Cotton-Eyed Joe is an important song in my life; it was the first record I ever bought.

I was about ten years old, and heard it on the radio. It was played by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. I talked my Dad into going down to the Sears store to buy it for me. (It was a 78 RPM) We didn’t even have a record player at home.

But, my Aunt and Uncle had a record player, so every time we’d go to visit them, while they sat in the kitchen playing cards & dominoes, I’d get to listen to it over and over in the living room.

Later on in college when I became a folk singer, I learned a different and supposedly more traditional version of it. I’ve put the two together.

The musicians:
Mason Williams – vocal / rhythm guitar
Byron Berline – fiddle / vocal harmony
Rick Cunha – rhythm acoustic / lead electric guitar / vocal harmony
Jerry Mills – mandolin
John Hickman – 5-string Banjo
Don Whaley – Bass / vocal harmony
Hal Blaine – Drums

Recorded at Boutwell Studios / Birmingham, AL 10/'84