The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo is a 2009 album by Steve Martin

Steve Martin

Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....

, featuring Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton

Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...

, Vince Gill

Vince Gill

Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...

, Earl Scruggs

Earl Scruggs

Earl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...

, Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien (musician)

Tim O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello...

, Tony Trischka

Tony Trischka

Tony Trischka is an American five-string banjo player.-Biography:Tony Trischka was born in Syracuse, New York, and graduated from Syracuse University with a B.A in Fine Arts, and was inspired to play the banjo in 1963, listening to the Kingston Trio's "Charlie and The MTA". Trischka was a...

 and Mary Black

Mary Black

Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....

. It contains 15 songs and is the first album focusing on Martin as a musician. Martin's 1977 comedy recording Let's Get Small

Let's Get Small

Let’s Get Small was an album by American comedian Steve Martin. It included Excuse Me, a comedy bit whose title went on to become a national catchphrase...

, however, did feature him briefly playing the banjo during some of the comedy bits, and The Steve Martin Brothers

The Steve Martin Brothers

The Steve Martin Brothers, released on LP in 1981, is a comedy album by American actor Steve Martin. The album, the last stand-up comedy album released by Martin, was released on compact disc in 2006 by Wounded Bird Records....

devotes one side to banjo playing, including earlier renditions of some of the music presented here. It was first released on January 27, 2009 as an Amazon.com exclusive and then released to retail stores everywhere on May 19, 2009. On January 31, 2010, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album

Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album

The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the bluegrass music genre...

 at the 52nd Grammy Awards

52nd Grammy Awards

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...

.

Track list

All songs written by Steve Martin except where indicated.

1. "Daddy Played the Banjo" (Steve Martin & Gary Scruggs)
   • Tim O'Brien
     Tim O'Brien (musician)
     Tim O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello...
     
      on vocals and Earl Scruggs
     Earl Scruggs
     Earl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
     
      on banjo
2. "Pitkin County Turnaround" [Instrumental]
3. "Hoedown at Alice's" [Instrumental]
4. "Late For School"
   • Steve Martin on vocals
5. "Tin Roof" [Instrumental]
6. "Words Unspoken" [Instrumental] (Steve Martin & Pete Wernick
   Pete Wernick
   Pete Wernick, also known by many as "Dr. Banjo", is an American musician.He is a five-string banjo player who has been involved in the bluegrass music scene since the 1970s, writing several instruction books and videos on how to play the banjo. He's also known for his own musical style called...
   
   )
   • Pete Wernick on banjo
7. Pretty Flowers
   • Vince Gill
     Vince Gill
     Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
     
      & Dolly Parton
     Dolly Parton
     Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
     
      on vocals and Earl Scruggs and Pete Wernick on banjo
8. "Wally on the Run" [Instrumental]
   • Tony Trischka
     Tony Trischka
     Tony Trischka is an American five-string banjo player.-Biography:Tony Trischka was born in Syracuse, New York, and graduated from Syracuse University with a B.A in Fine Arts, and was inspired to play the banjo in 1963, listening to the Kingston Trio's "Charlie and The MTA". Trischka was a...
     
      on banjo
9. "Freddie's Lilt" [Instrumental]
10. "Saga Of The Old West" [Instrumental]
11. "Clawhammer
    Clawhammer
    Clawhammer is a highly rhythmic banjo playing style and common component of American old-time music. The principal difference between clawhammer style and other styles is the picking direction...
    
     Medley" [Instrumental] (Traditional, arranged and additional music by Steve Martin)
    • composed of "Sally Ann", "Johnson Boys", "Simple Gifts
      Simple Gifts
      "Simple Gifts" is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett.It has endured many inaccurate descriptions. Though often classified as an anonymous Shaker hymn or as a work song, it is better classified as a dance song.-Lyrics:...
      
      " and "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond
      The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond
      "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond", or simply "Loch Lomond" for short, is a well-known traditional Scottish song . It was first published in 1841 in Vocal Melodies of Scotland....
      
      "
12. "Calico Train"
    • Mary Black
      Mary Black
      Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....
      
      on vocals
13. "Banana Banjo" [Instrumental]
14. "Blue River Waltz" [Instrumental]
15. "The Crow" [Instrumental]
    • Tony Trischka on banjo
16. "Calico Train" (Remix) [Instrumental]
    • not included on all editions

A Deluxe Limited Edition was released June 16, 2009. It is packaged in a die-cut, fold-open, pop-up Digipak and contains Tracks 1 to 15 as listed above with the additions of:

16. "Late For School" [Instrumental]
17. "The Slow Crow" [Instrumental]
18. "Calico Train" [Instrumental]

Chart performance

Chart (2009)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	93
U.S. Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums	1