Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie is 37 track, 2 CD set paying tribute to the great Jean Ritchie includes an amazing cast of Ritchie's fans and admirers performing renditions of her original songs and arrangements of traditional songs. Contributors including Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Janis Ian, Suzy Boggus, Kathy Mattea, Tim O'Brien, Robin and Linda Williams, Oscar Brand, Dale Ann Bradley and many more. Jean Ritchie is a folk music legend. Heralded by many as ''The Mother of Folk,'' Jean Ritchie was born in 1922 in Berea, Kentucky the youngest of 14 children. Ritchie grew up immersed in the traditional songs of the region and moved to New York in the 1940s where, as a social worker, she taught music to children. She also befriended Pete Seeger, Oscar Brand, Woody Guthrie and Alan Lomax during this time and, in the 1950s, recorded several albums for Electra. In the early 60s she received a Fulbright scholarship and travelled to the UK and Ireland to collect traditional songs. Ritchie's songs have been recorded by a variety of artists including Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Judy Collins and, over the course of her career, her song collecting and song writing has helped to preserve the musical legacy of her Kentucky home as well as expand awareness of its challenges through politically pointed songs such as ''The L&N'' and ''Black Waters.'' CD 1: Black Waters (John McCutcheon, Tim O'Brien, Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, Stuart Duncan And Bryn Davies)/ Now Is The Cool Of The Day (Molly Andrews)/ The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore (Robin And Linda Williams With John Jennings)/ Morning Come, Maria's Gone (Janis Ian)/ Lord Bateman (Sally Rogers And Howie Bursen)/ High Hills And Mountains (Al, Alice And Ruth)/ Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise Corn (Peggy Seeger)/ West Virginia Mine Disaster (Susie Glaze)/ With Kitty I'll Go (Mick Lane With Pat Broaders)/ I Celebrate Life [Spoken Word] (Pete Seeger)/ Pretty Betty Martin (Kathy Reid-Naiman)/ Shady Grove (Spikey And Rhonda Rucker)/ The Cuckoo (Sam Amidon)/ Thousand Mile Blues (Dan Schatz)/ Blue Diamond Mines (Riki Schneyer)/ The Bluebird Song (John McCutcheon)/ Go Dig My Grave (Dale Ann Bradley And Alison Brown)/ Jubilee (Kathy Mattea And Friends) CD 2: One I Love (Judy Collins)/ Let The Sun Shine Down On Me (Kim And Reggie Harris)/ My Dear Companion (Cathy Fink And Marcy Marxer)/ Last Old Train's A-Leavin' (Peter Pickow, Jon Pickow, And Kenny Kosek)/ Wintergrace (Debra Cowan And John Roberts)/ Pretty Saro (Robbie O'Connell)/ Fair Nottamun Town (Elizabeth LaPrelle)/ Golden Ring Around The Susan Girl [Instrumental] (Matt Brown) / I've Been A Foregin Lander (Atwater-Donnelly)/ One More Mile (Rachael Davis)/ Farewell To The Mountains (Magpie)/ I've Got A Mother (Starry Mountain Singers)/ Jemmy Taylor-O (Big Medicine)/ Brightest And Best (Lorraine And Bennett Hammond)/ Hangman (Ralston Bowles And May Erlewine-Bernard)/ Jackaro (Archie Fisher)/ Who Killed Cock Robin? (Oscar Brand And Jean Ritchie)/ Twilight A-Stealing (The Ritchie Nieces) / The Peace Round (Jan Ritchie And Friends)