May 20, 2020

Blake & Rice

Rounder Records CD 0233

Format: CD, Album
Country: USA & Canada
Released: 1992
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
01 New Chance Blues (2:15)
02 Green Light On The Southern (3:43)
03 I'm Not Sayin' (2:16)
04 Texas Gales (3:38)
05 Ridge Road Gravel (2:25)
06 Monroe's Hornpipe (2:14)
07 Last Train From Poor Valley (3:32)
08 New River Train (3:25)
09 Stoney Point (2:11)
10 Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar (3:32)
11 Little Beggarman/Gilderoy (3:05)
12 The Shipyard Apprentice (4:13)
13 Medley: Fiddler's Dram/Whiskey Before Breakfast (4:40)
14 I'm Comin' Back But I Don't Know When (2:43)
[Credits]
Norman Blake (guitar/mandolin/vocals) Tony Rice (guitar/vocals)
Recorder and Photographer: Bill Wolf, Engineer: George Horn
[Nptes]
Like consummate musicians, for their first album together Norman Blake and Tony Rice largely ignored flash and speed in favor of songs and mood. There is some exceptional flatpicking here, but even the more manic passages are tempered by a softness that is striking, and perhaps even a little disappointing, in its modesty. Once the listener gets past the desire to hear hardcore chops, though, the album reveals its full beauty, especially in Blake's gorgeous "Last Train From Poor Valley" and Rice's cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "I'm Not Sayin'." Perky fiddle tune medleys and bluegrass standards provide some balance, but this is gentle listening throughout. - AllMusic Review by Jim Smith

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