Album Notes

My father Jack de Benedictis, who passed away in 2002 at 82 years old, learned these songs from his uncle, Tony Kraber his mother’s brother, a folk singer who palled around with all the great folk singers like Pete Seeger and Woody Gutherie and Burl Ives. Back in the day Tony played guitar and sang at hootenannies in Carnegie Hall. My father sang these songs to me all his life ‘a cappella,’ especially on long drives we took together to Mexico, Canada and Alaska. I finally got him into the studio with me in September of 2000 before his 80th birthday. I just strummed along on the guitar as he sang. No rehearsal. One take, pretty much. It’s taken me awhile to just be able to work on the songs since he passed. I have missed him so much. I added some in-between music, like an interlude, which precede most of the songs. The title of the album “Cowpography” comes from a line in the Sandy Sam and Rusty Jiggs song. Alas, these were only a few of the wonderful songs he sang. But they are some of my favorites. — Paul J. de Benedictis September 28, 2009

Vocals by Jack de Benedictis
Guitars and harmonica performed by Paul J. de Benedictis