Dean Gitter "Ghost Ballads" (Riverside, RLP 12-636, 1957)

Perhaps most famous for his production work on Odetta's debut album "Sings Ballads And Blues" (a primary influence on a young Bob Dylan), Dean Gitter involved himself in the 1950's folk scene under a variety of guises. Producing records mostly for Riverside (though the jacket claims "various record companies" as his clients) and working his hand in folk publishing to boot, this looks to be his lone solo album. Luckily for us it's a cool collection of mostly traditional (and sometimes just trad sounding) folk numbers with supernatural themes that run the gamut from spookily evocative to playful, all housed under a perfect 1953 Charles Addams illustration. The music itself is composed of nothing more than Mr. Gitter's voice and his acoustic guitar, and along with the zipped song files I've included a large scan of the back cover liner notes, which (in the folk tradition) are extra informative about each song's history. Taken as a whole the package does a nice job of providing the backdrop not only for the tunes being sung & played, but also for the time (a half century ago!) that this LP was produced.


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