Down The Road: Bluegrass Songs Of Flatt And Scruggs

Rounder Select – CD 0345

Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2002
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
01 I'll Never Shed Another Tear (3:00)
02 Down The Road (2:17)
03 Don't This Road Look Rough And Rocky (2:50)
04 Is It Too Late Now? (2:41)
05 Your Love Is Like A Flower (2:58)
06 The Old Home Town (3:05)
07 Come Back Darlin' (2:28)
08 I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darlin' (2:35)
09 Somehow Tonight (3:04)
10 I'd Rather Be Alone (3:05)
11 Head Over Heels (2:34)
12 So Happy I'll Be (2:36)
[Credits]
Tony Rice (guitar/vocals) Doyle Lawson (mandolin/tenor vocals) J.D. Crowe (banjo/baritone vocals) Jerry Douglas (dobro/baritone vocals) Bobby Hicks (fiddle) Todd Phillips (bass)
Producer: Anthony Rice, Liner Notes: Brad San Martin, Compiler: Louisa Hufstader, Designer: Scott Billington, Photographer: Rick Olivier, Engineer: David Glasser and Bill Wolf
[Notes]
The Bluegrass Album Band is a bluegrass supergroup consisting of A-list session players and established bandleaders who got together in the early '80s to record an album of straight-ahead bluegrass standards; the result was called simply The Bluegrass Album, and it was so popular that the same pickup group (in slightly changing configurations) made five more such recordings over the course of the next 15 years. This compilation focuses on their renditions of songs either written or made famous by the great Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, known to most Americans as the composers and performers of the theme from The Beverly Hillbillies. Led by the rich voice and powerful guitar playing of Tony Rice, the Bluegrass Album Band never sound less than completely tight and assured, and on timeless material like "The Old Home Town," "I'll Never Shed Another Tear," and the charming novelty tune "Head Over Heels," their affection for their illustrious musical forebears is both obvious and infectious. J.D. Crowe's banjo playing, which in other contexts can get a bit adventurous, here pays explicit tribute to the metronomic solidity of the classic Scruggs sound, and Bobby Hicks' fiddling is similarly old school. The Bluegrass Album Band's full-length albums are a better value for your money (this collection is offered at mid-price, but contains only a half-hour of music), but there's no denying the consistently high quality of the music on this one.-- AllMusic Review by Rick Anderson