Just before the British Invasion changed the pop world, the musical sensation of popular music for college age kids was folk music. Bob Dylan, The Limelighters, The Kingston Trio & Peter, Paul and Mary were the major voices of the pre-Beatles Boomers. One of the more obscure groups was the Canadian team of Kate McGarrigle, Anna McGarrible, Peter Weldon and Jack Nissenson, forming the short-lived band Mountain City Four. This album collections just about everything they ever did, including studio and concert recordings, and the band mixes American blues, Cumberland gap rural material and even a spiritual or two.
Thus, you get Nissenson giving an earnest rendition of “Dark As A Dungeion” and the two McGarrigle sisters sharing the mic on “Motherless Children” and the Israel piece “Erev Shel Shoshanim”. Weldon is upbeat on “Mean Old Frisco” and the harmonies are rich in primary colors for “This Train”. This music is an intriguing reflection of the times that were a’changin’.