He recorded country blues men Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, and the Rev. Robert Wilkins, none of whom had recorded since the 1920s and '30s. He secured copyrights for their songs that had not been previously copyrighted. The Rolling Stones covered Wilkins' "Prodigal Son", and Eric Clapton's group Cream recorded James' "I'm So Glad". Kuykendall's share of the royalties allowed him to leave his job as a sound engineer at WETA-TV, and change Bluegrass Unlimited from a mimeographed newsletter into a glossy publication.