Track Listing
- Charmin' Betsy
- Shady Grove
- Fox Chase
- Black Eyed Susie
- Little Maggie
- Pretty Little Darlin'
- Goin' Round This World
- 8 More Miles To Louisville
- The Old Spinning Wheel
- Rye Whiskey
- Gray Eagle
- Granny Killed a Woodchuck
- Hook and Line
- Danville Girl
- Farewell Blues
- Jenny Get Around
- Lee Boy Blues
- Cumberland Gap
- Dusty Miller
- Drop Thumb Banjo
- John Henry
- Buck Creek
- Caney Creek
- Little Birdie
- Old Jenny Rattletrap
- Nubbin Ridge
- My Old Kentucky Home
- Sally Goodin
- Sourwood Mountain
- Hog Eyed Man
- Lay Down My Old Guitar
- Hey John D
- Last of Callahan
- Sammy Where You Been So Long
- Whoa Mule
Lee Sexton - banjo, fiddle, & vocals; Marion Sumner - fiddle; Phillip Sexton - bass & guitar; Sonny Houston - guitar, bass, & vocals; and Freddie Campbell - banjo.
Whoa Mule is a greatly-expanded reissue of Lee Sexton’s seminal solo album of the same name, originally released by June Appal Recordings in 1989. One of the few deeply traditional artists still actively touring and performing, Lee has been a mainstay of community events in Letcher County, Kentucky since the 1950s. Members of both Lee's father's and his mother's families were musicians; the late Roscoe Holcomb of Leatherwood Creek was his cousin. Whoa Mule includes recordings that span nearly 50 years and nearly forty minutes of material not on the cassette.
This reissue supplements the original LP with new concert and studio recordings spanning nearly 50 years of Lee’s musical development. Whoa Mule offers a privileged window into the public and private sides of one of East Kentucky's most important traditional artists.
Lee Sexton has been something of a legend among those who love old time mountain music. For years, homemade tapes have been eagerly passed from one banjo enthusiast to the next. And I am sure I am not the only one to sit through Coal Miner’s Daughter for the fourth time just to see Lee playing for the movie square dancers. His music is both wildly spirited yet clean and precise – a rare combination in any form of music. He can play a quirky version of ‘Shady Grove’ that will transport you to some lonesome Kentucky hollow or cut loose on a tune like ‘Hook and Line’ that will drive you right out of your chair and on to the dance floor. Lee Sexton is one of the finest traditional old time banjo players in the country.
— David Holt, Host of PRI’s Riverwalk Jazz
