Montana Slim

Wilf Carter made some overtly commercial music in the '50s but otherwise devoted his long career to traditional folk, cowboy songs, and old fashioned country music. Montana Slim, Carter's second Starday album from 1966, is an unrehearsed set of 12 songs that would be characterized as "old timey" today, performed with minimal accompaniment and no drums. There are traditional songs like "Frankie and Johnny" and "On Top of Old Smokey," but also modern topical songs ("A Mother's Son in Viet Nam"), yodeling songs ("I Love My Yodeling Man"), and old vaudeville numbers ("I'm Ragged but I'm Right," AKA "Ragged but Right"). Montana Slim was created for folk revivalists and fans of early country music rather than the country charts, and is rooted in the sensibilities of an earlier era. ~ Greg Adams