A major historical discovery offers a rare, high-fidelity window into the “Mother of Folk” in her prime, now available to the public alongside newly released archival photographs.
A remarkable piece of American music history has emerged from the archives of legendary folksinger and folklorist Ellen Stekert. Today marks the official multimedia release of a previously lost 1960 Jean Ritchie concert recording, complete with a companion gallery of rare, intimate photographs taken during Ritchie’s visit to Indiana University.
The complete, newly remastered concert audio can be heard for free on the Swingin’ Pig YouTube Channel, which is embedded below. Concurrently, Stekert’s stunning archival photographs of Ritchie have been made available for viewing and purchase at her official Darkroom store.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Jean Ritchie was a towering figure in the American folk music revival, widely celebrated for her mastery of Southern Mountain a cappella ballads and the mountain dulcimer. In 1960, Stekert arranged for Ritchie to perform a solo concert at Indiana University in Bloomington—then the premier center for graduate folklore studies in the United States. The performance was captured on tape and later broadcast on Stekert’s radio program, The World of Folk, on WFIU.
For over six decades, the original reel-to-reel tapes remained preserved in Stekert’s personal collection until her producer, Ross Wylde, began the process of releasing her vast archive to audiences.
“This is a major archival discovery,” says Wylde, who mixed and remastered the 1960 recording. “Very few complete, high-fidelity live recordings of Jean Ritchie exist from this pivotal era. There are several songs on this tape that have no known comparable versions elsewhere. Some of these renditions may very well be the last surviving examples of the ‘Mother of Folk’ in her prime.”
The newly released live set is split into two distinct halves: the first featuring the traditional Kentucky heritage songs of Ritchie’s upbringing, and the second highlighting ballads she personally collected during her travels through the British Isles. The recording captures not only her precise musicality but also the wit, charm, and storytelling that captivated early revival audiences.
Ellen Stekert, now 91, reflects on her late friend and contemporary: “Jean Ritchie wasn’t just authentic; she was special, a singular artist who bridged two worlds and left them both infinitely richer. She was a brilliant ambassador who combined the traditional world she grew up in with an ever-changing commercial market.”
To accompany the audio release, Stekert has opened her personal vaults to share her photography from Ritchie’s visit, capturing the artist both on stage and in rare, candid moments behind the scenes in Bloomington. A newly published, comprehensive essay detailing Stekert’s memories of the concert, their subsequent friendship, and their early days as “imaginary rivals” in the New York folk scene can be read at this post on Ellen’s website.