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Album Details

• Artist: Texas Gladden
• Album: Ballad Legacy
• Label: Smithsonian
• Year of Release: 2001
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-03-26

This is the first that I have heard of Texas Gladden but that is my own fault. She was one of the last known Virginia-styled ballad singers and one of music archival maestro Alan Lomax’s favorite singers. That says a lot for Texas because Alan has seen them all. The ballad style that Texas Gladden practiced is completely unaccompanied except on occasion where she is accompanied by her brother Hobart Smith. This style is a fine showcase of vocal control and how the voice is indeed the most wondrous instrument of all. These tracks on Ballad Legacy where taking from Gladden’s 1941 and 1946 recordings which were very rare. We again have Alan Lomax to thank for the availability of these rare recordings. Take a trip back and discover a long-lost singing style that has been brought back to life with the Portraits series. The collection includes excerpts from some long-ago interviews with Texas.

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