Pete Seeger's
Frontier Ballads collection is a double-length LP of 19th century American songs tracing rural life and the development of the American West.
Seeger accompanies himself on the banjo (with the occasional a cappella song thrown in) on material divided into three thematic sections. Immigrants contains seven songs referring to those who came to the U.S., their experiences explored in such lyrics as "No Irish Need Apply." The next seven songs, The Trek, concern the movement west with special attention paid to the "Cumberland Gap" and the "Erie Canal," as well as encounters with "Sioux Indians." Tracks 15-27 recount the experiences of The Settlers as they hunt, farm, build railroads, distill liquor, and just live. The album's extensive liner notes put the songs into historical context, and
Seeger's spirited performances bring to life a panorama of American experiences during the 19th century when the country was being discovered and settled.