"From the first notes of their 1981 landmark release Hard Times' opening track "Chesapeake Bay," it's clear the Red Clay Ramblers were not your average old time music ensemble. Dixieland horns, barrelhouse piano, barbershop harmonies and driving stringband rhythms all combine for an entertaining crash course in American music. Whether sublime ("Wind and Rain") or downright ridiculous ("Chicken"), the Red Clay Ramblers bring their virtuosity, intensity and enthusiasm to every song they play." (Originally released by Flying Fish Records in 1981. This is a 2006 re-issued digitally remastered CD, from Rounder's ARCHIVE series. Complete liner notes and lyrics are included as Adobe pdf documents on the cd.)

Songs include: Chesapeake Bay, Wind and Rain, Fiddler A Dram/Murphy's Hornpipe, Matinee Idol, The Face in the Mirror, Hard Times, Chicken, Trip to Sligo/Priest and His Boots/Three Little Drummers, I Crept Into the Crypt, When the Goldenrod is Blooming Once Again, Three Guys, The Gang's Gone Home, Long Time Traveling

(personnel: Mike Craver - piano, Jack Herrick - bass and trumpet, Clay Buckner & Bill Hicks - fiddle, Tommy Thompson - banjo, Jim Watson - mandolin and bass)

PDF scores (piano, vocals and chord symbols) is available for "Hard Times (Come Again No More)", "Long Time Traveling","Matinee Idol", and "Three Guys" at Sapsucker Scores