Born into "the Singing Ritchies," one of two families celebrated by folklorists as the great ballad-singing lineages of Perry County, Kentucky, Jean Ritchie learned hundreds of centuries-old British and Appalachian ballads by ear from her father and uncle before becoming the folk revival's most important conduit for that repertoire -- and the musician most responsible for introducing the Appalachian dulcimer to a national audience. Her Elektra recordings of family songs like "Pretty Saro" became source material for a generation of city folksingers, Judy Collins among them.

the sound in question

1954

Pretty SaroJean Ritchie