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Founded by impresarios George Wein, producer of the Newport Jazz Festival, and Albert Grossman, the Newport Folk Festival began as a showcase for the mostly young, urban musicians who were spearheading the emerging commercial Folk Revival. At the top of the list was the collegiate Kingston Trio, whose hearty version of the traditional North Carolina ballad, “Tom Dooley,” had scaled the pop charts the year before.

Joining them were more established “folk singers,” including Pete Seeger. As a member of the Weavers, Seeger had also experienced pop success when that group's adaptation of Lead Belly's “Irene Good Night” became the hottest song on the 1950 Hit Parade. But the Weavers had been derailed by the blacklist, and the folk music revival that they were on the verge of spearheading had sputtered. Now, in the late 1950s it seemed that folk music, as a commercial product, was back.

1. Blues & Trouble - Muddy Waters - 04:55
2. Empire State Blues - Son House - 01:59
3. Diving Duck Blues - Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell - 04:08
4. I'm A Burnt Child - Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee - 02:36
5. I Couldn't Believe My Eyes - Brownie McGhee - 03:29
6. Midnight Cold - Jesse Fuller - 03:18
7. Step It Up & Go - Ike Everly - 01:47
8. Pole Pole Ya Kuina - Mwenda Jean Bosco - 02:32
9. Take Me Home - Cook County Singers - 03:38
10. Daniel Prayed - Doc Watson, Fred Price, Clint Howard - 03:02
11. The Greenland Whalers - Norman Kennedy - 03:17
12. In The Pines - New Lost City Ramblers - 03:35
13. Four Walls Around Me - Mac Wiseman - 02:26
14. Put My Little Shoes Away - Mac Wiseman - 03:38
15. Love, Please Come Home - Don Reno, Bill Harrell, The Tennessee Cut-ups - 02:13
16. Cacklin' Hen - Don Reno, Bill Harrell, The Tennessee Cut-ups - 02:27
17. I Had a Bird - Sam Hinton - 01:29
18. From Way Up Here - Pete Seeger – 02:17