I'll Fly Away

Albert E. Brumley had the idea in 1928 while picking cotton on his father's farm near Rock Island, Oklahoma, with The Prisoner's Song in his head, and Hartford Music published it in 1932. The Chuck Wagon Gang's 1948 record is in the National Recording Registry, and it has since been sung by artists from Charley Pride to Bob Marley and the Wailers.

In spring 1999 Gillian Welch and Krauss recorded it at Sound Emporium for the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, Welch singing lead and Krauss the harmony, with Mike Compton on mandolin and Chris Sharp on guitar. GRAMMY.com noted that Burnett had such old songs played slower and lower than bluegrass usually takes them. The film itself uses the Kossoy Sisters' 1956 recording, but the soundtrack version won the IBMA award for gospel recorded performance. Krauss also sang it at Mountain Stage in 1994 with Union Station, the Cox Family and the Rowans. The upload in the hypersongs web is a live duet with Gillian Welch, not the soundtrack recording.