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

Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys: Live Recordings 1956-1969

Smithsonian Folkways SF CD 40063

Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1993
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
01 Watermelon Hanging On The Vine (0:37)
02 Roanoke (1:19)
03 Brakeman's Blues (2:40)
04 Close By (2:26)
05 Kentucky Waltz (2:26)
06 Blue Grass Stomp (2:10)
07 Blue Moon Of Kentucky (2:00)
08 I'm Working On A Building (1:59)
09 Angels Rock Me To Sleep (1:53)
10 Wheel Hoss (2:08)
11 Watermelon Hanging On The Vine (0:31)
12 Katy Hill (3:06)
13 True Life Blues (2:40)
14 I Live In The Past (2:41)
15 Wayfaring Stranger (4:27)
16 Fire On The Mountain (3:37)
17 Blue Grass Breakdown (3:22)
18 Raw Hide (2:52)
19 Y'All Come (0:49)
20 Cotton-Eyed Joe (2:49)
21 Get Up John (3:14)
22 White House Blues (2:01)
23 Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms (2:27)
24 Kansas City Railroad Blues (2:51)
25 The Walls Of Time (4:30)
26 When He Reached Down His Hand For Me (2:44)
27 Monroe Family Segment (9:45)
[Credits]
Bill Monroe (mandolin/vocals)
Producer & Liner Notes: Ralph Rinzler, Photographer: David Gahr & Phil Zimmerman, Mastering Engineer: Alan Yoshida
[Notes]
"Howdy, howdy folks. We're glad to be back for another show here. As we do the numbers now, we're gonna call each fellow's name out so we can get right along with the show." And what a show. Bluegrass has always been a live-performance genre, on stage or in the studio, and Bill Monroe never sounded better on stage than during these heady years of the folk revival. He had something to share and to prove to his new audience, and he wouldn't meet them halfway, choosing instead his grittiest traditional material and singing, especially in the late '50s, with full, high yodel and wail. His voice mellowed into the '60s, but his band, including many of the best bluegrass pickers ever (Bill Keith, Peter Rowan, Richard Greene, and Bobby Hicks for starters), never gave quarter. To understand Bill Monroe and his various ensembles, one needs to hear his stage brilliance, and there's no better place to start than with these warm, clear live recordings. --Roy Kasten