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Critic's Review
Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
This is an expanded version of the group's debut album, Appalachian Swing, originally issued in England in this form after Clarence White's death in 1973 and reissued over there in 1997 by the Beat Goes On label. The original 12-song album (which was also available here as a ten-song LP at one point late in the 1970s) is here, newly remastered, along with two additional tracks, "John Henry" b/w "Flat Fork," that came out as a single at around the same time. Highlights on the original album include "I Am a Pilgrim," a song that the Byrds were later to cover during the beginning of their country phase; maybe the prettiest version of the bluegrass standard "Billy in the Low Ground" that you're ever going to hear; White's arrangement of the popular song "Listen to the Mockingbird"; and traditional numbers like "Wild Bill Jones" (great mandolin showcase), "Lee Highway" (ditto the fiddle), their beautifully sung version of Gordon Lightfoot's "That's What You Get for Lovin' Me," and "Sally Goodin." In addition to the extra song, there are extensive notes giving a detailed biography on Clarence White and a history of the Kentucky Colonels and this recording, all of which make this a choice addition to any collection.
