Folk singer Nimrod Workman will finally get his first solo CD release and first LP in 30 years, however posthumously, on November 18 via Drag City. The album, titled I Want To Go Where Things Are Beautiful, is drawn from nearly 18 hours of recordings made by folklorist Mike Seeger on a 1982 trip to Workman's home in Mascot, Tennessee, aided by an NEA Folk Arts grant. Workman (born Martin County in Kentucky, 1895) was a coal miner, union activist and gifted singer. After a slipped disc and black lung forced his retirement from the mines of Mingo County, West Virginia, where he had worked for 42 years, he became a sought-after performer and raconteur. He appeared on records, in films (Harlan County U.S.A. and Coal Miner's Daughter), among the folk festival circuit and as a guest on the Tonight Show. Come the late 1980s, Nimrod was in too poor of health to keep up his touring schedule, and he died at the age of 99 in 1994. The album showcases Workman's repertoire of songs and stories, ranging from the old British ballads of "Barbara Allen" and "Lord Daniel" to Nimrod's own material inspired by his experience as a miner and a card-carrying member of the UMWA. Tracklist For I Want To Go Where Things Are Beautiful: 01. Gabriel's Trumpet 02. Lord Daniel 03. Talk On Uncle Peter McNeely And Singing 04. Shady Grove 05. In the Spring of '65 06. I Am Your Man, Thomas 07. Good Morning 08. Talk On Dock Boggs / Wild Bill Jones 09. Ida Red 10. Rock The Cradle Alone 11. Coal Black Mining Blues 12. Casey Jones 13. Hewed Out Of The Mountain 14. 42 Years 15. Took His Old Cow 16. Bell Cow 17. Oh Death 18. Willow Garden 19. Sourwood Mountain 20. Jack Straw Straddle 21. Talk On Grandfather Nimrod / War Whoops 22. My Horses Ain't Hungry 23. Great Big Hand of God 24. Barbara Allen 25. It's Real (That Pentecostal Blessing) 26. Little David, Play On Your Harp 27. Farewell www.dragcity.com
