Notwithstanding s major-label contract with , which commenced in 1961, , the tiny independent label for which he has recorded prolifically since 1950, continues to assemble albums out of its archive of unreleased tracks, and this is the fifth volume of a series of LPs dating back to 1957. has long since become a catchall category in s catalog, easier to define by what it isn't than what it is. The albums are not live recordings; they are not children's recordings; and they are not collections of contemporary topical material, to cite three other types of LPs that are numerous among his releases. Nominally, they contain familiar traditional American folk songs like, for example, rendered here in 's sturdy tenor voice over his banjo plucking. But in practice, he and have included songs from other sources. Here, he sings a traditional blues ( ), a and old-time country songs like and the spiritual as well as compositions by credited songwriters, not just "traditional," notably country-blues tune and even the bluesy lullaby that opens s "folk opera" Porgy and Bess. The point, as with the four earlier volumes, seems to be to suggest the breadth of music that can be included under the fashionable rubric of "folk" and that can be performed effectively by a single musician with his voice and one acoustic instrument. ~ William Ruhlmann