Spencer Moore -- Hot New Talent

There is something to be said for delayed gratification. I've been thoroughly blown away by the eponymous album by Spencer Moore. In a year in which folks such as Ralph Stanley, Charlie Louvin and Porter Wagoner have taken the youngsters in cowboy hats to school (a one-room schoolhouse, no doubt), Moore fits right in with the educational theme. He's got an ancient, craggy voice that oozes more soul than any ten Nashville hats/aerobic dancers of your choice, and he sings blood-chilling mountain ballads like "The Lawson Family Murders" and "Little Rosewood Casket." Spencer played a tent show with the Carter Family back in the thirties, and Alan Lomax tracked him down with his field recorder in the late fifties, but this is the first album he's ever recorded. He is 88 years old.