I’ve been a big fan of Gillian Welch & David Rawlings since I first heard them perform in August 2004 as part of The Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue.

The last time I was fortunate enough to see them in concert was on July 21, 2018 at the Prescott Park Arts Festival in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Here’s a photo from that show.

So, in July 2020, when the duo released All The Good Times – their pandemic album of home recordings – I zipped on over to iTunes and downloaded a copy.

The more I listened to and enjoyed this fabulous, now Grammy Award winning album, the more I knew that I would eventually need to purchase a “hard copy.” I finally did and since the CD arrived in the mail from Bull Moose Music, I’ve been listening to it in my car every time I go for a drive.

Elizabeth Cotten’s “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie” is the opening song on All The Good Times and Gillian & David’s cover – two acoustic guitars, two voices, two supremely talented musicians – is simply superb. 

Give a listen for yourself.

All ten tracks on the album were recorded live in Gillian & David’s Tennessee home on an Otari MX55 1/4″ 2 Track reel-to-reel tape deck. (You can hear the “click” of David turning on the machine at the beginning of the cut!)

Elizabeth Cotten’s recording of “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie” was released in 1958. It was on Elizabeth’s first album – Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes – on Folkways Records.