The Unfortunate Rake is an album released by Folkways Records in 1960, containing 20 different variations from what is sometimes called the 'Rake' cycle of ballads.

[2] However, the notes to the album make no mention of what is now thought to be the oldest written version of the song, one called "The Buck's Elegy".

[3] The album contains what appears to be claimed to be one of the earliest-known written versions of the whole song, a "19th century broadside text", sung by A L Lloyd.

[4] In this article, Lloyd refers to the 19th century broadside published by Such, which is a song called "The Unfortunate Lad".

The album also contains songs written for humorous and political purposes, like "The Ballad of Sherman Wu" and "The Professor's Lament".