audiences. The album was also released on the Joker label in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

as Way Out West, with a different cover design. Wizz Jones is quoted,WizzJones.com - Discography - Way Out West
/ref> describing the cover, "I've only seen this once, as I recall the alternative sleeve design is hilarious. A mini-skirted girl is perched on a gate being serenaded by a smart young man in blue jeans!" In 2000 it was released on CD by Rollercoaster Records as More Than Sixteen Tons of Bluegrass and Other Fine Stuff, with the addition of a number of bonus tracks. The bonus tracks comprised the 2 tracks from the duo's 1965 single (Ballad of Hollis Brown, Columbia DB7776) and six previously unreleased tracks from the "Sixteen Tons" recording sessions. The masters of some of the original tracks had been lost by this time, but those tracks were reinstated by dubbing from commercial copies or from acetates, without appreciable deterioration of quality. The CD reissue therefore comprises the entire output of the duo, and includes a

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...

presentation pack with a booklet of detailed notes and archive photographs. After this album, Stanley continued to play bluegrass with Brian Golbey, and Jones went on to have a mainly solo career, playing blues and contemporary folk songs written by himself and others.

Track list

All tracks are credited as "traditional, arranged by Pete Stanley & Wizz Jones", except where stated otherwise. #"Ramblin' and Gamblin" (trad, arr. ) #"My Grandfather's Clock" #"Burglar Man" #"

Freight Train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...

" (James / Williams /

Elizabeth Cotten Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten ( Nevills; January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987) was an American folk and blues musician. She was a self-taught left-handed guitarist who played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down. This po ...

) #"Clinch Mountain Backstep" (trad, arr. Pete Stanley) #"Kentucky Moonshiner" (trad, arr. Wizz Jones) #"Teardrops In My Eyes" (trad, arr. Pete Stanley) #" Ballad of Jed Clampett ''(theme from

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family f ...

)''" (

Paul Henning Paul William Henning (September 16, 1911 – March 25, 2005) was an American TV producer and screenwriter. Most famous for creating the television sitcom ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', he was also crucial in developing the "rural" comedies ''Pett ...

) #"Kentucky Mountain Chimes" ( Rusty York) #"National Seven" ( Alan Tunbridge/Al Jones) #"Iowa" (trad, arr. Pete Stanley & Wizz Jones) #"Devilish Mary" #"Hesitation Blues" #"Weepin' Willow Blues" ( Edgar Dowell) #"Stern Old Bachelor" #"Fidlers Green" (Pete Stanley)

Re-release

In 2000, the album was re-released on ''Rollercoaster Records'' as "More Than Sixteen Tons of Bluegrass and Other Fine Stuff". The re-released contained the original, fully remastered album as well as eight bonus tracks #"Riff Minor"* (Pete Stanley) #"Teapot Blues"* (Wizz Jones/ Alan Tunbridge) #"Riff Minor" (Pete Stanley) #"The Ballad of Hollis Brown" (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

) #"The Cuckoo"* (trad, arr. Pete Stanley & Wizz Jones) #"Walk Right In"* (

Gus Cannon Gustavus "Gus" Cannon (September 12, 1883 or 1884 – October 15, 1979) was an American blues musician who helped to popularize jug bands (such as his own Cannon's Jug Stompers) in the 1920s and 1930s. There is uncertainty about his birth year; ...

) #"Shuckin' Sugar"* (trad, arr. Pete Stanley & Wizz Jones) #"Corinne"* (trad, arr. Pete Stanley & Wizz Jones) * = Denotes a song that was previously unreleased

Production

*Producer: Chas McDevitt *Sleeve Notes: Nigel Hunter *Design and artwork: David Gibsone *CD production: John Beecher *Photographs: Chas McDevitt *Booklet author:

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May, 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (19 ...

, with additional contributions by Chas McDevitt, John Pilgrim, Pete Stanley, Wizz Jones and Nigel Hunter

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sixteen Tons Of Bluegrass Wizz Jones albums 1966 albums Columbia Records albums