I actually don't really know what style/genre the following song represents. What I do know is that it is sung by two of the greatest performers of all time: Johnny Cash and Odetta. Most of you will probably know Mr. Cash. You probably have heard "I Walk the Line" or "Jackson" at least once in your life. Odetta will probably not ring as many bells, but you should defintely check her out! She sings some real beautiful soul and folk songs, with some ocassional blues and jazz.
Johnny Cash was brought to the public by RCA, the same recording company that made Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins famous. He was part of the "Million Dollar Quartet", a record that was secretly taped by Sam Philips (owner of RCA). He immediately had a lot of dollar signs in his eyes when he saw the four of them singing together at the studio. For a great movie on Johnny's life see "Walk the Line". (For those of you who didn't see it yet. Are there any people out there?)
I actually discovered Odetta through watching almost every You Tube video by Johnn Cash that is out there. I am actually quite ashamed that I did not hear about her before (might be due to my age though). I immideately loved her Soul voice and the natural rhytm that was in her. Like Johnny Cash, she died a couple of years ago, but left some real good songs for us to discover (or listen to again). I especially love her cd of Bob Dylan covers (Odetta Sings Dylan). Odetta was known as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movements", and inspired and influenced great stars such as Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin.
The song "Shame and Scandal in the Family" was taped at the Johnny Cash Show in 1969, it starts at 4.05.
Johnny Cash & Odetta - "Shame and Scandal in the Family"
