3. Model-T Love (Alton Stitcher/Helen Gable Stitcher)
Alton's first wife, Helen, composed the lyrics to this tale of "rough and rocky" courtship.

4. Babes in the Woods (Traditional)
The first tune he taught himself to play on harmonica when he was seven years old, Stitcher recalls that "I learned that from a school teacher of mine when I was in about the third grade. She was the only teacher that I remember havin' that would sing to us." Also known as "Children in the Woods," this melancholy English ballad has been traced back to the 1600s.

5. That's My Baby (Alton Stitcher)
One of Alton's earliest compositions, it remains his favorite. His 1959 home recording of the song, which features Uncle John Patterson on banjo, has been released on the CD, "Everybody's Tuned to the Radio: Rural Music Traditions in West Georgia, 1947-1979."

6. Listen to the Mockingbird (Traditional)
One of the "old folks songs" Alton heard his older brother and sister singing a lot when he was a kid was actually composed for the minstrel stage in 1855 by Septimus Winner, a professional songwriter from Philadelphia.

7. I Feel Like Traveling On (William Hunter)

Previously recorded by the Blue Sky Boys and Reno and Smiley among others.

8. Old Dan Tucker (Traditional)
An minstrel song from the early 1800s that became a popular square dance tune throughout the South, Alton remembers hearing it played and sung by relatives when he was a young boy. This recording features Alton playing guitar and harmonica on a wire rack at the same time.

9. Alone and Blue (Alton Stitcher)

10. Remember Me (When the Candlelights are Gleaming) (Scott Wiseman)
Scott Wiseman, of the popular 1930s duo Lulu Belle and Scotty, wrote this and "Have I Told You Lately that I Love You," two of country music's all-time classic sentimental love songs. It was one of the most requested by songs by listeners to Alton's radio programs.

11. Only You (Alton Stitcher)

12. Prodigal Son (Author unknown)

13. You and Me Darling (Alton Stitcher)

14. Sweet Memories
(Alton Stitcher. Gaping Maw Music. BMI)

15. When Heaven Comes Down (Johnny Bailes/Al Robinson)
Reflecting the pervasive influence of fundamentalist religion in the lives of country music listeners and performers, it was standard practice for hillbilly acts to include a gospel song or two in their radio programs. Alton was no exception.

16. My Red Rose Has Turned to White (Alton Stitcher, Lance Hart)
Back in the 1950s, Lance Hart, a co-worker of Alton's from Lawler Hosiery Mill, gave him this poem to put to music.

17. Froggie Went A-Courtin' (Traditional)

Variations on this well-known children's song have been traced back to the British Isles in the 16th century. Alton learned it from his brother. An earlier recording of Alton performing the song on Marshall and Pearl Hannah's WLBB program circa 1960 is available on "Everybody's Tuned to the Radio."

18. Red River Valley (Traditional)
Like so of the traditional numbers in his repertoire, Alton learned this 19th century ballad from his older brother, Arlin.

19. Just an Old Chimney Stack (Thomas H. Bryant)
In the days of live radio, hillbilly acts usually opened and closed their programs with a short theme song. Alton's was written by guitarist Slim Bryant and first recorded by Clayton McMichen's Wildcats in 1938.

20. Kentucky (Carl Davis)
First recorded by Karl and Harty in 1938, the song became a hit for the Blue Sky Boys in 1947. Around this ssame time, Stitcher began performing it on his own program. Alton's home recording was previously released on "Everybody's Tuned to the Radio."

21. The Wildwood Flower (Traditional)
A variation on this nineteenth century parlor song was later popularized by the Carter Family.

22.They Call Me a Dreamer (Alton Stitcher)
This 1959 home recording of the first song Alton wrote features the banjo playing of Uncle John Patterson, with whom he occasionally performed on the radio or at personal appearances. Something of a folk legend in west Georgia, Patterson parlayed his popularity as a musician into two terms as Carroll County's representative to the Georgia State Legislature, from 1968-1972. During the 1970s he recorded an LP released on Arhoolie Records as well as several 45s for local labels. Uncle John passed away in 1980.

23. As Long as I Live (Roy Acuff)
The Silver Dew Melody Boys were reunited for a day when Alton and his old friend Lee Williams recorded this and a couple of other songs at Stitcher's house.

24. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You (Scott Wiseman)
Alton's recordings with Elizabeth Cooper were made during the period when they were performing together on WLBB in the early 1960s. Their duet on Bill Monroe's "I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling" was is available on Everybody's Tuned to the Radio.

25. Wonderful Words of Life (Philip P. Bliss)
This gospel hymn dates back to 1874.

26. I Dreamed I Searched Heaven for You (James D. Vaughn/Mary Ethel Weiss)

Another of the sacred ballads that Alton often performed on the radio.

27. The Fox (Traditional)

Unlike most of the traditional folk songs he knows, Alton learned this one, also known as "The Fox is on the Town," from a recording by singer Burl Ives rather than through oral transmission.

28. The Strawberry Roan (From a poem by Curley Fletcher)
This cowboy ballad started life as a poem "The Outlaw Broncho" by Curley Fletcher was first printed in an Arizona newspaper in 1915 and later set to music by a person or persons unknown. By the early 1920s it was being sung all over the southwest and as far north as the Dakotas. Alton learned it from his older brother. He vividly recollects one Saturday afternoon in the 1930s when he was hanging out on the streets of downtown Griffin, guitar in hand. Just killing time, he began singing "The Strawberry Roan" and right away found himself drawing a rather different audience than he was accustomed to. Overhearing his impromptu performance, the inebriated patrons exiting the nearby barrooms began clamoring for one sad song after another. As Alton recalls, "you'd take people that's drinking back then, if they had a dollar in their pocket and somebody was singin' a song they liked, they'd take it out and give their last dollar to them. By the time we got ready to go I had a pocket full of money. I had more money than I'd made in a week in the mills." Laughing about the incident nearly seventy years later, Alton joked "I thought about goin' back up there and doin' it again sometime. See if some of them drunks are still there."

Credits
Alton Stitcher: guitar, vocals, harmonica on track 8
Russell McClanahan: mandolin, banjo, harmonica
James Bryan: fiddle
Rachel Bryan: guitar (1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 13, 14)
Faye Marshall: backing vocals (1, 5, 9, 10, 13, 14), guitar (15)
Donna Fuller: vocals (2, 7, 18)
Mick Buck: guitar (6, 17), slide guitar (11), backing vocals (6, 11)
Michael Butler: backing vocal (11)
Uncle John Patterson: banjo (22)
Elizabeth Cooper: vocals (24, 25)
Lee Williams: vocal (23)
Producer: Mick Buck
Project Director: Ann McCleary
Mastering: Dave Glasser (Airshow Mastering, Boulder, Colorado)
Liner notes: Mick Buck
Graphic design: Debby Holcombe (Publications and Printing, State University of West Georgia)
Tracks 1-15, 17-18 recorded and mixed by Michael Butler (Butler Sound Studios, Carrollton, Georgia)
Track 15: recorded and mixed by Steven Broome
Tracks 10-28: recorded by Alton Stitcher, ca. 1959
Photography: Steven Broome (Public Relations, State University of West Georgia)
Additional research and invaluable assistance: Bruce Nemerov (Center for Popular Music,
Middle Tennessee State University)
Photos courtesy of : Alton and Eula Stitcher, M.T. Fuller, Francis Ashemore Cameron, Elizabeth Cooper, Diane Stitcher, Steven Broome, Pearl Hannah Gosdin, Billye Craven McElroy, Maureen Suddith Akers

[Liner Notes] [Ordering Info] [Regional Music Project]